* The translation here represents what Sw. had in his rough draft and appears in the third Latin edition. The words used in the first and second Latin editions mean the goods and truths of the genuine Church.
[2] The truth that no one can be saved unless he has led a good charitable life, and so has acquired affections for that life, which exist in him as goodwill shown to others and as good deeds done to them which are motivated by that goodwill; also, the truth that no one can possibly accept the truths of faith – that is to say, take them in and make them his own – except him who leads a charitable life, have been made perfectly plain to me from those in heaven to whom I have been allowed to speak. Everyone there is a form of charity, the beauty and goodness of that form depending on the nature of the charity. The pleasure, bliss, and happiness of those there flow from their being able – because they are motivated by goodwill – to do good to others. Anyone who has not been leading a charitable life cannot possibly know that heaven and heavenly joy consist in goodwill and in good deeds motivated by that goodwill. To one of his kind heaven consists in goodwill shown to himself, with any good deeds done to others being motivated by this selfish goodwill. But this is in fact hell; for as has been stated, heaven is distinguished from hell in that heaven consists in doing good because one is motivated by goodwill, and hell in doing ill because one is motivated by ill will. Those governed by love towards the neighbour are motivated by goodwill to do good deeds, but those governed by self-love are motivated to do ill ones by ill will. The reason the latter are like this is that they love no one but themselves, and others only insofar as they see themselves in others, and others in themselves. They also hate these others, that hatred revealing itself the moment these go away from them and are no longer part of them. They are like robbers who love one another while they are in league with one another; but at heart they long to kill one another if any spoils can be gained by doing so.
[3] From all this one may see what heaven is, namely love towards the neighbour, and what hell is, namely self-love. Those governed by love towards the neighbour are able to accept all truths of faith, to take them in and make them their own; for love towards the neighbour holds every truth of faith within it since it has heaven within it and the Lord within it. But those governed by self-love cannot possibly accept the truths of faith since hell lies within that love. In no way can they accept the truths of faith apart from doing so for the sake of improving their own positions and for the sake of material gain; thus they cannot possibly take them in and make them their own. What they do take in and make their own are denials of the truth. For in their hearts they do not believe in the existence of hell and heaven, or in the life after death. Nor therefore do they believe anything that is said about hell and heaven, or about the life after death, and so nothing whatever from the Word and from doctrine regarding faith and charity. They seem to themselves to be believers when they take part in worship, but they do so because that state has been instilled into them since early childhood. But as soon as they leave that worship behind them they also leave that state of belief behind them. At this point, now left to think for themselves, they do not have any belief at all; and what is more, the life that their love fires them to lead causes them to think up ideas to justify it. These ideas they call truths, and also back them up from the literal sense of the Word; but they are in fact falsities. This is what all are like who in life and doctrine are adherents to faith separated from charity.
[4] In addition it should be recognized that a person’s love includes everything, for his love determines the life he leads, and therefore only into a person’s love does the Lord enter with His life. As is people’s love therefore, so is their life because so is their reception of it. Love towards the neighbour receives the life of heaven, while self-love receives the life of hell. Thus everything of heaven lies within love towards the neighbour, and everything of hell within self-love. The fact that love includes everything may be illustrated by many observations of nature. All living creatures, not only those that walk on dry land but also those which fly in the air or swim in water, move in response to their own love. Into their love comes whatever is of use to them in the life they lead, that is, to their feeding, housing, and reproducing themselves. Therefore every genus knows its own food, dwelling-places, and mating habits such as pairing off, building nests, laying eggs, and rearing chicks.
[5] Bees likewise know how to build cells, extract honey from flowers, fill honeycombs with it, and make provision for the winter. Indeed they know how to establish a system of government under a single ruler, besides many other remarkable activities. All this is a product of what is entering their love, it being merely the different forms their affections take that lead to the different results their life produces. Their love includes all this. So what would heavenly love include if the human being was governed by heavenly love? Would not the whole of wisdom and intelligence as these exist in heaven be included? From this too it is evident that those who have led charitable lives, these and no others, are accepted into heaven, and that because they have charity they have the ability to accept and take in all truths, that is, every truth of faith. The reverse however takes place with adherents to faith separated from charity, that is, to those who know some truths but have no charity. Their love accepts ideas such as are suited to itself; that is to say, self-love and love of the world accept ideas that are the reverse of truths, the kind that exist in hell.
[2] The fact that people put sackcloth over their loins to testify to this mourning becomes clear from the historical and the prophetical parts of the Word, as in Amos,
I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; so will I cause sackcloth to come up over all loins, and baldness over every head, and I will make it as the mourning for an only-begotten sore, and its end as a bitter day. Amos 8:10.
‘Causing sackcloth to come up over all loins’ stands for mourning over lost forms of good, ‘all loins’ standing for all forms of the good of love. In Jonah,
The men of Nineveh believed in God, and therefore they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloths, from the greatest even to the least of them. And when word reached the king of Nineveh he rose up from his throne, and laid aside his royal robe from upon him, and covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. And he proclaimed that man and beast were to be covered with sackcloths. Jonah 3:5-8.
Clearly this was a sign representative of mourning over evil on account of which Nineveh was to perish, and so mourning over lost good.
[3] In Ezekiel,
They will let forth a cry over you with their voice and will cry out bitterly; and they will cause dust to come up over their heads, and will roll themselves in ashes, and will make themselves bald over you, and will gird themselves with sackcloths. Ezek. 27:30, 31.
This refers to Tyre, each action mentioned here being representative of mourning for falsities and evils and so for lost truths and goods. ‘Letting forth a cry and crying out bitterly’ stands for lamentation over falsity or lost truth, 2240; ‘causing dust to come up over the head’ stands for having been condemned on account of evil, 278; ‘rolling themselves in ashes’ for having been condemned on account of falsities; ‘making themselves bald’ for mourning because the natural man has no truth, 3301 (end); ‘girding themselves with sackcloths’ for mourning because the natural man has no good. Similarly in Jeremiah,
O daughter of My people, gird yourself with sackcloth. and roll yourself in ashes; make mourning as for an only-begotten son, very bitter wailing; for suddenly he who lays waste will come upon you. Jer 6:26.
And elsewhere in the same prophet,
The elders of the daughter of Zion will sit on the ground, they will become silent; they will cause dust to come up over their head, they will gird themselves with sackcloths; the virgins of Jerusalem will cause their heads to come down to the ground. Lam. 2:10.
Here similar representative actions are described which, as above, were appropriate for the types of good and truth which had become lost.
[4] In Isaiah,
A prophecy concerning Moab. He will go up to Bayith, and to Dibon into the high places to weep; over Nebo and over Medeba Moab will howl. On all heads there is baldness; every beard is shaved off; in its streets they have girded themselves untie sackcloth; on its roots and in its streets everyone will wail, descending into weeping. Isa. 15:2, 3.
‘Moab’ stands for those who adulterate all good, 2468. The mourning over that adulteration meant by ‘Moab’ is described by the kinds of things that correspond to that type of evil. Virtually the same description therefore occurs in Jeremiah,
Every head is bald, and every beard shaved off; upon all hands are cuts, and over the loins is sackcloth; on all the roofs of Moab and in its streets there is mourning everywhere. Jer. 48:37, 38.
[5] When king Hezekiah heard the blasphemous utterances of the Rabshakeh against Jerusalem ‘he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth’, Isa. 37:1; 2 Kings 19:1. The reason for mourning was that his utterances were directed against Jehovah, the king, and Jerusalem. Their being utterances made in opposition to truth is meant by the king rending his clothes, 4763, and utterances made in opposition to good by his covering himself with sackcloth; for when in the Word truth is dealt with, so also is good. This is so because of the heavenly marriage, which is a marriage of good to truth and of truth to good in every single part; as also in David,
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed* my sackcloth and girded me with gladness. Ps. 30:11.
Here ‘dancing’ has reference to truths, and ‘gladness’ to goods, as they also do in other parts of the Word. ‘Loosing sackcloth’ accordingly means releasing from mourning over lost good.
[6] In 2 Samuel,
David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, Rend your clothes, and gird sackcloth round you, and wail before Abner. 2 Sam. 3:31.
Because an outrageous act had been committed against that which was true and good David therefore commanded them to rend their clothes and gird sackcloths round them. Something similar occurred in the case of Ahab, for when he heard Elijah’s words that he was to be cut off because he had acted contrary to what was fair and right – meaning in the spiritual sense contrary to what is true and good – ‘he tore his clothes apart, and put sackcloth over his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went about slowly, 1 Kings 21:27.
[7] The use of ‘sackcloth’ to refer to lost good is also clear in John,
When he opened the sixth seal, behold, a great earthquake took place, and the sun became black as sackcloth, and the full moon became like blood. Rev 6:12.
‘An earthquake’ stands for an alteration in the state of the Church as regards good and truth, 3355. ‘The sun’ stands for the good of love, 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495, 4060, 4300, 4696, and therefore ‘sackcloth’ here has reference to lost good. ‘The moon’ stands for the truth of faith, 1529, 1530, 2120, 2495, 4060, and ‘blood’ has reference to this because ‘blood’ means truth that has been falsified and rendered profane, 4735.
[8] Because ‘being clothed in sackcloth and rolling oneself in ashes’ represented mourning over evils and falsities, it also represented both humility and repentance. For humility begins first with the acknowledgement that in oneself one is nothing but a source of evil and falsity. Repentance begins with the same acknowledgement and does not become a reality except through humility, and humility does not become a reality except through heartfelt confession that in oneself one is such a source of evil and falsity. For ‘putting on sackcloth’ was an expression of humility, see 1 Kings 21:27-29, also of repentance, Matt. 11:21; Luke 10:13. But the fact that this was no more than some representative, and so merely an external activity of the body and not an internal activity of the heart, is evident in Isaiah,
Is he to bow his head like a rush and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, and a day of that which is pleasing to Jehovah? Is not this the fast that I choose, to loose** the bonds of wickedness, to break bread for the hungry? Isa. 58:5-7.
* lit. opened
** lit. to open
[2] This use of explanations when one is expounding the Word – explanations which are based on the sense of the letter and which fit in with one’s own point of view – is quite evident from the fact that all religious ideas, including heretical ones, are substantiated by such explanations. For example, the accepted teaching about faith separated from charity is substantiated by the following words spoken by the Lord,
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16.
From these words and other places people deduce that eternal life is acquired through faith alone without works. And once these people have become convinced of this they no longer pay any attention to what the Lord said so many times about love to Him, and about charity and works, 1017, 2373, 3934. Thus they pay no attention to the following in John,
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.
If they are told that no one can believe in the Lord except him who has charity, they instantly take refuge in explanations like these: The law has been abolished; people are born in sins and so cannot do good of themselves, and those who do do it cannot do other than claim merit for it. These explanations too they substantiate from the sense of the letter of the Word, for example from what is stated in the parable about the Pharisee and the tax collector, Luke 18:10-14, and from other things that are stated. But these statements have an altogether different meaning from the explanations they resort to.
[3] Also, the adherents to faith separated from charity can have no other belief than that everyone is able by grace to be admitted into heaven, no matter what kind of life he has been leading, so that it is not a person’s life but his faith that awaits him after death. This too they substantiate from the sense of the letter of the Word. But from the spiritual sense of the Word it is clear that the Lord has mercy on everyone, so that if a person reached heaven by mercy or grace irrespective of whatever life he has led everyone would be saved. The reason the adherents to faith separated from charity believe the way they do is that they have no knowledge at all of what heaven is because they do not know what charity is. If they knew how much peace, joy, and happiness is present within charity they would know what heaven is; but this is entirely hidden from them.
[4] Nor can the adherents to faith separated from charity have any other belief than that they will rise again with the physical body, though not until judgement day. This too they substantiate from many places in the Word, explained according to the sense of the letter. They give no thought at all to what the Lord said – many times in addition to the following – about the rich man and Lazarus, Luke 16:22-31, or to what He told the robber,
Truly I say to you, Today you will be with Me in paradise. Luke 23:43.
The reason the adherents to faith separated from charity believe the way they do is that if they were told that the body is not going to rise again they would refuse to believe in any resurrection at all, for what the internal man is they neither know nor have any conception of. Indeed no one can know what the internal man is and the internal man’s life after death is except him who has charity; for charity is an attribute of the internal man.
[5] The adherents to faith separated from charity can have no other belief than that the works of charity consist solely in giving to the poor and helping the distressed. This belief too they substantiate from the sense of the letter of the Word. But in fact the works of charity consist in each person doing what is right and fair in his employment, from a love of what is right and fair, and of what is good and true.
[6] The adherents to faith separated from charity do not see anything in the Word apart from what substantiates their own accepted teachings, for they have no real insight. Indeed people who are not moved by the affection belonging to charity have merely external sight, or an inferior insight. With this no one can possibly behold higher things, for higher things are seen by him as darkness. Consequently such people see falsities as truths, and truths as falsities, and so by explanations based on the sense of the letter they ruin the good pasture and pollute the pure waters of that sacred spring which is the Word, as accords with the following in Ezekiel,
Is it a small thing to you? You feed off the good pasture and tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures; you drink the water that has settled down* and stir up the rest with your feet. You butt with your horns all the weak [sheep] till you have scattered them abroad. Ezek. 34:17, 18, 21.
* lit. the sediment of the waters
When they came to the threshing-floor of Atad which is at the crossing of the Jordan they wailed there with an exceedingly great and grievous wailing, and he mourned for his father seven days. And the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing-floor of Atad, and they said, This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians. Gen. 50:10, 11.
And one reads about David weeping over Abner,
They buried Abner in Hebron, and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner; and all the people wept. 2 Sam. 3:32.
‘The Midianites sold him into Egypt’ means that those in whom some truth partnering simple good was present consulted facts. ‘To Potiphar, Pharaoh’s bedchamber-servant’ means facts of a more internal kind. ‘The chief of the attendants’ means those facts which are first and foremost in explanations.
[2] In verse 28 above it was stated that Joseph was drawn out of the pit by the Midianites, who then sold him to the Ishmaelites. From this it would seem that only the Ishmaelites could have sold him in Egypt. Yet he was not sold by the Ishmaelites but by the Midianites, and the reason for this is that the Ishmaelites represent those in whom simple good is present, 4747, whereas the Midianites represent those in whom the truth partnering that good is present. ‘Joseph’ or Divine Truth could not be sold by those who are governed by good, only by those governed by truth; for those governed by good know from good what Divine truth is, whereas those governed by truth have no such knowledge.
[3] Members of the Church fall into two distinct categories – those governed by good and those governed by truth, the former being called celestial, the latter spiritual. Between the two there is a wide difference. Those governed by good are moved by an affection to do good for its own sake and without thought of reward. To them being allowed to do good is itself the reward, for doing good gives them feelings of joy. Those governed by truth however are not moved by an affection to do good for its own sake; rather, they are moved to do it because they have been commanded to do it. For the most part these people do think about reward; and this, as well as boasting about what they do, is what gives them their feeling of joy.
[4] From this it is evident that people motivated by good to do good act from an internal affection, whereas those motivated by truth to do good act from some external affection. From this the difference between the two groups may be seen, namely that the former are internal people, the latter external ones. Those therefore who are internal people are unable ‘to sell’ – that is, to alienate – Divine Truth represented by ‘Joseph’, because good enables them to discern what is true. Neither the illusions of the senses therefore, nor consequently facts, lead them away. But those who are external people are able ‘to sell’ or alienate it because no good is present enabling them to discern what is true. They do know what is true, but only because doctrine and teachers have given them that knowledge. If they consult facts they easily let themselves be led away by illusions, for they have no inner gift to speak to them. This now explains why Joseph was not sold by the Ishmaelites but by the Midianites.
IN THIS SECTION THE CORRESPONDENCE OF TASTE AND OF THE TONGUE, AND ALSO OF THE FACE, WITH THAT GRAND MAN
The tongue provides an entrance leading into both the lungs and the stomach, and so represents a kind of forecourt leading to spiritual things and to celestial ones, to spiritual because it serves the lungs and thereby speech, to celestial because it serves the stomach which supplies nourishment to the blood and the heart. For the lungs correspond to spiritual realities, the heart to celestial ones, see 3635, 3883-3896. All this being so, the tongue corresponds in general to the affection for truth, that is, to those in the Grand Man whose affection is for truth, and after that whose affection is for good which is a product of that truth. People therefore who love the Word of the Lord and wish to gain from it a knowledge of what is good and true belong to that province. Yet they differ from one another, in that some belong to the actual tongue, some to the larynx and trachea, some to the throat, some also to the gums, while others belong to the lips. For not even the smallest part of the human being fails to have a correspondence.
[2] I have been allowed on many occasions to learn by experience that those governed by an affection for truth belong to that province understood in the broad sense. On one occasion they plainly entered my tongue, on another my lips; and I have been allowed to talk to them. I have also noticed that some correspond to the more internal parts of the tongue and lips, others to their more external parts. There are some who have an affection for and receive only exterior truths, not interior ones, though they do not reject them. The operation of these I have felt in the exterior but not the interior parts of my tongue.
[2] Interior obsession is the work of this kind of spirit. The nature of it may be seen if people pay attention to their thoughts and affections, above all to their inward intentions which they fear to reveal and which with some are so insane that if they were not kept in check by external restraints – which are position, material gain, reputation, fear for their life and of the law – they would plunge more than the obsessed themselves into murder and pillage. Who these spirits are, and what they are like, who obsess such persons interiorly, see 1983.
[3] To enable me to know all about it, those spirits were allowed to try and enter my own taste, which they strove to do with utmost endeavour. At that time I was told that if they did indeed penetrate my taste they would also take control of me interiorly, because taste is dependent through correspondence on what exists interiorly. But they were allowed to do it solely to enable me to know all about the correspondence of taste; for they were driven away from there in an instant.
[4] Those lethal spirits attempt above all to dissolve all internal restraints, which are the affections for what is good and true, right and fair; fear of God’s law; and a sense of shame at doing harm to society and one’s country. Once those internal restraints have been dissolved a person is obsessed by spirits of this kind. But if they cannot thus gain entrance to a person interiorly by their persistent effort to do so, they then attempt to enter by the use of magical devices which are many in the next life, totally unknown in the world. By these devices they debase the facts known by the one they possess and use only those which give support to their foul desires. Obsession like this is inevitable unless a person has an affection for good and consequently has faith in the Lord.
[5] I was also shown how those spirits were driven away, namely as follows: When they thought they would penetrate the interior parts of the head and brain, they were removed through the channels there along which waste matter is drained away to the external parts of the skin. Then they seemed to be ejected into a trench full of liquid filth. I was told that such spirits correspond to tiny holes full of filth on the surface of the skin where scabies occurs, so that they correspond to scabies.
[2] And what was quite astonishing, the changes which affections undergo from young childhood to adult life were also shown by variations in the face. I was allowed to see how much of young childhood was preserved in adult life, and that it was this that gave adult life its essentially human quality. For innocence – the external form of it – is present in a young child, and innocence constitutes that essentially human quality; indeed innocence is so to speak the basic attribute into which love and charity from the Lord can enter. When a person is being regenerated and becoming wise the innocence of infancy which has been external becomes internal. Consequently true wisdom resides in no other abode than innocence, 2305, 2306, 3183, 3994; also, no one can enter heaven except one who has some degree of innocence, according to the Lord’s words,
Unless you become as young children you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Matt. 18:3; Mark 10:15.
[2] The reason the speech of the spirits there was as described is that they are incapable of presence, that is, of thinking one thing and expressing another with their face; for they live with one another with such openness that they do not conceal anything whatever from fellow spirits. Indeed these know instantly what they are thinking and what their wishes are, also what kind of people they are, as well as what deeds they have done; for the acts done by those who live in that openness are lodged in their conscience, and therefore others can, when they first see them, discern what their inner countenances or dispositions of mind are.
[3] The spirits showed me that they do not strain their faces but let them move freely, unlike those people who since their youth have become accustomed to put on a presence, that is to say, to speak and act in a different way from how they think and desire. The faces of the latter are kept taut, ready to produce the kind of variation which their artfulness tells them to produce. Anything a person wishes to conceal causes his face to be made taut; and this ceases to be taut and expands when something seemingly open and sincere can be fraudulently displayed there.
[4] While I was reading about the Lord in the New Testament Word, the spirits from another planet were with me as well as certain Christians. I perceived that inwardly these Christians cherished offensive ideas opposed to the Lord, and also that they wished in some quiet way to communicate these. Those from another planet were astonished that they were like this, but I was allowed to tell them that in the world they had not been such in their utterances, but had been in their hearts. There even exist, I added, people like them who nevertheless preach about the Lord. When these do so it is with a pseudo-religious zeal by which they move the common people to emit groans and sometimes to shed tears; yet they communicate nothing at all of what is in their hearts. On hearing all this the spirits from another planet were astounded that such a dichotomy between interior things and exterior ones could exist, that is, between thought and speech. They said they were totally unacquainted with that kind of dichotomy, and that it was impossible for them to utter anything with the lips or to express anything in the face other than that which matched the affections of the heart; and that if it were other than this, they would be torn asunder and would perish.
[2] Those who have been like this in the world, that is to say, have understood truths and yet have led a life of evil, remain the same in the next life. But there they put their ability to understand truths to the misuse of gaining dominion over others; for there they know that in truths they have a means of communication with some communities of heaven, and consequently that they can exist among the evil and be strong; for truths in the next life have power within them. But because their life is one of evil they are in hell.
[3] I have talked to two who during their lifetime were like this. They were amazed they should be in hell even though they had believed very strongly in the truths of faith. But I told them that the light in them by which they understood truths was like that of winter in the world. I said that objects in all their beauty and colours were no less visible than in the light of summer; yet in that winter light everything died off and nothing at all pleasant and delightful showed itself. Then I told those two spirits that because the end they had in view to understanding truths had been their own exaltation and consequently had been a selfish end, the sphere emanating from their ends in view when these rose towards the interior heavens, to the angels there, who perceived solely people’s ends, could not be tolerated and were cast aside. This is why they were in hell.
[4] I went on to say that in former times people of this kind, more than any others, were called serpents of the tree of knowledge; for when life is the subject of their reasoning they speak against truths. They are, what is more, like a woman who has a lovely face but a foul stench, and who is therefore an outcast from society wherever she goes. Like her, when such people in the next life move towards angelic communities they are in actual fact emitting a stench, which even they themselves are aware of when they approach those communities. From this also one may see what faith is when devoid of the life of faith.
[2] But I was allowed to tell them that the Lord’s heaven is boundless and that it consisted of those from every people and language, and that all are in heaven in whom the good of love and faith has existed. I also showed them that those in heaven correlate with all the provinces of the body, both its exterior and its interior parts. But if their minds were set on anything beyond and out of keeping with their life, in particular if they were to condemn others outside their community, they could not receive heaven. For in this case their community is a community of interior friendship which, as has been stated, is such that when they get near others they dispossess them of the bliss which their spiritual affection gives them. They see these people as the ones who are not the elect and as those who are not living; and this thought, when it is communicated, leads to sadness. But in keeping with the law of order in the next life this sadness comes bade to themselves.
In the preliminary section of the previous chapter, in 4661-4664, an explanation was begun of what, in Matthew 25:31-end, the Lord said about judgement on the good and the evil, who are there called the sheep and the goats. What the internal sense of those words is has not yet been explained, but comes up for explanation now in the preliminary sections of this and a couple of chapters* following it. From these explanations it will be clear that by a last judgement in this parable He did not mean a last phase of the world, when – for the first time – the dead will rise again and will be gathered before the Lord and will be judged, but that He meant the last phase of a person passing over from the world to the next life, this point being his time of judgement. This is the judgement He meant. But none of this is seen from the sense of the letter, only from the internal sense. The reason the Lord spoke in the way He did is that He spoke using representatives and meaningful signs, as He has done everywhere else in the Old Testament Word and in the New. For to speak using representatives and meaningful signs is to speak simultaneously to the world and to heaven, that is, both to men and to angels. This kind of speech, being universal, is Divine and therefore proper to the Word. Consequently, those who are in the world and are interested only in worldly matters grasp nothing else from the words spoken by the Lord regarding a last judgement than the idea that everyone’s resurrection will take place at one and the same point in time, when the Lord will sit on a throne of glory and address those gathered together there in the words used in the parable. But those who are interested in heavenly matters know that each person rises again at the point in time when he dies, and that the Lord’s words in the parable carry the teaching that everyone will be judged according to what his life is, thus that everyone brings his judgement with him because he brings his life with him.
* The Latin means ‘several chapters’, but they are in fact only two.
When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. And before Him all nations will be gathered, and He will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will place the sheep at His right hand and the goats at the left.
[2] And an the holy angels with Him means the angelic heaven. ‘The holy angels’ in the internal sense are truths which come from the Lord’s Divine Good, for in the Word the expression ‘angels’ is not used to mean angels but things that are from the Lord, see 1925, 4085. Angels are recipients of the life of truth proceeding from the Lord’s Divine Good; and in the measure they receive it they are angels. From this it is evident that ‘angels’ means those truths. Because the subject here is the state of each person after death, and the judgement of each one according to what his life is, it is said that all the holy angels will be with Him, meaning that the judgement will be effected through heaven; for every influx of Divine Truth takes places through heaven. No one can receive a direct influx.
[3] Then He will sit on the throne of His glory means the judgement, for ‘throne’ is used to refer to the Lord’s kingship, and the Lord’s kingship is Divine Truth, 1728, 2015, 3009, 3670, Divine Truth being the starting-point and the standard of that judgement.
[4] And before Him all nations will be gathered means that every good and every evil of everyone will be disclosed – for ‘nations’ in the internal sense of the Word means forms of good, and in the contrary sense forms of evil, 1259, 1260, 1416, 2588 (end), 4574. Thus it is the showing up in Divine light – that is, in light flowing from Divine Truth – of every good and every evil that is meant by ‘before Him all nations will be gathered’.
[5] And He will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats means the separation of good from evil, for ‘the sheep’ are those in whom good is present, and ‘the goats’ those in whom evil is present. Strictly speaking the expression ‘the sheep’ is used to describe those in whom charity, and faith derived from charity, are present, ‘the goats’ to describe those in whom faith but no charity is present. Both these types of people are referred to here. As regards ‘the sheep’ meaning those in whom charity and faith derived from it are present, see 2088, 4169, and ‘the goats’ those in whom faith but no charity is present, 4769.
[6] And He will place the sheep at His right hand and the goats at the left means a separation into truths derived from good, and falsities derived from evil. Those governed by truths derived from good are also visibly present in the next life on the right, while those governed by falsities are on the left. Consequently being stationed on the right hand and on the left implies an ordering in which life is the determining factor.
GENESIS 38
1 And it happened at that time, that Judah went down from his brothers, and turned aside even to a man, an Adullamite; and his name was Hirah.
2 And there Judah saw the daughter of a man, a Canaanite, and his name was Shua; and he took her and came [in] to her.
3 And she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er.
4 And she conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan.
5 And yet again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah; and he was in Kezib as she was giving birth to him.
6 And Judah took a wife (mulier) for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.
7 And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the eyes of Jehovah, and Jehovah caused him to die.
8 And Judah said to Onan, Come [in] to your brother’s wife (uxor) and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her, and raise up seed for your brother.
9 And Onan knew that the seed would not be his; and so it was, when he came [in] to his brother’s wife (uxor), that he spilled it on the ground,* so that he should not provide seed for his brother.
10 And what he had done was evil in the eyes of Jehovah; and He caused him to die also.
11 And Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, Remain a widow in your father’s house, until Shelah my son is grown up; for he said, In case he also dies, like his brothers. And Tamar went and remained in her father’s house.
12 And the days were multiplied, and Shua’s daughter died, the wife of Judah; and Judah was comforted, and he went up to the shearers of his flock, he and his companion Hirah the Adullamite, to Timnah.
13 And it was pointed out to Tamar, saying, Behold, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his flock.
14 And she took off the clothes of her widowhood from upon her, and covered herself with a veil, and concealed herself, and sat in the gate of the fountains, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah had grown up, and she had not been given to him as a wife.
15 And Judah saw her and supposed that she was a prostitute, because she had covered her face.
16 And he turned aside to her at the wayside, and said, Allow me now to come [in] to you; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, What do you give me for coming [in] to me?
17 And he said, I will send a kid of the she-goats from the flock. And she said, If you give a pledge until you send it.
18 And he said, What is the pledge which I am to give you? And she said, Your seal, your cord, and your rod which is in your hand. And he gave them to her, and came [in] to her; and she conceived from him.
19 And she rose up and went, and took off her veil from upon her and put on the clothes of her widowhood.
20 And Judah sent the kid of the she-goats by the hand of his companion the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman’s hand; and he did not find her.
21 And he asked the men of her place, saying, Where is the harlot in the fountains on the wayside? And they said, There has been no harlot there.
22 And he returned to Judah and said, I did not find her; and also the men of the place said, There has been no harlot there.
23 And Judah said, Let her keep [them]; maybe we shall be put to shame. Behold, I sent this kid, and you did not find her.
24 And so it was about three months later, that it was pointed out to Judah, saying, Tamar your daughter-in-law has committed whoredom, and also, behold, she is pregnant owing to acts of whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her out, and let her be burnt.
25 She was brought out; and she sent to her father-in-law, saying, By the man to whom these belong I am pregnant. And she said, Acknowledge now to whom these belong, the seal and the cord and the rod.
26 And Judah acknowledged them and said, She is more righteous than I am, seeing that I have not given her to Shelah my son. And he did not know her ever again.
27 And it happened at the time she was giving birth, that behold, there were twins in her womb.
28 And it happened as she was giving birth, that one put out a hand; and the midwife took and bound on his hand a twice-dyed thread, saying, This one came out first.
29 And it happened as he drew back his hand, that behold, his brother came out; and she said, Why have you made a breach upon yourself? And he called his name Perez.
30 And afterwards his brother came out, on whose hand was the twice-dyed thread; and he called his name Zerah.
* lit. wasted [it] onto the earth
The internal sense deals in this chapter with the Jewish Church and the genuine Church. The Jewish Church is described by means of Judah, and the genuine Church by Tamar.
Verses 1-5 And it happened at that time, that Judah went down from his brothers, and turned aside even to a man, an Adullamite; and his name was Hirah. And there Judah saw the daughter of a man, a Canaanite, and his name was Shua; and he took her and came [in] to her. And she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er. And she conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan. And yet again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah and he was in Kezib as she was giving birth to him.
‘It happened at that time’ means the state belonging to the things that follow. ‘That Judah went down from his brothers’ means the descendants of Jacob, in particular the tribe of Judah which was separated from the rest. ‘And turned aside even to a man, an Adullamite’ means a turning to falsity. ‘And his name was Hirah’ means the nature of that falsity. ‘And there Judah saw the daughter of a man, a Canaanite’ means the affection for evil begotten by falsity springing from evil. ‘And his name was Shua’ means the essential nature of this. ‘And he took her and came [in] to her’ means that the tribe of Judah joined itself to these.
‘And she conceived and bore a son’ means that from this came the falsity of the Church. ‘And he called his name Er’ means the essential nature of that falsity. ‘And she conceived again and bore a son’ means evil. ‘And she called his name Onan’ means the essential nature of this. ‘And yet again she bore a son’ means idolatry. ‘And she called his name Shelah’ means the essential nature of this. ‘And he was in Kezib as she was giving birth to him’ means the state.
Judah said to his brothers, What profit’ is there in our killing our brother and our concealing his blood? Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites. Gen. 37:26, 27.
The meaning there is that Divine Truth was alienated by the brothers, especially by Judah, who at that point means in the proximate sense the tribe of Judah, and in general the corrupt within the Church who are opposed to all good whatever, see 4750, 4751. A reference back to this is contained in the words ‘at that time’. For now the subject is Judah, his sons by the Canaanite woman, and after these his sons by Tamar his daughter-in-law, all of which in the internal sense describes the tribe of Judah so far as things of the Church established among that tribe were concerned.
[2] As for ‘time’ meaning state, and ‘it happened at that time’ consequently
meaning the state belonging to the things that follow, this is bound to appear quite strange, for the reason that no one can comprehend how the idea of a time can be turned into that of a state; that is, how when reading ‘time’ in the Word one has to understand something to do with some state. But it should be realized that angels’ thoughts are not formed from anything having a temporal or a spatial origin, because they are in heaven. When they left the world they also left behind all idea of time and space and adopted ideas of state, that is, of the state in which good and truth exist. Therefore when a person reads the Word and from this thinks of a certain time and of the things taking place at that time, the angels present with him do not perceive anything to do with a certain time but instead the aspects of a state, to which those things also correspond.
Nor indeed with his interior thought does the reader conceive of a time, only with his exterior thought, as may be recognized from the state when a person’s exterior thought lies dormant, that is, while he is asleep, as well as from many other kinds of experience.
[3] But it should be realized that in general there are two kinds of state – a state involving good and one involving truth. The former is called a state of being (esse), but the latter a state of manifestation (existere), for being is the essential characteristic of good, and the manifestation of this the essential characteristic of truth. Space corresponds to a state of being, time to a state of manifestation. From this it may be seen that when a person reads this statement ‘and it happened at that time’, the angels present with him cannot perceive these words at all in the way that the reader does. Similarly with every other statement, for whatever has been written in the Word is such that among angels it is converted into a corresponding meaning which cannot at all be seen in the sense of the letter; for that which is worldly belonging to the sense of the letter is converted into that which is spiritual belonging to the internal sense.
[2] It is well known that the tribe of Judah was separated from the rest of the tribes. The reason for the separation was so that the tribe might represent the Lord’s celestial kingdom, and the rest of the tribes His spiritual kingdom. This being so, Judah also describes, in the representative sense, the celestial man, and in the universal sense the Lord’s celestial kingdom, 3654, 3881. The rest of the tribes however were referred to by the single term ‘the Israelites’, for in the representative sense Israel describes the spiritual man, and in the universal sense the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, 3654, 4286.
[3] The decline of the tribe of Judah into evil worse than that of the rest is the particular meaning of these words – ‘and Judah went down from his brothers, and turned aside’. The departure of the tribe of Judah into evil worse than that of the rest is clear from many places in the Word, in particular in the Prophets, as in Jeremiah,
Her treacherous sister Judah saw when, because of all the ways in which estranged Israel committed adultery, I sent her away and gave her a decree of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she also went and committed whoredom, so much so that with the voice of her whoredom she profaned the land; she committed adultery with stone and wood. Yet for all this treacherous Judah has not returned to Me. Estranged Israel has justified her soul more than treacherous Judah. Jer 3:7-11.
And in Ezekiel,
Her sister did indeed see, yet she corrupted her own love more than she, and her own acts of whoredom beyond her sister’s acts of whoredom. Ezek. 23:11-end.
These, in addition to many others elsewhere, are references to Jerusalem and Samaria, that is, to the tribe of Judah and the tribes of Israel.
[4] Described in the internal sense of this chapter is the way in which that tribe sank into falsity, and from this into evil, and at length into that which was wholly idolatrous. This, it is true, is described in the internal sense even before that tribe was separated from the rest and before it came to be as mentioned above. But that which is contained in the internal sense is Divine, and to the Divine future things are also present ones. See what was foretold about that nation in Deut. 31:16-21; 32:15-43.
I will again bring an heir to you, O inhabitant of Mareshah; even to Adullam the glory of Israel will come. Micah 1:15.
But because most things in the Word also have a contrary sense, so also does Adullam, in which case it means falsity coming from evil. The reason most things also have a contrary sense is that before the land of Canaan became an inheritance for the sons of Jacob it was occupied by nations who meant falsities and evils, as it also was subsequently when the sons of Jacob entered into what was contrary. For territories take on the same representations as those of the nations or peoples inhabiting them, in accordance with the essential nature of these.
[2] Here the origins of the tribe of Judah must be stated first, since these are the subject in this chapter. That tribe, or the Jewish nation, has three origins, the first being Shelah, Judah’s son by his Canaanite wife, the second and third being Perez and Zerah, Judah’s sons by his daughter-in-law. The descent of the whole Jewish nation from these three sons of Judah is evident from the list of Jacob’s sons and grandsons who accompanied him into Egypt, Gen. 46:12, and also from the grouping of them into families, referred to in Moses,
The sons of Judah according to their families were: of Shelah, the family of the Shelanites; of Perez, the family of the Parzites; of Zerah, the family of the Zarhites. Num. 26:20; 1 Chron. 4:21.
From this the nature of that nation’s origin is evident; that is to say, a third of them were descended from a Canaanite mother and two thirds from a daughter-in-law. They were all therefore the product of an illicit union, because marriages to daughters of the Canaanites were strictly forbidden – as may be seen in Gen 24:3; Exod. 34:16; Deut. 7:3; 1 Kings 11:2; and Chapters 9 and 10 of Ezra – while lying with a daughter-in-law was a capital offence, as is evident in Moses,
As regards a man who has lain with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall be killed; they have committed perversion;* their blood shall be upon them. Lev. 20:12.
What Judah and his daughter-in-law had done together was linked by him to the law regarding leviratical marriages, which lays down the duty of a brother but never of a father, as is evident from verse 26 of the present chapter. Judah’s linking of their deed together to this law implies that the sons of Tamar were to be recognized as the sons of Er the firstborn, who was born from the Canaanite mother, and who was evil in Jehovah’s eyes and was therefore made to die, verse 7. For initially those born in a leviratical marriage did not belong to the one from whom they had been conceived but to him whose seed was being raised up, as is clear from Deut. 25:5, 6, and also from verses 8 and 9 of the present chapter. Furthermore, the sons whom Tamar bore were the result of whoredom, for when Judah went in to her he thought she was a prostitute, verses 15, 16, 21. From all this one can see the origin of the Jewish nation and what kind of origin this was; and one can see that their words in John were founded on a lie,
The Jews said to Him, We were not born of whoredom. John 8:41.
[3] As regards what that origin implies and what it represents, this is evident from what follows. That is to say, those people’s interiors were the same or had the same origin. Judah’s marriage to a Canaanite implies and represents an origin that consisted in evil begotten by falsity springing from evil, for this is what is meant in the internal sense by ‘the daughter of a man, a Canaanite’. And his lying through whoredom with his daughter-in-law implies and represents condemnation due to truth falsified by evil, for throughout the Word ‘whoredom’ means the falsification of truth, see 3703.** Evil begotten by falsity springing from evil is an evil life resulting from a false teaching hatched by the evil of self-love – that is, by those governed by this evil – and backed up by a use of the sense of the letter of the Word. This is what the origin of the evil in the Jewish nation is like, and what the origin of the evil is like in the Christian world, especially among those meant in the Word by Babel. The nature of that evil is such that it closes every path leading into the internal man, closing every path so completely that no conscience at all can be formed there. For if any evil done by a person is due to a false teaching, he believes that this is good because he believes that it is true. He accordingly does it, because he has warrant to do so, with a sense of freedom and delight. All this being so, heaven is closed so completely against him that it cannot be opened.
[4] As an example to explain what this evil is like, take those who from the evil of self-love believe the following: One nation alone is Jehovah’s chosen people, in comparison with whom all the rest of mankind are slaves. The rest, they believe, are so base that they may be killed at will and may be treated in a cruel fashion. Such ideas, likewise backed up by a use of the sense of the letter of the Word, were the beliefs of the Jewish nation, as they are also of the Babylonish*** nation at the present day. Whatever kind of evil done by the latter that is the result of that false teaching, and of any other false teachings built on that one as their foundation, is evil begotten by falsity springing from evil. It destroys the internal man and shuts out even the possibility of any conscience being formed there. These people are referred to in the Word as those immersed in bloodshed; for they treat in savage ways the entire human race because it does not venerate what they believe and so themselves too, and because it does not present its gifts on their altars.
[5] Take another example – those who from the evil of self-love and love of the world believe in the necessity for someone to act as the Lord’s vicar on earth. They believe that this person has power to open and close heaven, and so to control everyone’s mind and conscience, and they back up this falsity by a use of the sense of the letter of the Word. In their case whatever kind of evil they perform as a result of these ideas is evil begotten by falsity springing from evil, which similarly destroys the internal man in those who are led by that evil to lay claim to that power and so control others. That evil destroys the internal man so completely that people cease to know any longer what the internal man is, or to know of the existence of conscience in anyone, with the result that they cease to believe any longer in a life after death, or in the existence of hell and of heaven, however much they talk about these.
[6] The nature of this evil is such that people in the world cannot tell it apart from other evils; but in the next life angels recognize it quite clearly. For in the next life the countless differences in the essential nature and the origin of evils and falsities are in full view; and it is also the genera and species to which these evils and falsities belong that mark off the hells from one another. Of these countless differences man knows scarcely anything. He believes in the existence of evil but has no knowledge of its essential nature, for the simple reason that he does not know what good is, and does not know what good is because he does not know what charity is. If he knew what the good of charity was he would also know its opposites, which are evils, and also their differences.
* lit. confusion
** Reading 3703 for 3708
*** i. e. Papal
[2] In the Word the expression ‘man and wife’ (vir et uxor) is used many times, as also is ‘husband and wife’ (maritus et uxor). When ‘man and wife’ is used, ‘man’ means truth and ‘wife’ good; or in the contrary sense ‘men’ means falsity and ‘wife’ evil. But when ‘husband and wife’ is used, ‘husband’ means good and ‘wife’ truth; or in the contrary sense ‘husband’ means evil and ‘wife’ falsity. The reason underlying this arcanum is this In the celestial Church good resided with the husband and the truth of that good with the wife; but in the spiritual Church truth resided with the man and the good of that truth with the wife: Such is and was the actual relationship between the two, for in human beings interior things have undergone this reversal. This is the reason why in the Word, when celestial good and celestial truth from this are the subject, they are called ‘husband and wife’, but when spiritual good and spiritual truth from this are dealt with, these are called ‘man and wife’, or rather ‘man and woman’ (vir et mulier). From this, as well as from the actual expressions used, one can come to know which kind of good and which kind of truth are being dealt with in the internal sense of the Word.
[3] Here also is the reason why it has been stated already in various places that marriages represent the joining of good to truth, and of truth to good. Furthermore conjugial love has its origin in these two joined together. Among celestial people conjugial love has its origin in good joined to truth, but among spiritual people in truth joined to good. Marriages also correspond in actual fact to these joinings together. From all this one may see what is implied by the father giving the first son his name, but the mother giving the second and also the third sons theirs, as is clear from the original language. The father named the first son because the first son meant falsity, while the mother named the second son because the second son meant evil.
[2] Yet a representative of the Church was nevertheless able to exist among such people because in that which is representative no attention is paid to the person who represents, only to whatever is represented, see 665, 1097 (end), 3670, 4208, 4281, 4288. Consequently their worship did not lead them to blessing and happiness in the next life, but merely to worldly prosperity, provided they adhered to those representatives and did not turn aside to the idols of the gentiles, and in so doing did not become openly idolatrous. For if they did it was no longer possible for that nation to represent anything at all of the Church. This then is what the idolatry, meant by Judah’s third son by his Canaanite wife, is describing. This idolatry among that nation had its origin in internal idolatry, for more than all others this nation was governed by self-love and love of the world, 4459 (end), 4570. Among those governed by self-love and love of the world internal idolatry exists, for they worship themselves and they worship the world. They pay attention to holy things for the sake of personal adoration and gain; that is, they have a selfish end in view, and do not have the Lord’s Church and kingdom, and so the Lord Himself, in view.
‘Judah took a wife’ means the Church which was for his descendants. ‘For Er his firstborn’ means falsity of faith. ‘And her name was Tamar’ means the essential nature of the Church – a Church representative of spiritual and celestial things. ‘And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the eyes of Jehovah’ means that it was immersed in falsity springing from evil. ‘And Jehovah caused him to die’ means that there was no representative of the Church. ‘And Judah said to Onan’ means so as to preserve a representative of the Church. ‘Come [in] to your brother’s wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her’ means that that representative might be continued. ‘And raise up seed for your brother’ means so that the Church does not perish. ‘And Onan knew that the seed would not be his’ means a loathing and hatred. ‘And so it was, when he came [in] to his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground’ means the reverse of conjugial love. ‘So that he should not provide seed for his brother’ means that this being so there was no continuation. ‘And what he had done was evil in the eyes of Jehovah’ means that it was contrary to Divine order. ‘And He caused him to die also’ means that again there was no representative of the Church.
* lit. wasted [it] onto the earth
Self-corrupted; not his sons; the blemish is theirs; a perverse and crooked generation. When Jehovah saw, and rejected – with more than indignation – His sons and His daughters. And He said, I will hide My face from them; I will see what their posterity will be, for they are a perverse generation, sons in whom there is no faithfulness. I will add evils upon them, I will expend My arrows on them; they will be exhausted with famine, and consumed with burning coal, and with bitter destruction. They are a nation from whom counsel has perished, in whom there is no intelligence; from the vine of Sodom comes their vine, and from the ploughed fields of Gomorrah, their grapes are grapes of gall, their dusters are bitterness. The poison of dragons is their wine, and the cruel gall of asps. Is not this stored up with Me, sealed up in My treasures? The day of their destruction is near, and the things to come upon them are hastening on. Deut. 32:5, 10, 20, 23, 24, 28, 32-35.
In the internal sense these words describe falsity springing from evil which existed among that nation, and the fact that this falsity was rooted deeply within them.
[2] What the law regarding the duty of a brother-in-law had been is clear in Moses,
If brothers dwell together but one of them dies, and has no son, the wife of the dead one shall not marry a stranger outside [the family]; her brother-in-law shall go in to her, and take her to himself as his wife, and so perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her. Then it will happen, that the firstborn whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, so that his name is not wiped out from Israel. But if the man is unwilling to take his sister-in-law, his sister-in-law shall go up to the gate to the elders, and she shall say, My brother-in-law refuses to raise up for his brother a name in Israel; he is unwilling to perform the duty of a brother-in-law for me. Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him; and if he stands and says, I do not desire to take her, his sister-in-law shall go up to him in the sight of the elders, and she shall remove his shoe from upon his foot and spit in his face; and she shall answer and say, So will it be done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house. Therefore his name will be called in Israel, The house of him who has his shoe taken off. Deut. 25:5-10.
[3] Anyone who does not know what the duty of a brother-in-law represents inevitably believes that the practice existed solely for the sake of preserving a name and consequently an inheritance. But the preservation of a name and an inheritance was not in itself a great enough reason why a brother should have been required to enter into a marriage with his sister-in-law. Rather, the practice was ordained so that the preservation and continuation of the Church might be represented through it. For a marriage represented the marriage of good and truth, which is the heavenly marriage. It therefore represented the Church too, for the Church is a Church by virtue of the marriage of good and truth, and when this marriage exists within it the Church makes one with heaven, which is the true heavenly marriage. And because a marriage represented these things, ‘sons and daughters’ were therefore representations and also meaningful signs of truths and goods. This being so, ‘being without issue’ meant a lack of good and truth, and so meant that no representative of the Church existed in that house any longer, and that as a consequence it was not in communion with the Church. In addition ‘brother’ represented a kindred good to which the truth represented by a widow might be joined. For to be the kind of truth that has life, produces fruit, and thereby continues that which constitutes the Church, truth cannot be joined to any other good but that which is its own and a kindred one. This was how those in heaven perceived the duty of a brother-in-law.
[4] The meaning of this practice – of a sister-in-law removing the shoe from upon the foot of the man who refused to do the duty of a brother-in-law, and of her spitting in his face – was this: Anyone devoid of good and truth, external and internal, would destroy those things that constitute the Church; for ‘the shoe’ means that which is external, 1748, and ‘the face’ that which is internal, 1999, 2434, 3527, 4066, 4796. From this it is evident that ‘the duty of a brother-in-law’ represented the preservation and continuation of the Church. But when through the Lord’s Coming representatives of internal things came to an end, that particular law was done away with. It is like a person’s soul or spirit in relation to his body. A person’s soul or spirit is the internal part of him and his body the external; or what amounts to the same, the soul or spirit is the true likeness of the person, whereas the body is merely a representative image of him. When a person rises again his representative image or that which is external, namely his body, is cast aside, for he is now conscious in that which is internal, namely the true likeness of him. It is also like a person who is in darkness and from there looks at things belonging to light; or what amounts to the same, like one who is in the light of the world and from there looks at things belonging to the light of heaven. For the light of the world in comparison with the light of heaven is as darkness. Within that darkness, that is, within the light of the world, things belonging to the light of heaven as they exist essentially cannot be seen, but are seen so to speak within a representative image, even as the human mind is seen in a person’s face. Therefore when the light of heaven is seen in its own essential brightness, the darkness of representative images is dispelled. This was effected through the Lord’s Coming.
[4835a] ‘And raise up seed for your brother’ means so that the Church does not perish. This is clear from the meaning of ‘seed’ as truth derived from good, or faith grounded in charity, dealt with in 1025, 1447, 16110, 1940, 2848, 3310, 3373, 3671. The same is also meant by the firstborn who was to succeed to the name of the dead brother, 352, 367, 2435, 3325, 3494. ‘Raising up seed for a brother’ means continuing that which constitutes the Church, in line with what has been stated just above in 4834, and thus means so that the Church does not perish.
[2] Nothing of true marriage meant both in a spiritual sense and in a natural one existed with that nation. This is quite evident from the fact that men were permitted to marry more than one wife; for where a marriage meant in a spiritual sense exists – that is, where the good and truth of the Church exist, consequently where the Church exists – that practice is not at all permitted. Genuine marriage cannot possibly exist except among those with whom the Lord’s Church or kingdom exists, yet not with these except between pairs, 1907, 2740, 3246. The marriage of a pair in whom genuine conjugial love is present corresponds to the heavenly marriage, that is, to good and truth joined together. That is to say, the husband corresponds to good and the wife to the truth of that good. Also, when genuine conjugial love is present in them, that heavenly marriage is present too. Therefore where the Church exists men are never permitted to marry more than one wife. But because no Church existed among those descended from Jacob, only that which was a representative of the Church – that is, the external shell of the Church without its internal substance, 4307, 4500 – they were therefore permitted to have more than one. Furthermore the marriage of one husband to a number of wives would present in heaven an idea or image in which so to speak one good was joined to a number of truths which do not agree with one another, and so an image in which there was no good at all. For when its truths do not agree with one another good ceases to be good, since good receives its particular nature from truths and their agreement with one another.
[3] It would also present an image in which so to speak the Church was not one Church but many, set apart from one another along the lines of the truths of faith, that is, along doctrinal lines, when in fact the Church is one if good is the essential element there and this receives its particular nature from truths and is so to speak moderated by these. The Church is an image of heaven, because it is the Lord’s kingdom on earth. Heaven consists of many distinct and separate general communities, and of smaller ones subordinate to these general ones; nevertheless good makes them a united whole. Good there enables the truths of faith to stand in agreement with one another; for these look to good and are grounded in it. If the truths of faith and not good were the lines along which parts of heaven were separated from one another, heaven would cease to be heaven, because there would not be any unanimity at all. For their oneness of life or unity in soul could not come to them from the Lord and exist among them. That oneness dwells solely within good, that is, within love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour. Love binds everyone together, and when the love of what is good and true is present in each individual, everyone shares that which comes from the Lord, so that the Lord is the One who binds everyone together. The love of what is good and true is called love towards the neighbour, for the neighbour is one with whom good and accompanying truth are present, and in the abstract sense good itself and its truth. From these considerations one may see why within the Church marriage must be a relationship involving one husband and one wife, and why the descendants of Jacob were permitted to marry more than one wife. They were permitted to do so for the reason that no Church existed among them, and therefore a representative of the Church could not be established among them by means of marriages, because the reverse of conjugial love reigned among them.
* The printed text has 4835, but the Latin is 4834.
[2] Everyone realizes that evil is contrary to Divine order and good is in keeping with it. Divine Order is the Lord Himself in heaven, for Divine Good and Truth received from Him constitute order. They do this so completely that they are order, Divine Good being the essential element of it and Divine Truth the form given to this. When represented in a visible shape Divine order is seen as a Human Being, for the Lord alone who is the producer of it is Man, 49, 288, 477, 565, 1871, 1894, 3638, 3639. And insofar as angels, spirits, and men are recipients of Him, that is, insofar as good and accompanying truth are present in them, thus insofar as His Divine order is present there, they are human beings. This is the reason why the whole of heaven represents one complete human being, called the Grand Man, and every single thing in the human being corresponds to it, as has been shown at the ends of chapters. It also explains why all the angels in heaven are seen in a human shape; but evil spirits on the other hand are deluded into seeing one another as human beings, whereas in the light of heaven they look like monsters, ever more dreadful and horrid, depending on the evil which governs them, 4533. The reason for this is that evil itself is contrary to order and so contrary to the human form. For as has been stated, when represented in a visible form, Divine order looks like a human being.
‘Judah said’ means in general the descendants of Jacob, specifically those descended through Judah. ‘To Tamar his daughter-in-law’ means a Church representative of spiritual and celestial things, which is called ‘a daughter-in-law’ from truth. ‘Remain a widow in your father’s house’ means the alienation of this Church from the Jewish Church. ‘Until Shelah my son is grown up’ means until the time. ‘For he said’ means thought. ‘In case he also dies, like his brothers’ means fear lest it should perish. ‘And she remained in her father’s house’ means the alienation of this Church from the Jewish Church.
[2] As regards ‘a daughter-in-law’ in the internal sense of the Word meaning the truth of the Church linked to its good, and consequently in the contrary sense meaning the falsity of the Church linked to its evil, this may also be seen from places in the Word where the expression ‘daughter-in-law’ is used, as in Hosea,
They offer sacrifice on mountain-tops and burn incense on hills, under oak. and poplar, and hard oak, because its shade is good. Therefore your daughters commit whoredom, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery. Shall I not punish* your daughters, in that they commit whoredom and your daughters-in-law in that they commit adultery? Hosea 4:13, 14.
This refers to the worship of evil and falsity, the worship of evil being meant by ‘offering sacrifices on mountain-tops’ and the worship of falsity by ‘burning incense on hills’. A life of evil is meant by ‘daughters committing whoredom’, and the teaching of what is false from which a life of evil results is meant by ‘daughters-in-law committing adultery’. As regards acts of adultery and whoredom in the Word meaning adulterations of what is good and falsifications of what is true, see 2466, 2727, 3399. ‘Daughters-in-law’ therefore stands here for affections for falsity.
[3] In Micah,
The great man utters the perversity of his soul. and he twists it out of shape. The best of them is like a brier, the upright like a thorn-bush. The son treats the father with contempt, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are those of his own household. Micah 7:3, 4, 6.
This refers to falsity that is the offspring of evil and which exists with the Church in the last times when it has been laid waste, in the proximate sense as it existed with the Jewish Church. ‘The daughter rises up against her mother’ means that the affection for evil stands opposed to truth, and ‘the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’ that the affection for falsity stands opposed to good.
[4] Because the experience of a person undergoing temptations is of a similar nature to this – for in temptations a conflict takes place between evil and truth and between falsity and good, spiritual temptations being nothing else than experiences when the falsity and evil present in a person are laid waste – temptations or spiritual conflicts are described by the Lord in practically the same words,
Jesus said, Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be these of his own household. Matt. 10:34-36, 38.
The words from the Prophet that are similar to these, quoted a little above them, meant the laying waste of the Church. But here the temptations of those who belong to the Church are meant, for, as has been stated, temptations are nothing else than experiences in which falsity and evil are laid waste or taken away. For this reason also temptations as well as vastations are meant and described by deluges and floods of waters, 705, 739, 756, 790. Here also therefore ‘daughter against mother’ means the affection for evil standing opposed to truth, and ‘daughter-in-law against mother-in-law’ the affection for falsity standing opposed to good. Now because the evils and falsities present with a person undergoing temptation exist inwardly, or are his own, they are called members of his own household in the words ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household’. The fact that temptations are described in this passage is evident from the Lord’s saying that He had not come to bring peace on earth but a sword; for ‘a sword’ means truth engaged in conflict, and in the contrary sense falsity engaged in conflict, 2799, 4499. (Yet He did come to bring peace, John 14:27; 16:33.) The description of temptations in this passage is also clear from what the Lord goes on to say – ‘He who does not take up his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me’.
[5] Similarly in Luke,
Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division; for from now on there will be in one house five divided, three against two, and two against three. Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. Luke 12:51-53.
From these words too it is evident that ‘father’, ‘mother’, ‘son’, ‘daughter’, ‘daughter-in-law’, and ‘mother-in-law’ mean the kinds of things that originate in the heavenly marriage, namely goods and truths in their own order, and also their opposites; as also in Mark,
Jesus said, There is no one who has forsaken house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or fields, for the sake of Me and of the Gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold, now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. Mark 10:29, 30.
Anyone unacquainted with the internal sense of the Word will think that ‘house’, ‘brothers’, ‘sisters’, ‘father’, ‘mother’, ‘wife’, ‘children’, and ‘fields’ mean house, brothers, sisters, father, mother, wife, children, and fields. But the meaning here is this: The kinds of things present in a person which are properly his own must be forsaken by him, and instead of these, spiritual and celestial things which are the Lord’s must be received by him. This change is effected by means of temptations, which are meant here by ‘persecutions’. Anyone can see that if he forsakes his mother he is not going to receive mothers, nor likewise to receive brothers and sisters by forsaking these.
* lit. visit
[2] ‘A widow’ also means the truth of the Church without its good; for in the representative sense ‘a wife’ means truth and ‘a husband’ good, 4823, 4843, and therefore ‘a wife without a husband’ means the truth of the Church without its good. This being so, when it is said in reference to Tamar that she should remain in the house of her father, the meaning is that the truth of the Church would be alienated, and also that it would not find acceptance in his house, even as the Jewish nation could not accept it because not good but evil was present among that nation.
[3] A widow is referred to many times in the Word; but anyone unacquainted with the internal sense inevitably thinks that ‘a widow’ means a widow. In the internal sense ‘a widow’ means the truth of the Church without good, that is, people who have truth that is without good but who nevertheless have a desire for good, who consequently love to be led by good; for ‘e husband’ means good which ought to take the lead. In the Ancient Church people like these were meant in the good sense by ‘the widowed’, whether they were women or men. For the Ancient Church distinguished the neighbour to whom charity was to be performed into many separate classes. Some were called the poor, some the wretched and afflicted, some the bound and in prison, some the blind and the lame, and others strangers, orphans, and widows. It performed different charitable works, whichever were appropriate to the character each class possessed. The teachings of that Church showed them what those works were, for that Church had no other teachings than these. Therefore whenever those living in those times either taught or wrote, they did so in conformity with these teachings, so that when they spoke of ‘widows’ they meant none but the kind of persons among whom truth existed without good but who nevertheless had a desire to be led to good.
[4] From this it is also evident that the teachings of the Ancient Church were ones that had to do with charity and the neighbour, and that all its religious knowledge and factual knowledge existed to enable people to know what was meant spiritually by external things. For the Church was representative of spiritual and celestial things, and therefore it was these spiritual and celestial things, represented and meant by that Church, that people came to know about through the Church’s teachings and through its factual knowledge. But those teachings and factual knowledge have become at the present day completely wiped out, so completely indeed that there is no knowledge of their having existed. For their place has been taken by teachings to do with faith which, if widowed and separated from those to do with charity, have virtually nothing to teach. For teachings to do with charity show what good is, but those to do with faith show what truth is. Teaching what truth is without what good is amounts to walking like someone blind, it being good that is the teacher and leader, truth the one that is taught and led. Between the two kinds of teaching there is a vast difference, as great as that between light and darkness. If the darkness is not lightened by means of the light, that is, if truth is not lightened by good, or faith by charity, it is nothing but darkness. For this reason no one knows intuitively, nor consequently by perception, whether truth is the truth; he knows it only from what he was taught and what he absorbed in childhood and substantiated in adult years. This also explains why Churches are so much at variance with one another, one giving the name truth to that which another calls falsity, and are never in agreement.
[5] The meaning in the good sense of ‘widows’ as people who have truth existing without good but who nevertheless have a desire to be led by good may be seen from places in the Word where widows are mentioned, as in David,
Jehovah who executes judgement for the oppressed, who gives bread to the starving, Jehovah who sets the bound free; Jehovah who opens the blind [eyes]; Jehovah who lifts up the bowed down; Jehovah who loves the righteous; Jehovah who guards sojourners, upholds the orphan and the widow. Ps. 146:7-9.
This refers, in the internal sense, to those whom the Lord furnishes with truths and leads to good. But some of them are called the oppressed, some the starving, while others are called the bound, the blind, the bowed down, sojourners, orphans and widows, each name appropriate to the character of the ones to whom it is applied. No one however can know what each particular nature is except from the internal sense; but the teachings of the Ancient Church showed what any particular nature was. Here, as in many other places, sojourner, orphan, and widow are referred to jointly because ‘a sojourner’ means those who wish to be furnished with the truths of faith, 1463, 4444, ‘an orphan’ those with whom good exists without truth but who have a desire to be led to good by means of truth, and ‘a widow’ those with whom truth exists without good and who have a desire to be led to truth by means of good. These three are referred to jointly here and elsewhere in the Word because in the internal sense they form a single group, for all three together mean those who wish to be taught and to be led to good and truth.
[6] In the same author,
A father of the orphans, and a judge of the widows, is God in the habitation of His holiness. Ps. 68:5.
‘The orphans’ stands for those with whom, like young children, the good that goes with innocence is present but no truth as yet. The Lord is said to be ‘a father’ of these because He leads them like a father; He leads them by means of truth into good, that is to say, into the good constituting life or wisdom. ‘The widows’ stands for those who as adults know the truth but are not as yet doing good. The Lord is said to be ‘a judge’ of these because He leads them; He leads them by means of good into truth, that is to say, into the truth constituting intelligence. For by ‘a judge’ a leader is meant. Good without truth, meant by ‘an orphan’, is made into good filled with wisdom by means of teaching about truth; and truth without good, meant by ‘a widow’, is made into truth filled with intelligence by means of a life of good.
[7] In Isaiah,
Woe to those decreeing decrees of iniquity, to turn aside the poor from judgement and to carry off into judgement the wretched of My people, so that widows may be their spoil and so that they may make orphans their prey. Isa. 10:1, 2.
Here ‘the poor’, ‘the wretched’, ‘widows’, and ‘orphans’ do not mean those who are literally so but those who are spiritually such. Now because in the Jewish Church, as in the Ancient, everything was representative, so also was doing good to orphans and widows, for doing good to these represented in heaven charity towards those who are orphans and widows in the spiritual sense.
[8] In Jeremiah,
Do judgement and righteousness, and deliver the plundered out of the hand of the oppressor; and do not defraud the sojourner, the orphan, and the widow, and do not use force, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. Jer. 22:3.
Here also ‘the sojourner, the orphan, and the widow’ means those who are spiritually such. In the spiritual world or heaven they do not know who a sojourner, orphan, or widow is, for the condition of such persons there is not the same as what it had been in the world. When therefore these words are read by man, angels perceive the spiritual or internal meaning they possess.
[9] Similarly in Ezekiel,
Behold, the princes of Israel, each according to his power,* have in you been intent on shedding blood; in you they have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have dealt with the sojourner by means of oppression; in you they have defrauded the orphan and the widow. Ezek. 22:6, 7.
Also in Malachi,
I will draw near to you to judgement, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against those who swear falsely, and against oppressors of the hireling in his wages, of the widow and the orphan, and [against] those who turn aside the sojourner, and do not fear Me. Mal. 3:5.
Similarly in Moses,
You shall not press down a sojourner or oppress him. You shall not afflict any widow or orphan. If you do indeed afflict him, and if he indeed cries out to Me, I will surely hear his cry, and My anger will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, so that your wives become widows, and your children orphans. Exod. 22:21-24.
[10] This, like every other commandment, judgement, and statute in the Jewish Church, was representative. Also, members of that Church were tied down to things of an external nature so that they would observe that command, and by means of their observance of it they represented the inner spirit of charity, even though they themselves had no charity, that is, they did not act from any inner affection. An inner spirit flowed from an affection to furnish with truths those who were without knowledge, and to lead those people to good by means of truths. If they had done this, members of the Jewish Church would have been doing good, in a spiritual sense, to the sojourner, orphan, and widow. But so that what was external might be kept going for the sake of what it represented, the curses declared on Mount Ebal included ‘turning aside the judgement of the sojourner, the orphan, and the widow’, Deut. 27:19. ‘Turning aside the judgement of these’ stands for doing the reverse, that is, leading through teaching and life to falsity and evil. Also, because taking goods and truths away from others, and then making them one’s own so as to enhance one’s own position and gain, was included among curses, the Lord therefore said,
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees! for you devour widows’ houses, and for a presence you make long prayers; on account of this you will receive greater condemnation.** Matt. 23:14; Luke 20:47.
‘Devouring widows’ houses’ stands for taking truths away from those who have a desire for them, and teaching them falsities.
[11] To leave for the sojourner, orphan, and widow that which remained in fields, olivegroves, and vineyards, Deut. 24:19-22, was likewise representative. So too was the command that when they had finished paying the tithes of their produce in the third year, the people should give to the sojourner, orphan, and widow, so that they ate within their gates and were satisfied, Deut. 26:12, 13. It being the Lord alone who teaches a person and leads him to good and truth, it is said in Jeremiah,
Leave your orphans, I will keep them alive; and the widows will trust in Me. Jer. 49:10, 11.
And in Moses,
Jehovah executes judgement for the orphan and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him bread and clothing. Deut. 10:18.
‘Bread’ stands for the good of love, 2165, 2177, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, and ‘clothing’ for the truth of faith, 4545, 4763.
[12] It is recorded in 1 Kings 17:1-17 that Elijah was sent, when there was a famine because there was no rain in the land, to a widow in Zarephath. He asked her for a little cake, which she had to make for him first and give it to him; after that she was to make one for herself and her son. When she did so her jar of meal was not used up and her cruse of oil did not run dry. All this was representative, like everything else recorded about Elijah, and in general throughout the Word. ‘A famine in the land because there was no rain’ represented truth laid waste within the Church, 1460, 3364; ‘a widow in Zarephath’ those outside the Church who have a desire for truth; ‘a cake which she had to make for him first’ the good of love to the Lord, 2177, whom, from the very little she had, she was to love above herself and her son. ‘The jar of meal’ means truth derived from good, 2177, and ‘the cruse of oil’ charity and love, 886, 3728, 4582. ‘Elijah’ represents the Word, by means of which such things are effected, 2762.
[13] The same is also meant, in the internal sense, by the Lord’s words in Luke,
No prophet is accepted in his own country. In truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, while there was a great famine over the whole land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them, except to a woman – a widow – in Zarephath of Sidon. Luke 4:24-26.
That is, he was sent to those outside the Church who had a desire for truth. But ‘widows’ within the Church that had been laid waste, to whom Elijah was not sent, are those with whom no truth exists because no good does so; for where there is no good neither is there any truth. However much among those people truth seems to outward appearance like truth it is nothing more so to speak than a shell without any nut in it.
[14] Those among whom this kind of truth exists, also those among whom falsity exists, are meant by ‘widows’ in the contrary sense, as in Isaiah,
Jehovah will cut off from Israel head and tail, the branch and the bulrush in one day. The old and the honourable in face is the head, and the prophet, the teacher of a lie, the tail. Therefore the Lord will not rejoice over its young men, and He will not have compassion on its orphans and its widows. Isa 9:14, 15, 17.
In Jeremiah,
I will winnow them with a winnowing-fork in the gates of the land; I will bereave, I will destroy My people; they have not turned from their ways. Their widows are increased to Me more than the sand of the seas. I will bring to them, against the mother of the young men, one who lays waste at midday. She who bore seven languishes; she has breathed her last. Her sun is going down while it is still day. Jer. 15:7-9.
In the same prophet,
Our inheritance has been turned over to aliens, our houses to foreigners. We have become orphans with no father; our mothers are widows. Lam. 5:2, 3.
[15] Because ‘widows’ meant those with whom no truth existed because no good did so, it was therefore shameful for Churches to be called widows, even those Churches governed by falsities springing from evil, as in John,
In her heart she said, A queen I sit, and I am no widow, and shall not see mourning. On account of this in one day will her plagues come, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned with fire. Rev. 18:7, 8.
This refers to Babel. A similar reference to Babel occurs in Isaiah,
Hear this, you lover of pleasures, sitting securely, saying in her heart, I am, and there is no one else like me; a widow I shall not sit, nor shall I know loss of children. But these two things will come to you in a moment in one day – loss of children and widowhood. Isa. 47:8, 9.
[16] From these quotations one may now see what is meant by ‘a widow’ in the internal sense of the Word. One may see that since ‘a widow’ represented and consequently meant the truth of the Church without its good – for ‘a wife’ meant truth and ‘a husband’ good – priests in the Ancient Churches, in which every single thing was representative, were therefore forbidden to marry any widow who was not a priest’s widow, as the following in Moses declares,
The high priest shall take a wife in her virginity; a widow or a woman that has been put away or one defiled or a prostitute, these he shall not take, but a virgin of his own people shall he take as his wife. Lev. 21:13-15.
And in the references to a new temple and a new priesthood in Ezekiel,
Priests the Levites shall not take as wives for themselves a widow or a woman that has been put away, but virgins from the seed of the house of Israel; but a widow who is the widow of a priest may they take. Ezek. 44:22.
For ‘the virgins’ whom they were to marry represented and consequently meant the affection for truth, and ‘the widow of a priest’ the affection for truth from good, since ‘e priest’ in the representative sense is the good of the Church. For this reason also any widow [who was the daughter] of a priest and who had no children was allowed to eat some of the offerings or holy things, Lev. 22:12, 13.
[17] Those who belonged to the Ancient Church knew this meaning of ‘a widow’ from the teachings of the Church, for among them these teachings had to do with love and charity, which included countless matters which at the present day have become completely wiped out. From them they knew which particular kind of charitable act they were required to perform – that is, which service they ought to render towards the neighbour – for those who were called ‘widows’, for those who were called ‘orphans’, for those who were called ‘sojourners’, and so on. From their religious knowledge of truth and from factual knowledge they had a discernment and a knowledge of what the ritual observances of their Church represented and meant. The learned among them knew what it was that things on earth and in this world represented, for they recognized that the whole natural creation was a theatre representative of the heavenly kingdom, 2758, 2989, 2999, 3483. Such knowledge raised their minds up to heavenly things, and the teachings of their Church led the way to life. But after the Church turned aside from charity to faith, more so after it separated faith from charity, and made faith without charity and the works of charity the bringer of salvation, their minds could no longer be raised up by means of religious knowledge to heavenly things, nor be led by any means of the teachings of the Church to life. Indeed the decline has been so great that in the end scarcely anyone believes in a life after death, and scarcely anyone knows anything about heaven. Also, there is no belief at all in the existence of a spiritual sense of the Word which is not visible in the letter. In this way people’s minds have become closed.
* lit. arm
** lit. more abundant judgement
[2] Such being the nature of that nation, a representative Church like that which had existed among the ancients could not be established among it, only that which was a representative of the Church. Also, the Lord made provision so that through that representative of the Church some degree of communication with heaven might be established; for what is representative can exist even in people who are evil because one does not look at the person who represents, only at the reality represented by him. From this it is evident that in the case of that nation worship was nothing else than idolatrous, 4825, even though the representatives held holy and Divine realities within them. To that kind of worship – to idolatrous worship – what was internal could not be joined; for if what was internal had been linked to it, that is, if they had acknowledged internal things, they would have rendered holy things unholy. For a holy internal, if joined to an idolatrous external, is rendered unholy.
This explains why internal things were not disclosed to that nation, for if these had been disclosed to it, it would have perished.
[3] The inability of that nation to receive and acknowledge internal things, however fully these might have been revealed to them, is quite evident from members of it at the present day. At the present day they do, it is true, have a knowledge of internal things since they live among Christians; yet they reject these things and also deride them. Even the majority of those who have been converted do nothing else in their hearts. From these considerations it is clear that a Church representative of spiritual and celestial things did not exist among that nation, only a representative of the Church, that is, an external without an internal, which in itself is idolatrous. From them it may also be seen how mistaken is the thinking of those Christians who believe that when the Church reaches its end the Jewish nation will be converted, and will at that time be chosen in preference to Christians. Even more mistaken is the thinking of those who believe that at that time the Messiah or Lord is going to appear to them, when by means of a great prophet and great miracles He is going to lead them back into the land of Canaan. These are the errors that people fall into who take ‘Judah’, ‘Israel’, and ‘the land of Canaan’ in the prophetical parts of the Word to mean Judah, Israel, and the land of Canaan, and who consequently believe the literal sense alone and have no interest in any internal sense
‘The days were multiplied’ means a change of state. ‘And Shua’s daughter died’ means so far as evil begotten by falsity was concerned. ‘The wife of Judah’ means the semblance of religion existing among the nation descended from Jacob, specifically that from Judah. ‘And Judah was comforted’ means rest. ‘And he went up to the shearers of his flock’ means some kind of raising up to consult the interests of the Church. ‘He and his companion Hirah the Adullamite’ means that falsity was present with it still. ‘To Timnah’ means the state. ‘And it was pointed out to Tamar, saying’ means some kind of communication with the Church that was representative of spiritual and celestial things. ‘Behold, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his flock’ means that the Jewish Church had a wish to consult its own interests. ‘And she took off the clothes of her widowhood from upon her’ means an imitation of truth that springs from good. ‘And covered herself with a veil’ means the truth was rendered obscure. ‘And concealed herself’ means and so was not acknowledged. ‘And sat in the gate of the fountains, which is on the road to Timnah’ means that which lies between the truths of the Church and falsities. ‘For she saw that Shelah had grown up, and she had not been given to him as a wife’ means the insight that it could not otherwise be joined to the semblance of religion existing with those descended from Jacob, specifically those descended through Judah.
[2] Such is the internal sense within these words, but this sense cannot in any way be seen from the letter, for when these descriptions are read the mind thinks of Judah, Timnah, and the shearing of a flock, not of spiritual entities separate from person, place. or worldly use. But living as they do amid spiritual things, angels do not perceive from these descriptions anything else than the spiritual realities that have been mentioned. For when the literal sense passes over into the spiritual sense the things descriptive of person, place, or the world fade and those descriptive of the Church, its state, and the uses served there take their place.
[3] It indeed seems to be unbelievable that all this can be so. But it is so because, as long as a person is living in the world, his thought is based on natural and worldly ideas, not on spiritual or celestial ones. Also, those who are immersed in bodily and earthly interests do not even know of the existence of anything spiritual or anything celestial, let alone that these are distinct and separate from what is worldly or natural, when in fact they are as distinct as a person’s spirit is from his body. Nor do they know that the spiritual sense lives within the literal sense as a person’s spirit does within his body, and that like a person’s spirit the spiritual sense continues to live when the literal sense fades away. Therefore the internal sense may be called the soul of the Word.
[2] Something similar was also represented by the skin on Moses’ face shining when he came down from Mount Sinai, so that he covered himself with a veil every time he spoke to the people, Exod. 34:28-end. Moses represented the Word that is called the Law, see Preface to Chapter 18; and that is why sometimes the expression ‘the Law and the Prophets’ is used, as in Matt. 5:17; 11:13; 22:36, 40, and sometimes ‘Moses and the Prophets’, as in Luke 16:29, 31; 24:27, 44. The skin shining on his face represented the inner reality of the Word, for ‘the face’ means that which is internal, 358, 1999, 2434, 3527, 4066, 4796, 4797; for being spiritual, that inner reality dwells in the light of heaven. The veiling of his face every time he spoke to the people represented the fact that for members of that nation internal truth was covered and thus was rendered obscure so that they would not be exposed to any light at all from it.
‘Judah saw her’ means the way in which at that time the semblance of religion existing among the Jewish nation looked on the internal features of the representative Church. ‘And supposed that she was a prostitute’ means that it supposed them to be nothing else than something false. ‘Because she had covered her face’ means that interior things were hidden from them. ‘And he turned aside to her at the wayside’ means that it associated itself because of what it was by nature. ‘And said, Allow me now to come [in] to you’ means a lustful desire to be connected with it. ‘For he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law’ means that it did not see it as the truth of the representative Church. ‘And she said, What do you give me for coming [in] to me?’ means a conditional acceptance to become joined. ‘And he said, I will send a kid of the she-goats from the flock’ means a pledge assuring a joining together. ‘And she said, If you give me a pledge until you send it’ means an acceptance provided it was made a certainty. ‘And he said, What is the pledge that I am to give you?’ means that which made it certain. ‘And she said, Your seal’ means a token of consent. ‘Your cord’ means through truth. ‘And your rod which is in your hand’ means through the power of this. ‘And he gave them to her’ means that in this way it was made certain. ‘And came [in] to her’ means the joining together. ‘And she conceived from him’ means and so reception.
[2] The fact that the Jewish nation looked, as also at the present day it looks, on the internal features of the Church as nothing else than falsities is meant by Judah’s supposition that Tamar his daughter-in-law was no one else than a prostitute and by his connection with her as with a prostitute. This origin of that nation represents the origin and also the essential nature of their semblance of religion. It is plain to see that this nation looks on the internal aspect of the Church as a harlot, that is, as something false. For example, if anyone tells them it is an internal truth of the Church that the Messiah, who is foretold in the prophetical parts of the Word and whom they await, is the Lord, they completely reject this as something false. If anyone tells them it is an internal truth of the Church that the Messiah’s kingdom is not a worldly and temporal but a heavenly and eternal one, they declare this too to be something false. If anyone tells them that the ritual observances of their Church represented the Messiah and His heavenly kingdom they have no idea what this is.
[3] If anyone tells them that the internal aspect of the Church is the good of charity and the truth of faith, both in doctrine and at the same time in life, they regard this as nothing else than a falsity. And so it is with every other truth told them. Indeed at the mere suggestion of an internal aspect of the Church they laugh nonsensically. The reason for this is that they are immersed solely in things of an external nature, and indeed in the lowest of these, which consist in the love of earthly things; for more than all others they are steeped in avarice, which is utterly worldly. Such people cannot possibly look on the interior features of the Church in any other way, since they are further removed than all others from the light of heaven, and so more than all others dwell in thickest darkness.
[2] All who believe solely the external sense of the Word, that is, its literal sense, and completely cast aside the whole internal – that is, spiritual – sense link themselves to internal truth as to a prostitute. This is above all the case among those who employ the external or literal sense of the Word to lend support to the desires that belong to their self-love and love of the world, that is, the desires for rule and gain. Those who behave like this cannot do other than look on internal truth in that kind of way; and if they attach themselves to it they do so with a lustful desire, like that for connection with a prostitute. Members of the Jewish nation in particular do this, and so also do those meant in the Word by Babel. But those people are different who do, it is true, have a simple belief in the literal sense of the Word, yet lead lives in keeping with what is contained in the internal sense. That is to say, they are people with whom love and charity exist, and also faith derived from these (for these three are the subject in the internal sense of the Word); also they are people who base their teachings on these. For the internal sense and the external sense come together in the two commandments, to love the Lord above all things and one’s neighbour as oneself.
[3] Let some examples show that the Jewish nation regards internal truth as a prostitute, and that if it associates itself with that truth it does so from a lustful desire akin to that for a connection with that kind of woman. If, for example, they are told that the Word is holy, indeed most holy, and also that every part of a letter there is holy, they acknowledge and associate themselves with what is said; yet they do so from that kind of lustful desire. For they believe that holiness lies within the actual letter of the Word and not that holiness is something which enters by means of the Word when people with an affection for what is good and true read it.
[4] If they are told that many of those mentioned in the Word are to be revered as holy ones – such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, or David – they acknowledge and associate themselves with this. But they do so from a like lustful desire, for they believe that these historical figures were chosen in preference to others and are on that account holy ones, who ought therefore to be worshipped as gods. Any holiness attached to these figures however is due solely to the fact that they represented the Lord. No one by being a holy representative undergoes a change of personality; indeed one can go further and say that without exception everyone’s life after death is the same as before it.
[5] If they are told that the ark among them, the temple, the altar of burnt offering, the altar of incense, the bread on the table, the lampstand with its lamps, the continual fire, the sacrifices, the incense, the oil, and also Aaron’s vestments, especially the breastplate with the urim and thummim on it, were holy, they acknowledge this and associate themselves with it, but from the same kind of lustful desire. For they believe that all these objects were inherently holy, thus that wood, stone, gold, silver, bread, and fire were so; they believe that they had holiness in them because Jehovah was within them. That is to say, they believe that the holiness of Jehovah which was attached to these objects resided in actual fact within them. This is their internal truth, which however is falsity when compared with genuine truth; for holiness exists solely within good and truth which, being from the Lord, reside within love to Him and love towards the neighbour, and from these within faith. It accordingly exists only within the living, that is, within those who accept these gifts from the Lord.
[6] If they are told that the Christian Church is one with the Church that was established among them but that the Christian was internal whereas theirs was external, so that when the external features of the Church established among them are peeled away and it is laid bare, the Christian Church is seen, they do not acknowledge this truth as anything else than a harlot, that is, as something false. Nevertheless many of them who are converted from Judaism to Christianity associate themselves with this truth; but they do so from a lustful desire. Many times in the Word these kinds of things are called acts of whoredom. As regards those however who are meant in the Word by ‘Babylon’, they likewise look in a similar way on the internal truths of the Church; yet because they have a knowledge of internal things, and in addition acknowledge these during childhood but in adult life refuse to do so, they are described in the Word by means of foul acts of adultery and unmentionable sexual unions; for they are forms of profanation.
It happened after a while,* in the days of the wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid of the she-goats; for he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. Judg 15:1.
Much the same situation is described here in Genesis; but as the promised kid of the she-goats was not going to be accepted by her, Tamar asked for a pledge. The expression ‘pledge assuring a joining together’ is used, not a conjugial pledge, because on Judah’s side the joining together was as it is with a prostitute.
* lit. after days
[2] The joining of internal truth to something external, that is, to the semblance of religion existing among the Jewish nation, is represented by Tamar’s being joined to Judah as a daughter-in-law joined to her father-in-law under the pretext that the duty of a near kinsman was being performed. But the joining of the semblance of religion existing among the Jewish nation to the internal aspect of the Church is represented by Judah’s being joined to Tamar as to a prostitute. This is exactly what these joinings together are like, but it is not so easy to give an intelligible explanation of the essential nature of them. Their essential nature is laid quite bare before the eyes of angels and good spirits, for it is set before them in the light of heaven. In this light the arcana of the Word are laid bare in broad daylight so to speak, quite unlike their appearance in the light of the world which man sees by. Let just a brief word be said about this. The representatives which had been established among the descendants of Jacob were not exactly the same as those which existed in the Ancient Church. For the most part they were like those in the Church established by Eber, which was called the Hebrew Church. Within this Church many new forms of worship existed, such as burnt offerings and sacrifices, which had been unknown in the Ancient Church, and other forms besides these. To these representatives the internal aspect of the Church was not linked in the way it had been to the representatives of the Ancient Church. But in what way the internal aspect of the Church was linked to the representatives among the Jewish nation, and these representatives to that internal aspect, is described in the internal sense by Tamar’s being joined to Judah as a daughter-in-law to her father-in-law under the pretext that the duty of a near kinsman was being performed, and by Judah’s being joined to Tamar as to a prostitute. Regarding the Hebrew Church, see 1238, 1241, 1327, 1343, 3031, 4516, 4517; and for information about the sacrifices offered in this Church not being a feature of the Ancient Church, 923, 1128, 1343, 2180, 2818.
Every open vessel on which there is no covering [or] cord [to fasten it] is unclean. Num. 19:15.
By this was meant that nothing should exist without having an outer limit, for that which does not have an outer limit is ‘open’. Furthermore outermost truths serve as the outer limit and terminus of interior truths.
[2] That ‘a rod’ represented power is evident, as has been stated, from what is recorded about Moses,
He was commanded to take a rod and use it to perform miracles; so he took the rod of God in his hand. Exod. 4:17, 20.
When the waters in Egypt were struck with the rod, they turned to blood.
Exod. 7:15, 19.
When the rod was stretched out over the streams, frogs came forth. Exod. 8:5-15.
When the dust was struck by the use of the rod, it turned into lice. Exod. 8:16-20.
When the rod was stretched out towards heaven, hail fell. Exod. 9:23.
When the rod was stretched out over the earth, locusts came forth. Exod. 10:3-21.
Since ‘the hand’, which means power, comes first, while ‘a rod’ is merely its instrument, the following references to ‘the hand’ also occur:
The miracles happened when Moses’ hand was stretched out. Exod. 10:12, 13. When he stretched out his hand towards heaven, thick darkness came over the land of Egypt. Exod. 10:21, 22. When he stretched out his hand over the Sea Suph, an east wind made the sea dry land; and when again he stretched out his hand, the waters returned. Exod. 14:21, 26, 27.
[3] Reference is in addition made to the rod being used to strike the rock at Horeb, after which water flowed out, Exod. 17:5, 6; Num. 20:7-10. Also, when Joshua was about to fight against Amalek,
Moses said to Joshua, Choose men for us, and go out, fight with Amalek; tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill, with God’s rod in my hand. And it happened, that when Moses lifted up his hand, Israel prevailed, and when he let down his hand Amalek prevailed. Exod 17:9-11.
From these references it is quite plain that ‘a rod’, like the hand, represented power, and in the highest sense the Lord’s Divine almighty power. It is also evident that at that time representatives constituted the external features of the Church, and that its internal features – which were spiritual and celestial realities such as exist in heaven – corresponded to those external ones, which owed their efficacy to that correspondence. From this it is also evident how crazy those people are who believe that power had been infused into and therefore dwelt in Moses’ rod or hand.
[4] The meaning in the spiritual sense of ‘a rod’ as power is also evident from many places in the Prophets, as in Isaiah,
Behold, the Lord Jehovah Zebaoth is taking away from Jerusalem rod and stay, the whole rod of bread, and the whole rod of water. Isa. 3:1.
‘The rod of bread’ stands for the support and power provided by the good of love, ‘the rod of water’ for the support and power provided by the truth of faith. For ‘bread’ means the good of love, see 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735; and ‘water’ the truth of faith’ 28, 680, 739, 2702, 3058, 3424. ‘The rod of bread’ is used with a similar meaning in Ezekiel 4:16; 5:16; 14:13; Ps. 105:16.
[5] In addition to this, in Isaiah,
The Lord, Jehovih Zebaoth, said, Do not be afraid – O My people, inhabitant of Zion – of Asshur, who will smite you with a stick and will lift up the rod over you in the way of Egypt. Jehovah will lift up the scourge against him, as when Midian was smitten in the rock of Oreb, and his rod will be over the sea, which he will lift up in the way of Egypt. Isa. 10:24, 26.
Here ‘the rod’ stands for power provided by reasoning and knowledge, like that which those people possess who, with ideas based on factual knowledge, reason against the truths of faith and pervert these or else treat them as worthless. This is what is meant by ‘the stick with which Asshur will smite’ and by ‘the rod which he will lift up in the way of Egypt’. For ‘Asshur’ means reasoning, see 1186, and ‘Egypt’ knowledge, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462.
[6] Similarly in Zechariah,
The pride of Asshur will be thrown down, and the rod of Egypt will depart. Zech. 10:11.
In Isaiah,
You relied on the rod of a bruised reed, on Egypt, which, when anyone leans on it, goes into his hand and pierces it. Isa. 36:6.
‘Egypt’ stands for factual knowledge, as above; and power in spiritual things which is received from that knowledge is meant by ‘the rod of a bruised reed’. By ‘the hand which it enters and pierces’ is meant power received from the Word. In the same prophet,
Jehovah has broken the rod of the wicked, the stick of those who have dominion. Isa. 14:5
‘The rod’ and ‘the stick’ plainly stand for power.
[7] In Jeremiah,
Grieve, all regions surrounding Moab; say, How is the rod of strength, the rod of beauty, broken! Jer 48:17.
‘The rod of strength’ stands for power received from good, and ‘the rod of beauty’ for power received from truth.
[8] In Hosea,
My people enquire of their piece of wood, and their rod gives them a reply, for the spirit of whoredom has led them astray. Hosea 4:12.
‘Inquiring of a piece of wood’ stands for consulting evils, ‘the rod gives reply’ for the fact that falsity results from these, its power being derived from the evil to which they give support. ‘The spirit of whoredom’ stands for the life of falsity resulting from evil. In David,
Even when I walk in the valley of the shadow I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your stick and Your rod comfort me. Ps. 23:4.
‘Your stick and your rod’ stands for Divine truth and good, which have power. In the same author,
The rod of the wicked will not rest on the lot of the righteous. Ps. 125:3.
[9] In the same author,
You will break them in pieces with a stick of iron, you will dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Ps. 2:9.
‘A stick of iron’ stands for the power of spiritual truth within the natural, for all natural truth that has spiritual truth present within it possesses power. ‘Iron’ means natural truth, 425, 426. Similarly in John,
He who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations to rule* them untie a stick of iron as when earthen pots are broken in pieces. Rev. 2:26, 27. (Also Rev. 12:5; 19:15.)
[10] Because ‘a rod’ represented the power of truth, that is, the power of good expressed by means of truth, kings therefore had sceptres; and those sceptres were shaped like short rods. For kings represent the Lord as regards truth, while kingship itself means Divine Truth, 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3670, 4581. The sceptre means the power which is theirs not by virtue of their high position but of truth which must reign. Nor must this be any other kind of truth than that which is grounded in good, and so is primarily Divine Truth, and among Christians is the Lord, the source of all Divine Truth.
* lit. pasture
‘She rose up’ means a raising up. ‘And went’ means life. ‘And took off her veil from upon her’ means the obscurity. ‘And put on the clothes of her widowhood’ means intelligence. ‘And Judah sent the kid of the she-goats’ means a conjugial pledge. ‘By the hand of his companion the Adullamite’ means by means of falsity. ‘To receive the pledge from the woman’s hand’ means instead of external pledges. ‘And he did not find her’ means because nothing of marriage existed on his side. ‘And he asked the men of her place, saying’ means that truths were consulted. ‘Where is the harlot?’ means as to whether it was something false. ‘In the fountains on the wayside’ means that had the appearance of being something true. ‘And they said’ means perception received from truths. ‘There has been no harlot there’ means that it was not something false. ‘And he resumed to Judah’ means reflection. ‘And said, I did not find her’ means that by falsity this cannot be discovered. ‘And also the men of the place said, There has been no harlot there’ means perception received from truths that it was not something false. ‘And Judah said, Let her keep [them]’ means that he was no longer interested. ‘Maybe we shall be put to shame’ means even though subject to reproach. ‘Behold, I sent this kid’ means it is enough that a pledge exists. ‘And you did not find her’ means even if nothing of marriage exists.
[2] I have on occasions spoken to spirits about these appearances, but those who are not governed by good, nor consequently by truth, do not wish to listen when told it is but an appearance that they live self-dependently; for their wish is to live self-dependently. But in addition to showing them from actual experience that they do not lead self-dependent lives and that every advance made from one place to another is a change to, and an advance made in, their state of life, I have also told them that for them it may be sufficient for them to know no other than that they live self-dependently, and that their life would be life no more if they did not live self-dependency. It would nevertheless be better for them to know what the situation really is, for in that case they would have the truth; and if they have the truth they also dwell in the light of heaven, since the light of heaven is the truth itself which flows from the Lord’s Divine. Furthermore, if the truth existed with them in this way they would not claim that good was their own, nor would evil cling to them. Angels possessing that truth do not merely know it; they also have a perception of it.
[3] Intervals of time and space in the spiritual world are states of life, and every spark of life has its origin in the Lord, as the following experience may show. Each spirit and angel sees on his right those who are good and on his left those who are evil; this is so in whatever direction he turns himself. If he turns and looks eastwards he sees the good to the right and the evil to the left. The same happens if he turns and looks to the west, and likewise to the south or the north. This is the case with every spirit or angel, so that if there were two, and one of these turned and looked to the east and the other did so to the west, each would still see the good on his right and the evil on his left. Those far removed from, even behind the backs of, those who behold them are seen in those unchanging positions. From these considerations one may deduce clearly that every spark of life has its origin in the Lord, that is, that the Lord is within the life of everyone; for in the spiritual world the Lord is seen as the Sun, the good or sheep being on His right, and the evil or goats on His left. The same is therefore the case with each spirit or angel, for the reason, as stated, that the Lord exists in every spark of life. This is bound to look like a paradox to man, for as long as he is in the world man has ideas that are formed from worldly things, and therefore from what is spatial and temporal. But as stated above, in the spiritual world no ideas are formed from what is spatial and temporal but from the state belonging to affections and the thoughts flowing from these. It is for this reason also that the intervals of space and time in the Word mean states.
[2] To enable the implications of all this to be seen a brief explanation is necessary. When a person knows the truth it is not truth constituting intelligence until he is led by good; but when he is led by good it starts to become the truth of intelligence. For truth does not receive its life from itself but from good; and truth receives its life from good when the person lives in conformity with that truth. When he does this, truth injects itself into the intentions of his will, and from these into his actions, and so into the entire person. Truth that is merely known or grasped intellectually by a person remains excluded from his will, and so from his life since the intentions of a person’s will constitute his life. But once he is intent on truth it stands at the gateway into his life; and when he is intent on it and therefore practices it, that truth is present within the entire person. Then, when his practice of that truth is frequent its reappearance is attributable not merely to habit but also to an affection for it and so to a free desire to practise it. Let anyone at all consider whether anything can be taken in by a person apart from that which he is intent on putting into practice. That which he merely thinks about but does not actually do, more so that which he thinks about but does not wish to do, is nothing else than something which remains excluded from that person, and is also driven away like a straw by the smallest puff of wind, and is actually blown away in that manner in the next life. From this one can know what faith without works is. These considerations now show what truth constituting intelligence is, namely truth which is rooted in good. Truth is the characteristic feature of the understanding and good that of the will; or what amounts to the same, truth is the substance of doctrine and good that of life.
[2] Does anyone at the present day believe anything other than this, that the Church existed among the Jewish nation, indeed that this nation was chosen and loved in preference to all others, the chief reasons for such belief being that so many and such great miracles were performed among that nation, so many prophets were sent to it, and also the Word existed among it? Yet that nation possessed nothing at all of the Church within it, for no charity existed there; of what genuine charity was they were completely unaware. Nor did any faith in the Lord exist there. It knew that He was to make His coming, but believed that this was to set it above all people throughout the world. As this did not happen it rejected Him altogether. Of His heavenly kingdom it had no wish to know anything at all. The things which constitute the internal features of the Church were not even acknowledged in what that nation taught, let alone in its life. From all this one can only conclude that no Church at all existed within that nation.
[3] It is one thing for the Church to exist among a nation, and another for the Church to exist within a nation. For example, the Christian Church exists among those who have the Word and use doctrine to preach about the Lord. Yet no Church at all exists within them if no marriage of good and truth is present in them, that is, if charity towards the neighbour and faith rooted in this is not present in them, thus if the internal features of the Church are not present within the external ones. Those with whom solely external features separated from internal are present do not have the Church within them. Nor do those with whom faith separated from charity is present have the Church within them. Neither do those who acknowledge the Lord in their teachings but not in life have the Church within them. From this example it is evident that it is one thing for the Church to exist among a nation, and another for it to do so within a nation.
[4] The subject in the internal sense of this chapter is the Church among the Jewish nation and within that nation. The essential nature of the Church existing among that nation is described by Tamar’s being joined to Judah under the pretext that the duty of a near kinsman was being performed, while the essential nature of the Church existing within that nation is described by Judah’s being joined to Tamar as a prostitute. But a more detailed explanation of these matters is abandoned here for the reason given above, that it would enter, as stated, the unlit parts of the understanding. The accommodation of these matters in the unlit parts of the understanding is evident from the fact that at the present day scarcely anyone knows what the internal aspect of the Church is. This internal aspect is essentially charity towards the neighbour present within the intentions of a person’s will, and from these in his actions, and from these again in faith within his perception; yet who knows this? When this is unknown, more so when it is denied, as is done by people who make faith without the works of charity the bringer of salvation, how unlit must those parts of the mind be, into which the ideas pass that are stated here in the internal sense about the joining of the internal aspect to the external aspect of the Church among the Jewish nation and within that nation? Those who have no knowledge of the existence of that internal and so essential aspect of the Church stand far removed from the first step towards understanding such ideas, and as a consequence from the countless, indescribable things existing in heaven, where realities connected with love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour constitute every trace of life, and consequently every trace of wisdom and intelligence.
‘So it was about three months later’ means a new state. ‘That it was pointed out to Judah’ means communication. ‘Saying, Tamar your daughter-in-law has committed whoredom’ means a perception at this point that to say anything of marriage exists between them is a falsity. ‘And also, behold, she is pregnant owing to acts of whoredom’ means, or to say anything can be brought forth from this. ‘And Judah said’ means the verdict of the semblance of religion existing among the Jewish nation. ‘Bring her out, and let her be burnt’ means that it should be exterminated. ‘She was brought out’ means near to being carried out. ‘And she sent to her father-in-law’ means an intimation. ‘Saying, By the man to whom these belong I am pregnant’ means that this characteristic was contained in their semblance of religion. ‘And she said, Acknowledge now to whom these belong, the seal and the cord and the rod’ means that one could recognize it from the pledges. ‘And Judah acknowledged them’ means that because these were theirs they affirmed that they were. ‘And said, She is more righteous than I am’ means that no joining of what was external to what was internal existed, only what was internal to what was external. ‘Seeing that I have not given her to Shelah my son’ means because what was external was of such a nature. ‘And he did not know her ever again’ means that there was no further joining together.
[2] The reason periods of time mean states is that in the next life such periods do not really exist. Spirits’ and angels’ lives do, it is true, seem to move forward within a time-sequence; but periods of time play no part in the formation of their thought, as those periods do in the formation of men’s in the world. Rather, states of life contribute to the formation of their thought, without the help of any temporal notion. Also, a further reason why such periods of time mean states is that consecutive stages in the lives of spirits and angels are not distinguished as separate times of life. For those in the next life do not age; nor are there any days or years there because the Sun there – the Lord – is always rising and never sets. Consequently no temporal notion can enter their thinking, only the notion of a state and of the stages by which this moves forward It is the things present and taking place before people’s senses that are the source of the notions gained by them.
[3] These matters are bound to look like a paradox, but the reason they do so is that every single idea present in a person’s thought has something of time and space attached to it. These are the source of what is in his memory and of what he recollects, and they are the source of his lower level of thought, consisting of ideas called material ones. But the memory from which such ideas are recollected is quiescent in the next life. Those who are in the next life use their interior memory and the ideas present in the thought there. Thought flowing from this interior memory does not have any temporal or spatial content, but instead of this states and the stages by which those states move forward. Consequently periods of time correspond to these, and because they correspond periods of time are used in the Word to mean states. For details about man’s possession of an exterior memory which belongs properly to him while in the body, and also of an interior memory which belongs properly to his spirit, see 2469-2494.
[4] The reason ‘about three months later’ means a new state is that ‘months’, into which periods of time in the world are also divided, means state, and that, as mentioned above, ‘three’ means the last and at the same time the first, or the end and at the same time the beginning. Because in the spiritual world states are constantly moving forward from one into another, and as a consequence the last phase or end of each state includes the first phase or beginning of the next, resulting in a continuous sequence, ‘about three months later’ therefore means a new state. The same applies within the Church too, which is the spiritual world or the Lord’s kingdom on earth. The last phase of the Church among one nation is always the first phase of the Church among another. Because a last phase is in this way continued into a first, the Lord is spoken of several times as the Last and the First, as in Isa. 41:4; 44:6; Rev. 21:6; 22:13; and by this is meant in the relative sense that which is perpetual, and in the highest sense that which is eternal.
[2] The fact that the Jewish nation were confined to what was external devoid of anything internal, so that it believed what was true to be falsity, and conversely what was false to be the truth, is quite evident from their teaching that one was allowed to hate an enemy and also from their life of hating all who did not belong to their semblance of religion. Indeed it is quite evident from their belief that they pleased and served Jehovah when they treated gentile nations in a savage and cruel fashion, that is to say, when they exposed the bodies of those whom they had slaughtered to be devoured by wild animals or birds, cut up those who were still alive, hacked them to pieces with iron picks and axes, or made them pass through the brickkiln, 2 Sam. 12:31. Indeed their teachings asserted that even an ally who for some reason had been declared an enemy was to be treated in much the same way. From these considerations it becomes quite clear that nothing internal at all lay within their semblance of religion. If anyone at that time had told them that such actions were contrary to the inner spirit of the Church they would have replied that this was a falsity. The fact that they were confined to what was external, having no knowledge at all of anything internal and leading lives contrary to what was internal, is also evident from what the Lord teaches in Matthew 5:21-48.
[2] That nation had no knowledge at all of rebirth or regeneration, that is, of becoming an internal man, and as a consequence saw this as ‘a harlot’. Such ignorance may be seen from Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, in John 3:1-13, for he said,
How can a person be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born? John 3:4.
It is well known that the Lord revealed the internal truths of His kingdom and of His Church. Even so, those truths had been known to the ancients, such as the truth that a person needed to be born again, so that he could enter into life; the truth that in this case he needed to cast aside the old man, that is, self-love and love of the world together with their lusts, and to put on the new man, that is, love towards the neighbour and towards God; and the truth that heaven needed to exist within the regenerate person; and many more truths that were internal ones. Those who belonged to the Ancient Church knew these truths, but they were led to know them through external representatives. However, because among the Jewish nation such truths had become completely lost the Lord presented those same truths in His teaching. Actual representatives were done away with by Him since the majority of them had regard to Himself; for the image must pass away when the actual likeness presents itself.
[3] The Lord therefore established a new Church which was not to be led to know internal truths, as that former Church had been led, by means of representatives but was to know them without the help of representatives. In place of these representatives He ordained certain external forms, baptism and the Holy Supper. Baptism was ordained so that it might enable people to call regeneration to mind, and the Holy Supper so that it might enable them to bring to mind the Lord and His love towards the entire human race, and man’s reciprocation of His love. These matters have been mentioned so that it may be recognized that the internal truths of the Church which the Lord taught had been known to the ancients but that among the Jewish nation they had become completely lost, so completely that they were regarded to be nothing else than falsities.
[2] If they are told that every one of the ritual observances of their Church are inwardly holy, they affirm this truth because they regard those observances to be their own. But if they are told that such holiness dwells within, yet is separate from those observances, they refuse to accept this. If they are told that the Jewish Church was celestial and the Israelitish Church spiritual, and if they are given an explanation of what the celestial is, and what the spiritual is, they affirm that also. But if they were told that these two Churches are called celestial and spiritual from the fact that all the particular aspects of them were representative of celestial and spiritual things, and that representatives have regard to the reality represented, not to the one who represents it, they refuse to accept it. If they are told that Moses’ rod had power from Jehovah, and so had Divine power within it, they affirm this and call it the truth. But if they are told that this power did not lie in the rod, only in the Divine command, they refuse to accept it and call it a falsity.
[3] If they are told that the bronze serpent lifted up by Moses healed those who were bitten by the serpents and that this object was for that reason miraculous, they affirm it. But if they are told that no healing or miraculous power lay within it but these came from the Lord whom that object represented, they refuse to accept this and call it a falsity. (Compare what has been narrated and stated about that serpent in Num. 21:7-9; 2 Kings 18:4; John 3:14, 15.) They react in the same way to everything else they are told. These are the kinds of things that are meant by ‘Judah acknowledged them’ and which on the part of the nation meant by him were joined to that internal aspect of the Church represented by ‘Tamar’. Also, such being the nature of those things, Judah did not go in to her as a near kinsman going in to a dead husband’s wife but as a fornicator going in to a prostitute.
‘It happened at the time’ means the subsequent state. ‘As she was giving birth’ means acknowledgement on the part of internal truth. ‘That behold, there were twins in her womb’ means the two essentials of the Church. ‘And it happened as she was giving birth’ means a bringing forth. ‘That one put out a hand’ means power. ‘And the midwife took’ means the natural. ‘And bound on his hand a twice-dyed thread’ means that a sign was placed on it – ‘twice-dyed’ meaning good. ‘Saying, This one came out first’ means that it had priority of place. ‘And it happened as he drew back his hand’ means that it concealed its own power. ‘That behold, his brother came out’ means the truth of good. ‘And she said, Why have you made a breach upon yourself?’ means this truth’s apparent separation from good. ‘And he called his name Perez’ means the essential nature of it. ‘And afterwards his brother came out’ means good which in actual fact is prior. ‘On whose hand was the twice-dyed thread’ means the acknowledgement that good is such. ‘And he called his name Zerah’ means the essential nature of it.
[2] Since ‘going out of the womb’ means rebirth, and therefore the Church, the Lord is called in the Word ‘He who formed from the womb’ and ‘He who brought out of the womb’, and those who have been regenerated and become the Church are said ‘to have been carried from the womb’, as in Isaiah,
Thus said Jehovah. your Maker. He who formed you from the womb, and who helps you. Isa. 44:2.
In the same prophet,
Thus said Jehovah, your Redeemer, He who formed you from the womb. Isa. 44:24.
In the same prophet,
Thus said Jehovah. who formed me from the womb to be His servant, to bring back Jacob to Him, and that Israel might be gathered to Him. Isa. 49:5.
In David,
Jehovah who brought me out of the womb. Ps. 22:9.
In Isaiah,
Hearken to Me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel who have been carried from the womb, and borne from the belly. Isa. 46:3.
In David,
The wicked are alienated from the womb, and go astray from the belly, with lying words. Ps. 58:3.
Here ‘being alienated from the womb’ means alienation from the good fostered by the Church, and ‘going astray from the belly’ straying from the truth. In Hosea,
The pains of childbirth will come upon him, he is an unwise son, for now he does not present himself at the womb of sons. Hosea 13:13.
‘Not presenting himself at the womb of sons’ stands for not coming to the good of truth fostered by the Church.
[3] In the same prophet,
Their glory will fly away like a bird, away from birth, from the belly, and from conception. Hosea 9:11.
This means that the truth of the Church will perish fully – ‘from birth’ being that to which birth is given, ‘from the belly’ that which is undergoing gestation, ‘from conception’ that which is taking rise. In Isaiah,
I knew that you would certainly act treacherously, and that you were called [a man] of transgression from the womb. Isa 48:8.
This means that from the time when the Church first began he was like this. In John,
A great sign was seen in heaven – a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet. and on her head a crown of twelve stars. Carrying in the belly however, she cried out in labour, and was in anguish to give birth. Rev. 12:1, 2.
‘The woman’ is the Church, 252, 253, 255. ‘The sun’ with which she was clothed is the good of love, 30-38, 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495, 4060, 4696; ‘the moon’ which was under her feet is the truth of faith, 30-38, 1529, 1530, 2120, 2495, 4696; ‘the stars’ are cognitions of good and truth, 2495, 2849, 4697 – there being ‘twelve stars’ because ‘twelve’ means all things, thus all aspects of faith, 577, 2089, 2129 (end), 2130 (end), 3272, 3858, 3913; ‘carrying in the belly’ is the truth of the Church that had been conceived; ‘being in labour and in anguish to give birth’ is the fact that it was received with difficulty.
[2] As regards ‘twice-dyed’ meaning spiritual good, this is evident from places in the Word where this expression is used, as in Jeremiah,
If therefore you have been laid waste, what will you do? If you clothe yourself in twice-dyed and deck yourself with ornaments of gold, in vain will you make yourself beautiful; your lovers will abhor you. Jer. 4:30.
This refers to Judah. ‘Clothing yourself in twice-dyed’ stands for spiritual good, ‘decking yourself with ornaments of gold’ for celestial good. In 2 Samuel,
David lamented over Saul and over Jonathan, and wrote it down that they teach the children of Judah the bow. Daughters of Israel, weep over Saul who clothed you in twice-dyed delicately,* and placed an ornament of gold on your apparel. 2 Sam. 1:17, 18, 24.
Here ‘teaching the bow’ stands for teaching the doctrine of love and charity, for ‘the bow’ means that doctrine. ‘Clothing in twice-dyed’ stands for spiritual good, as previously, and ‘placing an ornament of gold on one’s apparel’ for celestial good.
[3] Such being the meaning of ‘twice-dyed’, instructions were also given to use twice-dyed scarlet on the curtains of the Dwelling-place, the veil, the covering for the door of the tent, the covering to the gate of the court, the table of the Presence when they were about to set out, Aaron’s sacred vestments such as the ephod, the breastplate of judgement, and the fringes of the robe of the ephod:
The curtains of the Dwelling-place
You shall make for the Dwelling-place ten curtains – fine-twined linen, and violet and purple and twice-dyed scarlet. Exod 26:1.
The veil
You shall make a veil of violet and purple, and of twice-dyed scarlet, and of fine-twined linen. Exod 26:31.
The covering for the door of the tent
You shall make a covering for the door of the tent, of violet and purple and twice-dyed scarlet, and of fine-twined linen. Exod 26:36.
[4] The covering to the gate of the court
For the gate of the court you shall make a covering of violet and purple and twice-dyed scarlet, and fine-twined linen, the work of an embroiderer. Exod 27:16.
The table of the Presence when they were about to set out
When the camp sets out they shall spread over the table of the Presence a cloth of twice-dyed scarlet, and shall cover this with a covering of badger skin. Num. 4:8.
The ephod
You shall make an ephod out of gold, violet and purple, and twice-dyed scarlet, fine-twined linen, the work of a craftsman; and the girdle similarly. Exod. 28:5, 6, 8; 39:2, 3.
The breastplate of judgement
You shall make the breastplate of judgement, the work of a craftsman, like the work of the ephod, out of gold, violet, and purple. and twice-dyed scarlet, and fine-twined linen. Exod. 28:15.
The fringes of the robe of the ephod
Pomegranates of violet, and purple, and twice-dyed scarlet. Exod. 28:33.
[5] It was because the Tent of Meeting with the Ark in it represented heaven that the colours mentioned in these places were required. They meant in their order celestial and spiritual things, as follows: ‘Violet and purple’ meant celestial kinds of good and truth, ‘twice-dyed scarlet and fine-twined linen’ spiritual kinds of good and truth. Anyone believing that the Word is holy can recognize that each has a specific meaning, and anyone believing that the Word is holy for the reason that it has been sent down from the Lord by way of heaven can recognize that the celestial and spiritual things belonging to His kingdom are meant. Similar instructions were given, in cleansings from leprosy, to use ‘cedarwood, scarlet, and hyssop’, Lev. 14:4, 6, 52; and to cast ‘cedarwood and hyssop and twice-dyed of purple’ on to the fire in which the red heifer was being burned, from which the water of separation was prepared, Num. 19:6.
[6] The profanation of good and truth is described by similar words in John,
I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names. It had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet. and covered** with gold and precious stones and pearls. holding in her hand a golden cup, full of abominations and the uncleanness of whoredom. Rev. 17:3, 4.
And after this,
Woe, woe, the great city, you that were clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and covered’ with gold and precious stones and pearls. Rev. 18:16.
This refers to ‘Babel’ by which the profanation of good is meant, 1182, 1283, 1295, 1304, 1306-1308, 1321, 1322, 1326, in this case the profanation both of good and of truth, which is ‘Babylonian’. Among the Prophets in the Old Testament ‘Babel’ describes the profanation of good and ‘Chaldea’ the profanation of truth.
[7] In the contrary sense ‘scarlet’ means the evil that is the contrary of spiritual good, as in Isaiah,
Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow. Though they are red as crimson,*** they will be as wool. Isa. 1:18.
The reason ‘scarlet’ means this evil is that ‘blood’, likewise, because of its red colour, in the genuine sense means spiritual good or charity towards the neighbour, and in the contrary sense violence done to charity, 374, 1005.
* lit. with delights
** lit. gilded
*** lit. purple
[2] The Jews and also some Christians do, it is true, believe that these, along with all other descriptions in the Word, contain some hidden meaning which they call mystical, the reason for that belief being the holiness, so far as the Word is concerned, which has been impressed on them since early childhood. But when asked what that mystical meaning may be, they do not know. One may tell them that because the Word is Divine the mystical meaning within it must of necessity be the kind of meaning the angels in heaven understand, and that the Word cannot have any other mystical content, or if it does, that content would be either mythical, magical, or idolatrous. One may in addition tell them that this mystical meaning understood by the angels in heaven is nothing else than what is called spiritual and celestial, the sole subject of which is the Lord, His kingdom and the Church, and consequently good and truth, and that if they knew what good and truth were, or what love and faith were, they would also be acquainted with that mystical sense. Yet scarcely any Jew or Christian believes any of this when told it. Indeed members of the Church are so lacking in knowledge at the present day that any mention of that which is celestial and spiritual is barely intelligible to them. But even so, because in the Lord’s Divine mercy I have been allowed to be simultaneously in heaven as a spirit and on earth as a man, and consequently to talk to angels, doing so now without a break for many years, what else can I do but disclose those things which are called the mystical contents of the Word, that is, its interiors, which are the spiritual and celestial things of the Lord’s kingdom? What the details recorded here hold within them in the internal sense – the details regarding Tamar’s two sons – will be stated in what follows below.
[2] From this one error very many others have been derived which have infected not only what is taught but also life, such as the error that no matter what kind of life a person leads he can be saved provided he has faith. A further derivative error is that very wicked people are accepted into heaven provided that in the final hour before they die they declare their belief in those things which are matters of faith; and another such error is that, irrespective of the kind of life one has led, one is accepted into heaven solely by grace. Because people hold to this teaching they fail at length to know what charity is or to have any concern about what it is, till in the end they do not believe in the existence of it, or consequently in the existence of heaven and hell. The reason for this is that faith without charity, or truth without good, teaches a person nothing; and the more it departs from good, the more foolish it makes him. For good is what the Lord flows into and through which He flows, imparting intelligence and wisdom and consequently a superior ability to see, and also perception whether something is really true or not.
[3] From these considerations one may now see the position with regard to the birthright, namely that in actual fact it belongs to good but appears to belong to truth. This is what the birth of Tamar’s two sons is used to describe in the internal sense. ‘The twice-dyed thread’ which the midwife bound on the hand that came out means good, as shown in 4922; ‘coming out first’ means priority of place, 4923; ‘withdrawing the hand’ means that good concealed its own power, as stated immediately above [in 4924]; ‘his brother came out’ means truth; ‘you have made a breach upon yourself means this truth’s apparent separation from good; ‘afterwards his brother came out’ means that good is in actual fact first; and ‘on whose hand was the twice-dyed thread’ means the acknowledgement that good is first. For it is not until after a person has been born again that good is acknowledged to be first, at which point that person’s actions spring from good, and his view of truth and what this is like springs from the same.
[4] These are the matters contained within the internal sense, in which teaching is given regarding the good and truth with a person who is being born anew, namely that good in actual fact occupies first place but truth appears to do so, and that good is not seen to occupy the first place while a person is being regenerated but is plainly seen to do so once he has been regenerated. But there is no need to explain these matters any further since they have been explained already – see 3324, 3325, 3494, 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3603, 3701, 4243, 4244, 4247, 4337; and the fact that controversy has taken place since ancient times over whether the birthright belonged to good or to truth, that is, to charity or to faith, 2435.
[5] Because in the highest sense the Lord is the firstborn, and therefore love to Him and charity towards the neighbour are the firstborn, the law was for that reason laid down in the representative Church that firstborn things were Jehovah’s: in Moses,
Sanctify to Me all the firstborn, that which opens the womb among the children of Israel; with man and with beast let them be Mine. Exod. 13:2.
You shall make over to Jehovah all that opens the worm’, and every firstling of a beast; however many males you have they shall be Jehovah’s. Exod. 13:12.
All that opens the womb is Mine; therefore among all your cattle, you shall give the male. that among oxen and small cattle which opens [the womb]. Exod. 34:19.
All that opens the womb among all flesh which they bring to Jehovah, from men and from beasts, shall be yours. Nevertheless you shall surely redeem all the firstborn of men. Num. 18:15.
Behold, I Myself have taken the Levites from the midst of the children of Israel, instead of every firstborn, that which opens the womb, from the children of Israel, so that the Levites may be Mine. Num. 3:12.
[6] Because the firstborn is the one that opens the womb, the expression ‘that which opens the womb’ is therefore added, when the firstborn is mentioned in these places, so as to mean good. It is evident that this expression means good from the specific details contained in the internal sense, especially from those which are recorded regarding the sons of Tamar: Zerah is said to have opened the womb with his hand, and ‘Zerah’ represents good, as is also clear from the twice-dyed thread placed on his hand, dealt with in 4922. In addition to this ‘the womb’, to which the expression ‘opened’ is applied, means the place where good and truth, consequently the Church, lie, see 4918, while ‘opening the womb’ means supplying the power which enables truth to be born.
[7] Because the Lord is the only firstborn – He being Good itself, and His Good being the source of all truth – Jacob, who was not the firstborn, was therefore allowed to purchase the birthright from Esau his brother so that he might represent Him. Also, because this was not sufficient, he was called Israel, so that by this name he might represent the good of truth; for ‘Israel’ in the representative sense means good which comes through truth, 3654, 4286, 4598.
[2] The meaning of ‘a breach’ as an infringement upon truth and a perversion of it through its separation from good is also clear from other places in the Word, as in David,
Our storehouses are full, yielding food and still more food; our flocks are thousands, and ten thousands in our streets, our oxen are laden; there is no breach. Ps. 144:13, 14.
This refers to the Ancient Church as it was in its youth. ‘The food’ with which ‘the storehouses are full’ stands for spiritual food, that is, for truth and good. ‘Flocks’ and ‘oxen’ stand for forms of good, internal and external. ‘There is no breach’ stands for the fact that truth has not suffered any infringement upon it or perversion of it through separation from good.
[3] In Amos,
I will raise up the tent of David that is fallen down, and I will close up their breaches, and I will restore its destroyed places; and I will build it as in the days of old. Amos 9:11.
This refers to a Church where good is present. ‘The tent of David that is fallen down’ means the good of love and charity received from the Lord. For ‘a tent’ meaning that good, see 414, 1102, 2145, 2152, 3312, 4128, 4391, 4599, and ‘David’ the Lord, 1888. ‘Closing up the breeches’ stands for correcting falsities which have entered in through the separation of truth from good. ‘Building it as in the days of old’ stands for as the state of the Church was in ancient times. In the Word that state at that time is called ‘the days of eternity’, ‘the days of old’, and also ‘of generation upon generation’.
[4] In Isaiah,
He that is of you is building the waste places of old; raise up the foundations of generation upon generation, and may you be called the one repairing the breach, the one restoring paths to dwell in. Isa. 58:12.
This refers to a Church where charity and life are the essential thing. ‘Repairing the breach’ again stands for correcting falsities which have crept in through the separation of good from truth, the origin of all falsity. ‘Restoring paths to dwell in’ stands for truths which are linked to good, for ‘paths’ or ways are truths, 627, 2333, and ‘dwelling in’ is used in reference to good, 2268, 2451, 2712, 3613.
[5] In the same prophet,
You saw that the breaches of the city of David were very many, and you collected the waters of the lower pool. Isa. 22:9.
‘The breaches of the city of David’ stands for falsities of doctrine. ‘The waters of the lower pool’ stands for traditions by which they introduced blemishes into the truths contained in the Word, Matt. 15:1-6; Mark 7:1-13. In Ezekiel,
You have not gone up into the breaches and made a hedge for the house of Israel, so that you might stand in war on the day of Jehovah. Ezek. 13:5.
In the same prophet,
I sought from among them a man making a hedge and standing in the breach before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none. Ezek. 22:30.
‘Standing in the breach’ stands for defending and guarding against the intrusion of falsities. In David,
Jehovah said He would destroy the people, unless Moses His chosen had stood in the breach before Him. Ps 106:23.
‘Standing in the breach’ again means guarding against the intrusion of falsities; ‘Moses’ here meaning the Word – see Preface to Chapter 18 of Genesis, and 4859 (end).
[6] In Amos,
They will drag out the last of you with fish-hooks; you will go out through the breaches, every one from her own region; and you will cast down the palace. Amos 4:2, 3.
‘Going out through the breaches’ stands for doing so through falsities resulting from reasonings. ‘The palace’ means the Word and consequently the truth of doctrine that is grounded in good. And because ‘breaches’ means falsity which arises through the separation of good from truth, the same is also meant in the representative sense by ‘strengthening and repairing the breaches of the house of Jehovah’, 2 Kings 12:5, 7, 8, 12; 22:5. In the second Book of Samuel,
It grieved David that Jehovah had made a breach into Uzzah; therefore he called that place Perez Uzzah. 2 Sam. 6:8.
This refers to Uzzah, who died because he touched the ark. ‘The ark’ represented heaven, or in the highest sense the Lord, and therefore Divine Good. But ‘Uzzah’ represented that which ministers, and so represents truth since truth ministers to good. This separation is meant by ‘a breach into Uzzah’.
IN THIS SECTION THE CORRESPONDENCE OF THE HANDS, THE ARMS, THE FEET, AND THE LOINS WITH IT
It has been shown already that the whole of heaven bears resemblance to a human being, together with each of his organs, members, and viscera. It has been shown too that this is so because heaven bears resemblance to the Lord; for the Lord is the All in all of heaven, so much its All that, properly speaking, heaven is essentially Divine Good and Divine Truth received from the Lord. For this reason heaven is distinguished into many so to speak separate provinces, as many as there are in a person’s viscera, organs, and members, with which also there is a correspondence. Unless such a correspondence existed of the human being with heaven, and through heaven with the Lord, he could not remain in existence for even a single moment, all things being held in connection with one another by means of influx.
[2] But all those provinces are linked to two kingdoms – the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom. The first of these – the celestial kingdom – is the kingdom of the heart within the Grand Man; the second – the spiritual kingdom – is the kingdom of the lungs there. And in the same way as in the human being, the heart reigns, and so do the lungs, in every single part of the Grand Man. These two kingdoms combine in a marvellous way. Their combination likewise is represented in the combination of the heart and lungs in the human being, and in the combined workings of the two within each member and interior organ.
[3] While a person is an embryo, that is, while still in the womb, he is in the kingdom of the heart. But once he has struggled out of the womb he enters the kingdom of the lungs. Then, if he allows the truths of faith to lead him into the good of love, he returns from the kingdom of the lungs within the Grand Man to the kingdom of the heart. For thereby he enters the womb a second time and is born again. Once again those two kingdoms become combined in him, but the order has been turned around. Previously the kingdom of the heart in him was under the control of the lungs, but now the kingdom of the lungs comes under the control of the heart. That is, first of all the truth of faith has dominion in him, but afterwards the good of charity does so. For the correspondence of the heart with the good of love and that of the lungs with the truth of faith, see 3635, 3883-3896.
Be their arm every morning. Isa. 33:2.
The Lord Jehovih is coming with might, and His arm will exercise dominion for Him. Isa. 40:10.
He works it by means of His arm of strength. Isa. 44:12.
My arms will judge the peoples. Isa. 51:5.
Put on strength, O arm of Jehovah. Isa. 51:9.
I looked around, and there was no helper, therefore My own arm brought salvation to Me. Isa. 63:5.
Cursed is he who trusts in man (homo) and makes flesh his arm. Jer. 17:5.
I have made the earth, man, and beast, by My great strength and by My outstretched arm. Jer. 27:5; 32:17.
The horn of Moab has been cut off and his arm broken. Jer. 48:25.
I am breaking the arms of the king of Egypt, but I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babel. Ezek. 30:22, 24, 25.
O Jehovah, break the arm of the wicked. Ps. 10:15.
According to the greatness of Your arm preserve those who are appointed to die.* Ps. 79:11.
They were brought out of Egypt by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Deut. 7:19; 11:2, 3; 26:8; Jer. 32:21; Ps. 136:12.
From these places it may also be recognized that by the right hand in the Word superior power is meant, and by ‘sitting on the right hand of Jehovah’ almighty power, Matt. 26:63, 64; Luke 22:69; Mark 14:61, 62; 16:19.
* lit. cause the sons of death to remain
You have broken the yoke of his burden, and the rod of his shoulder. Isa. 9:4.
You push with side and with shoulder, and butt with your horns. Ezek. 34:21.
You will tear for them every shoulder. Ezek. 29:6, 7.
That they may serve Jehovah with one shoulder. Zeph. 3:9.
To us a Boy is born, and the government will be upon His shoulder. Isa. 9:6.
I will place the key of the house of David on His shoulder. Isa. 22:22.
[2] I was allowed to go on and tell them that each idea present in human thought has countless facets which to the human being, especially to one who is natural, are not seen as anything else than a simple whole, when in fact there is an unlimited number of things coming in from the spiritual world which produce in the spiritual man a superior power of sight enabling him to see and also perceive whether something is indeed the truth or not the truth. Also, because these spirits doubted what they were told, the matter was demonstrated to them through actual experience. An idea was represented to them which they saw as a simple whole, and therefore as a faint dot – a representation such as this being produced easily in the light of heaven. When that idea was opened up and at the same time their interior sight was opened, a general whole leading to the Lord was revealed. They were also told that the same was the case with every idea of good and truth; that is to say, it is an image of the whole of heaven, because it comes from the Lord, who is the All of heaven or the essential reality that is called heaven.
The preliminary section of the previous chapter contained an explanation of what the Lord said about judgement on the good and on the evil, in Matthew 25:31-33; see 4807-4810. In the present preliminary section what the Lord said next in that connection comes up for explanation, that is to say, the following words,
Then the King will say to those at His right hand, Come, O blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, naked and you clothed Me around, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me. Matt. 15:34-36.
[2] Teachings that existed among the Ancients specified all the genera and species of charity. They also taught who the neighbour was towards whom charity should be exercised, and how one person was the neighbour in a different degree and different respect from another, and consequently how charity was to be exercised in different ways according to the individual needs of the neighbour. The Ancients also made classifications of the neighbour and gave names to each of these. Some people they called the poor, the needy, the wretched, and the afflicted; some they called the blind, the lame, the maimed, as well as orphans and widows; and others they called the hungry, the thirsty, strangers, the naked, the sick, the bound, and so on. From these classifications they knew what they ought to do for one person and what for another. But, as stated, such teachings have perished, and with them any understanding of the Word too. They have perished so completely that no one at the present day knows anything else than this, that when the poor, widows, and orphans are mentioned in the Word none but those who are literally called such are meant. The same applies whenever mention is made of the hungry, the thirsty, strangers, the naked, the sick, and those in prison. But the truth of the matter is that these names are used to describe charity – what it is like in its essence and what the exercise of charity ought to be like in a charitable life.
I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, naked and you clothed Me around, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me.
Except from the internal sense no one can know that these words hold the essential ingredients of charity within them. The ancients who possessed teachings regarding charity knew these things, but at the present day matters such as these seem so far-fetched that everyone will be astonished by the assertion that those words hold the essential ingredients of charity within them. What is more, the angels present with a person do not perceive those words in any other way, for by ‘the hungry’ they perceive those led by affection to desire good, by ‘the thirsty’ those led by affection to desire truth, by ‘a stranger’ those wishing to receive instruction, by ‘the naked’ those acknowledging that no goodness or truth at all is present within them, by ‘the sick’ those acknowledging that within themselves there is nothing but evil, and by ‘the bound’ or ‘those in prison those acknowledging that within themselves there is nothing but falsity. All these if taken as a whole mean the aspects of charity described immediately above.
Truly I say to you, insofar as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers you did it to Me. Matt. 25:40-45.
GENESIS 39
1 And Joseph was made to go down to Egypt, and Potiphar bought him – Pharaoh’s bedchamber servant, the chief of the attendants, an Egyptian man – from the hand of the Ishmaelites who made him go down there.
2 And Jehovah was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his lord the Egyptian.
3 And his lord saw that Jehovah was with him, and everything that he did Jehovah made to prosper in his hand.
4 And Joseph found favour in his eyes, and ministered to him; and he put him in charge over his house, and whatever he had he gave into his hand.
5 And it happened from the time he put him in charge in his house and over all that he had, that Jehovah blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of Jehovah was on all that he had in the house and in the field.
6 And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand, and did not concern himself with anything* except the bread that he ate. And Joseph was beautiful in form and beautiful in appearance.
7 And it happened after these events, that his lord’s wife lifted up her eyes towards Joseph and said, Lie with me.
8 And he refused and said to his lord’s wife, Behold, my lord does not concern himself with anything** in the house, and all that he has he has given into my hand.
9 He himself is no greater in this house than I am, and he has not held back anything from me except yourself, in that you are his wife. How then shall I do this great evil, and sin against God?
10 And it happened as she spoke to Joseph day after day, that he did not listen to her, to lie with her, to be with her.
11 And it happened on a certain day, that he went to the house to do his work, and none of the men*** of the house was there in the house.
12 And she took hold of him by his garment, saying, Lie with me. And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went out of doors.
13 And it happened as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of doors,
14 That she cried out to the men of her house, and said to them – she said, See, he has brought us a Hebrew man to make sport of us. He came to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice.
15 And it happened as he was hearing [me], that I lifted up my voice and cried out, and he left his garment with me, and fled, and went out of doors.
16 And she kept his garment with her until his lord came to his house.
17 And she spoke to him in**** these words, saying, The Hebrew slave whom you have brought to us came to me, to make sport of me.
18 And it happened as I lifted up my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled out of doors.
19 And it happened – as his lord heard his wife’s words which she spoke to him, saying, This is what***** your slave did to me – that his anger flared up.
20 And Joseph’s lord took him and committed him to the prison-house, a place where the king’s bound ones were bound; and he was there in the prison-house.
21 And Jehovah was with Joseph, and showed mercy to him, and gave him favour in the eyes of the governor****** of the prison-house.
22 And the governor****** of the prison-house gave into Joseph’s hand all the bound who were in the prison-house; and everything they did there, he was the doer of it.*******
23 The governor of the prison-house oversaw nothing whatever that was in his hand, in that Jehovah was with him; and whatever he did, Jehovah made it prosper.
* lit. did not know anything with him
** lit. does not know what is with me
*** lit. no man from the men
**** lit. according to
***** lit. According to these words
****** lit. prince or chief
******* i.e. it was done under his instructions
The internal sense deals here with the way in which the Lord made His Internal Man Divine. ‘Jacob’ was the External Man, the subject in preceding chapters, now ‘Joseph’ is the Internal Man, the subject in the present chapter and those that follow it.
Verse 1 And Joseph was made to go down to Egypt, and Potiphar bought him – Pharaoh’s bedchamber servant, the chief of the attendants, an Egyptian man – from the hand of the Ishmaelites who made him go down there.
‘And Joseph’ means the celestial of the spiritual from the rational. ‘Was made to go down to Egypt’ means to factual knowledge which the Church possessed. ‘And Potiphar bought him – Pharaoh’s bedchamber servant’ means among facts of a more internal kind. ‘The chief of the attendants’ means which facts come first and foremost in explanations. ‘An Egyptian man’ means natural truth. ‘From the hand of the Ishmaelites’ means from simple good. ‘Who made him go down there’ means a descent from this simple good to that factual knowledge.
[2] The Lord’s Human too had an External and an Internal because it pleased Him to be born like any other human being. The External, or His External Man, has been represented by ‘Jacob’ and after that by ‘Israel’, but His Internal Man is represented by ‘Joseph’. The latter – the Internal Man – is what is called the celestial-spiritual man from the rational; or what amounts to the same, the Lord’s Internal, which was the Human, was the celestial of the spiritual from the rational. This, and the glorification of it, are dealt with in the internal sense of the present chapter and those that follow it in which Joseph is the subject. What the celestial of the spiritual from the rational is has been explained already in 4286, 4585, 4592, 4594, namely that which comes above the celestial of the spiritual from the natural, represented by ‘Israel’.
[3] The Lord was indeed born like any other human being. But it is well known that everyone who is born depends for his make-up on both his father and his mother; also that he derives his inmost self from his father, but his more external aspects, or those which clothe his inmost self, from his mother. That is to say, both what he derives from his father and what he derives from his mother are defiled with hereditary evil. But in the Lord’s case it was different. That which He derived from His mother possessed a hereditary nature essentially the same as that existing in any other human being; but what He derived from His Father, who was Jehovah, was Divine. Consequently the Lord’s Internal Man was unlike the internal of any other human being, for His Inmost Self was Jehovah. Being intermediate this is therefore called the celestial of the spiritual from the rational. But in the Lord’s Divine mercy more will be said about this later on.
[2] Egypt was one of those parts of the world and one of those kingdoms where the Ancient Church also existed, 1138, 1385; but since in that land mainly factual knowledge was handed down from one generation to another, ‘Egypt’ means factual knowledge in general. This also explains why frequent reference is made to Egypt in the prophetical part of the Word, where that knowledge is meant specifically by ‘Egypt’. What is more, the actual magic practised by the Egyptians had its origin in the same knowledge; for they were acquainted with the correspondences of the natural world with the spiritual, and at a later time, after the Church among them had come to an end, they misused these in magical practices. Now because such factual knowledge existed among them – that is to say, knowledge which taught correspondences, and also representatives and meaningful signs – and because this factual knowledge was the servant of the doctrinal teachings of the Church, especially in their understanding of things stated in their Word (for the Word of the Ancient Church was both prophetical and historical, like the Word that exists today, though this is a different Word, see 2686) ‘he was made to go down to Egypt’ consequently means made to go down to the factual knowledge which the Church possessed.
[3] Because the Lord is represented by ‘Joseph’ and the words ‘Joseph was made to go down to Egypt’ are used here, the meaning is that when the Lord was to glorify His Internal Man, that is, make it Divine, He first of all assimilated the factual knowledge possessed by the Church. Then, starting from and using that knowledge He advanced towards things increasingly interior and at length even to those that were Divine. For it pleased Him to glorify or make Himself Divine in conformity with the same kind of order as that by which He regenerates the human being or makes him spiritual, 3138, 3212, 3296, 3490, 4402. That is to say, there is a gradual advance from external ideas, which are known facts and the truths of faith, towards internal ones, which are ideas of charity towards the neighbour and of love to Him. From this one may see what is meant by the following words in Hosea,
When Israel was a boy I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. Hosea 11:1.
These words refer to the Lord, see Matt. 2:15.
[2] They envisaged Helicon on a mountain and took it to mean heaven, and Parnassus on a hill below that, and took it to mean factual knowledge. They spoke of a flying horse, called Pegasus by them, which broke open a fountain there with its hoof; they called branches of knowledge virgins; and so on. For with the help of correspondences and representatives they knew that ‘a mountain’ meant heaven, ‘a hill’ the heaven beneath this, which is heaven as it exists among men, a horse’ the power of understanding, ‘its wings with which it flew’ spiritual things, ‘its hoof’ that which was natural, ‘a fountain’ intelligence, while three virgins called ‘the Graces’ meant affections for good, and virgins who were named ‘the Heliconians and ‘the Parnassians’ meant affections for truth. To the sun they likewise allotted horses, whose food they called ambrosia and whose drink they called nectar; for they knew that ‘the sun’ meant heavenly love, ‘horses’ powers of the understanding which sprang from that love, while ‘food’ meant celestial things and ‘drink’ spiritual ones.
[3] The Ancients are also the originators of customs that are still followed when kings are crowned. The king has to sit on a silver throne, wear a purple robe, and be anointed with oil. He has to wear a crown on his head, while holding in his hands a sceptre, a sword, and keys. He has to ride in regal splendour on a white horse shed with horseshoes made of silver; and he has to be waited on at table by the chief nobles of the kingdom. And many other customs are followed besides these. The Ancients knew that ‘a king’ represented Divine Truth that is rooted in Divine Good, and from this they knew what was meant by a silver throne, a purple robe, anointing oil, crown, sceptre, sword, keys, white horse, horseshoes made of silver, and what was meant by being waited on at table by the chief nobles. Who at the present day knows the meaning of any of these customs, or where the information exists to show him their meaning? People refer to them as symbols, but they know nothing at all about correspondence or representation. All this evidence shows what the factual knowledge possessed by the Ancients was like, and that this knowledge gave them a discernment of spiritual and heavenly realities, which at the present day are scarcely known to exist.
[4] The factual knowledge that has replaced that of the Ancients, and which strictly speaking is called philosophical knowledge, tends to draw the mind away from knowing such things because such knowledge can also be employed to substantiate false ideas. Furthermore, even when used to substantiate true ones it introduces darkness into the mind, because for the most part mere terms are used to substantiate them, which few people can understand and which the few who do understand them argue about. From this it may be seen how far the human race has departed from the learning of the Ancients, which led to wisdom. Gentiles received their factual knowledge from the Ancient Church, whose external worship consisted in representatives and meaningful signs and whose internal worship consisted in the realities represented and meant by these. This was the kind of factual knowledge that is meant in the genuine sense by ‘Egypt’.
‘And Jehovah was with Joseph’ means that the Divine existed within the celestial of the spiritual. ‘And he was a prosperous man’ means that all things had been provided. ‘And he was in the house of his lord the Egyptian’ means to enable it to be introduced into natural good. ‘And his lord saw that Jehovah was with him’ means a perception within natural good that the Divine existed within it. ‘And everything that he did Jehovah made to prosper in his hand’ means that all things were the conferments of Divine Providence. ‘And Joseph found favour in his eyes’ means that it had found acceptance. ‘And ministered to him’ means that factual knowledge was assigned to its own good. ‘And he put him in charge over his house’ means that this good applied itself to that factual knowledge. ‘And whatever he had he gave into his hand’ means that all that belonged to that good was seemingly subject to the power and control of its associated truth. ‘And it happened from the time he put him in charge in his house and over all that he had’ means a second state, after this good had applied itself to that truth and had made all that belonged to it seemingly subject to the power and control of that truth. ‘That Jehovah blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake’ means that at this point the Divine imparted the celestial-natural to that truth. ‘And the blessing of Jehovah was’ means increases. ‘On all that he had in the house and in the field’ means in life and in doctrine. ‘And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand’ means that it seemed as though all things were subject to its power and control. ‘And did not concern himself with anything except the bread that he ate’ means that the good from there was its own. ‘And Joseph was beautiful in form means the good of life springing from this. ‘And beautiful in appearance’ means the truth of faith springing from it.
* lit. did not know anything with him
[2] The expression ‘lord’ is used many times in the Word, but unless a person is acquainted with the internal sense he assumes that ‘lord’ has no other meaning than what the word has when used in ordinary conversation. But ‘lord’ is used nowhere in the Word other than in reference to good, as is similarly the case with the name ‘Jehovah’. When however reference is being made to truth, ‘God’ and also ‘king are used. This then is the reason why ‘lord’ means good, as may also be seen from the following places: In Moses,
Jehovah your God, He is God of gods, and Lord of lords. Deut. 10:17.
In David,
Confess Jehovah, confess the God of gods, confess the Lord of lords. Ps. 136:1-3
In these places Jehovah or the Lord is called ‘God of gods’ by virtue of Divine Truth which goes forth from Him, and ‘Lord of lords’ by virtue of Divine Good which exists within Him.
[3] Similarly in John,
The Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings. Rev. 17:14.
And in the same book,
The One sitting on the white horse has on His robe and on His thigh the name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Rev. 19:16.
The Lord is called ‘King of kings’ by virtue of Divine Truth, and ‘Lord of lords’ by virtue of Divine Good, as is evident from the individual expressions used here. ‘The name written’ is His true nature, 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3006. ‘His robe’ on which it is written is the truth of faith, 1073, 2576, 4545, 4763. ‘His thigh’ on which likewise that nature is written is the good of love, 3021, 4277, 4280, 4575. From this too it is evident that by virtue of Divine Truth the Lord is called ‘King of kings and by virtue of Divine Good ‘Lord of lords’. For more about the Lord being called King by virtue of Divine Truth, see 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4581.
[4] From this it is also plain what ‘the Lord’s Christ’ means in Luke,
Simeon received an answer from the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Christ. Luke 2:26.
‘The Lord’s Christ’ is the Divine Truth that goes with Divine Good, for ‘Christ’ is one and the same as Messiah, and Messiah is the Anointed or King, 3008, 3009, ‘the Lord’ in this case being Jehovah. The name Jehovah is not used anywhere in the New Testament Word, but instead of Jehovah, the Lord and God are used, see 2921, as again in Luke,
Jesus said, How can they say that the Christ is David’s son when David himself says in the Book of Psalms, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand? Luke 20:41, 41.
The same appears in David as follows,
Jehovah said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand. Ps. 110:1.
It is obvious that Jehovah in David is called Lord in the gospel, ‘Lord’ in this case standing for the Divine Good of the Divine Human. Omnipotence is meant by ‘sitting at the right hand’, 3387, 4592, 4933 (end).
[5] While in the world the Lord was Divine Truth, but once He was glorified, that is, had made the Human within Him Divine, He became Divine Good, from which Divine Truth subsequently goes forth. This explains why after the Resurrection the disciples did not call Him Master, as they had before, but Lord, as is evident in John 21:7, 12, 15-17, 20, and also in the other gospels. Divine Truth – which the Lord was while in the world and which subsequently goes forth from Him, that is, from Divine Good – is also called ‘the Angel of the Covenant’, in Malachi,
Suddenly there will come to His temple the Lord whom you are seeking, and the Angel of the Covenant in whom you delight. Mal. 3:1.
[6] Because ‘Lord’ is used to mean Divine Good and ‘King’ Divine Truth, therefore in places where the Lord is spoken of as having dominion and a kingdom ‘dominion’ has reference to Divine Good and ‘a kingdom’ to Divine Truth. For the same reason the Lord is called ‘Lord of the nations’ but ‘King of the peoples’, for ‘nations’ means those governed by good, ‘peoples’ those governed by truth, 1259, 1260, 1849, 3581
[7] Good is called ‘lord’ as against a servant, and ‘father’ as against a son, as in Malachi,
A son should honour his father, and a servant his lord. If I am a Father, where is My honour? And if I am a Lord, where is the fear of Me? Mal. 1:6.
And in David,
To be a slave JOSEPH was sold. The word of Jehovah tested him. The king sent and released him, he who had dominion over nations set him free and placed him as lord of his house and as one with dominion over all his possessions. Ps. 115:17, 19-22.
Here, as is evident from each individual expression, ‘Joseph’ is used to mean the Lord, ‘lord’ in this instance being the Divine Good of the Divine Human.
[4975a] ‘And Joseph found favour in his eyes means that it had found acceptance, that is to say, by natural good meant by ‘his lord’. This is clear from the meaning of ‘finding favour in someone’s eyes’ as finding acceptance. The expression ‘in his eyes’ is used because ‘favour’ has reference to the understanding, and this is meant by ‘the eyes’, 2701, 3820, 4526.
[2] The same applies to factual knowledge in relation to delight, or truth in relation to good. That being so, good longs for and desires truth, and does so because of the purpose such truth can fulfill by ministering to it and serving it. Food and drink also correspond to these. No one in the next life is nourished by any natural food or natural drink, only by spiritual food and spiritual drink, spiritual food being good, and spiritual drink truth. This is why, when bread or food is mentioned in the Word, angels understand spiritual bread or food, which is the good of love and charity; and when water or drink is mentioned they understand spiritual water or drink, which is the truth of faith. From this one may see what the truth of faith without the good of charity is, and also what kind of nourishment the former without the latter is able to supply to the internal man; that is to say, it is like the nourishment supplied by water or drink alone without bread or food. It is well known that a person fed on water or drink alone wastes away and dies.
[2] While a person is governed by truth, as happens before he has been regenerated, he knows scarcely anything at all about good. For truth flows in by an external route, or that of the senses, whereas good flows in by an internal route. Before he has been regenerated a person is aware of that which flows in by the external route, but not of that which comes by the internal one. Consequently unless in that state which comes first the lordship seemed to be given to truth, that is, unless good applied itself to it, that truth could never become attached to this good as its own. This is the same factor as has been presented many times before – that truth seemingly occupies the first place, that is, it is so to speak the lord, while a person is being regenerated, but that good plainly occupies the first place and is the lord once he has been regenerated, for which see 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3607, 3701, 4925, 4926, 4928, 4930.
[2] The term celestial, like spiritual, is used in reference both to the rational and to the natural, that is, both to the internal man, which is the rational man, and to the external, which is the natural man. For essentially, the spiritual is Divine Truth which goes forth from the Lord, while the celestial is Divine Good present within that Divine Truth. When Divine Truth containing Divine Good is received by the rational, or by the internal man, it is called the spiritual within the rational, but when it is received by the natural, or by the external man, it is called the spiritual within the natural. The same is so with Divine Good present within Divine Truth. When this good is received by the rational, or by the internal man, it is referred to as the celestial within the rational, but when it is received by the natural, or by the external man, it is referred to as the celestial within the natural. In man’s case these two flow in both directly from the Lord and indirectly from Him through angels and spirits; but in the Lord’s case while He was in the world they flowed in from Himself because the Divine existed within Him.
[2] Because ‘the blessing of Jehovah (or the Lord)’ implies such increases in the genuine sense, blessing also implies countless other benefits and consequently means the various gifts which flow from it, such as enrichment with spiritual and celestial good, 981, 1731; fruitfulness resulting from the affection for truth, 2846; undergoing rearrangement into heavenly order, 3017; being endowed with the good of love and thereby being joined to the Lord, 3406, 3504, 3514, 3530, 3584; and joy, 4216. What is meant by ‘blessing’ therefore in any specific instance becomes clear from the context in which it appears. Here the meaning of ‘the blessing of Jehovah’ as increases in good and truth, that is, in life and doctrine, is evident from what follows it, for there it says that this blessing of Jehovah was ‘in the house and in the field’, and ‘house’ means good which is the good of life, while ‘field’ means truth which is the truth of doctrine. From this it is evident that increases in these are meant in this case by ‘the blessing of Jehovah’.
Let him who is on the roof of the house not go down to take anything out of his house; and let him who is in the field not turn back to get his clothing. Matt. 24:17, 18.
See 3652.
[2] From this one may see where the beauty – the beauty of the interior man – comes from. That is, it comes from the good present in the will by way of the truth of faith. The truth of faith presents that beauty in an outward form, but the good in the will is the supplier of that beauty and the producer of the outward form. Here is the reason for the indescribable beauty of the angels of heaven, for each is so to speak love and charity embodied in a form. When therefore anyone sees them in their beauty his deepest feelings are stirred. For the good of love received from the Lord shines forth from them through the truth of faith, enters into him, and stirs those feelings within him. From this, as also in 3821, one may see what is meant in the internal sense by ‘beautiful in form and beautiful in appearance.
‘And it happened after these events’ means a third state. ‘That his lord’s wife lifted up her eyes towards Joseph’ means unspiritual natural truth wedded to natural good, and its perception. ‘And said, Lie with me’ means that it desired a joining together. ‘And he refused’ means an aversion. ‘And he said to his lord’s wife’ means a perception regarding that truth. ‘Behold, my lord does not concern himself with anything in the house’ means that natural good did not have even the desire to make anything its own. ‘And all that he has he has given into my hand’ means that everything was subject to its power and control. ‘He himself is no greater in this house than I am’ means that that good is prior in respect of time but not of state. ‘And he has not held back anything from me except yourself’ means that becoming joined to the truth wedded to that good was forbidden. ‘In that you are his wife’ means because this truth must not be joined to any other good. ‘How then shall I do this great evil, and sin against God?’ means that, this being so, they exist set apart and not joined together.
* lit. does not know what is with me
* i.e. before the introduction of Masoretic pointing and punctuation
[2] ‘Wife’ in this instance means natural truth, but not natural truth that is spiritual, while her husband, to whom ‘lord’ refers here, means natural good, but not natural good that is spiritual. But some explanation is needed to show what is meant by natural good and truth that are not spiritual and what is meant by natural good and truth that are spiritual. With the human being, good has two different origins – one being heredity and consequently that which is adventitious, the other being the doctrine of faith and charity or, in the case of gentiles, their religious belief. Good arising from the first origin is unspiritual natural good, whereas good arising from the second is spiritual natural good. Truth too comes from a like origin, for all good has its own truth wedded to it.
[3] Natural good arising from the first origin, which is hereditary and consequently adventitious, bears many similarities to natural good arising from the second origin, which is the doctrine of faith and charity or some other set of religious beliefs. But those similarities are confined to outward appearances; inwardly the two are completely different. Natural good arising from the first origin may be compared to the good that is also present among living creatures of a gentle nature, whereas natural good arising from the second is peculiar to the human being who uses his reason when he acts, and who consequently knows how to administer what is good in different ways, in keeping with useful purposes that need to be served. These different ways in which good has to be administered are what the doctrine regarding what is right and fair teaches, and in a higher degree what the doctrine regarding faith and charity teaches; and in the case of people who are truly rational, reason also serves in many instances to corroborate what doctrine teaches.
[4] Those whose performance of good arises from the first origin are moved as if by blind instinct in their exercise of charity, whereas those whose performance of good arises from the second origin are moved by an inner sense of duty and so with their eyes so to speak fully open to what they are doing. In short, those whose performance of good arises from the first origin are not led by any conscientious regard for what is right and fair, still less by any such regard for spiritual truth and good; but those whose performance of good arises from the second origin are led by conscience. See what has been stated already on these matters in 3040, 3470, 3471, 3518, and what is said below in 4992. But what is involved in all this cannot possibly be explained intelligibly; for anyone who is not spiritual, that is, not regenerate, sees good from the point of view of the outward form it takes. He does this because he does not know what is meant by charity or by the neighbour; and the reason why he does not know this is that no doctrinal teachings regarding charity exist. Such matters can be seen very clearly in the light of heaven, and they can consequently be seen clearly by spiritual or regenerate persons because they dwell in the light of heaven.
[2] These meanings cannot be seen as long as the mind or thought concentrates solely on the historical details, for in that case there is no thought of anything else than Joseph, Potiphar’s wife, and Joseph’s flight after leaving behind his garment. But if the mind or thought were to concentrate on what is meant spiritually by ‘Joseph’, ‘Potiphar’s wife’, and the ‘garment’, it would be seen that some spiritual but unlawful joining together was also meant here. When this is so, the mind or thought is able to concentrate on what is meant spiritually, provided the belief is present that the historical Word is Divine not by virtue of the mere historical narrative but by virtue of what is spiritual and Divine contained within it. If a person possessed such a belief he would know that its spiritual and Divine content was concerned with the goodness and truth present in the Church and in the Lord’s kingdom, and in the highest sense with the Lord Himself. When a person enters the next life, which happens immediately after death, if he is one of those who are being raised up to heaven he will come to realize that he retains none of the historical details recorded in the Word. He knows nothing whatever about Joseph, nor anything about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but only about the spiritual and Divine realities which he has learned from the Word and made part of his own life. These therefore are the kinds of matters inwardly present in the Word, which are called its internal sense.
[2] Let the following serve to shed light on the matter. If mere lust leads a man to be joined to his wife, this is something natural which is unspiritual; but if conjugial love leads him to be joined to her this is something natural which is spiritual. And if after that – when he is her husband – it is mere lust that joins him to her, he considers himself to be a sinner who is no different from someone behaving in a sexually immoral way; which being so he has no further wish to make such lust his own. Or let another example be given. To do good to a friend, regardless of his character and simply because he is one’s friend, is a natural action that is unspiritual; but to do good to a friend on account of the good residing with him, all the more so when one regards good itself as the friend to whom one is to do good, is a natural action that is spiritual. When this attitude exists with a person, he realizes that he himself is a sinner if he does good to a friend who is evil; for in that case he does evil to others through that friend. When this is his state he turns away from making his own that unspiritual natural good which had existed with him previously. The same is so with everything else.
[2] But with evil the opposite applies. Evil stems from self-love and love of the world. Evil stemming from self-love sets a person apart not only from the Lord but also from heaven, for he loves no one but himself and others only insofar as he sees them as part of his self-interest, or as they identify themselves with him. Consequently he turns everyone’s attention towards himself and entirely away from others, most of all away from the Lord. When a large number act like this within a single community it follows that all are set apart from one another; inwardly each sees another as his enemy. If anyone acts contrary to his self-interest he hates that person and takes delight in his destruction. The evil of the love of the world is not dissimilar, for this consists in a longing for other people’s wealth and goods, and in a longing to gain possession of everything owned by others; and these longings too lead to all kinds of enmity and hatred, though in a lesser degree. For anyone to come to know what evil is, and so what sin is, let him merely try to see what self-love and love of the world are; and to come to know what good is, let him merely try to see what love to God and love towards the neighbour are. By trying to do this he will come to see what evil is, and as a consequence what falsity is; and from this he will come to see what good is, and as a consequence what truth is.
‘And it happened’ means a fourth state. ‘As she spoke to Joseph day after day’ means thought regarding that matter. ‘That he did not listen to her, to lie with her’ means that it was filled with aversion to such a joining together. ‘To be with her’ means lest it should thereby be made one with it. ‘And it happened on a certain day’ means a fifth state. ‘That he went to the house to do his work’ means when engaged in the work of being joined to spiritual good within the natural. ‘And none of the men of the house was there in the house’ means without the help of any other. ‘And she laid hold of him by his garment’ means that unspiritual truth attached itself to the outermost existence of spiritual truth. ‘Saying, Lie with me’ means to the end that a joining together might be effected. ‘And he left his garment in her hand’ means that this outermost truth was removed. ‘And fled, and went out of doors’ means that this being so it did not have that truth with which to protect itself. ‘And it happened as she saw’ means a perception regarding this matter. ‘That he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of doors’ means regarding the separation of that outermost truth. ‘That she cried out to the men of the house’ means falsities. ‘And said to them – she said’ means an urgent demand. ‘See, he has brought us a Hebrew man means something servile. ‘To make sport of us’ means that this rose up. ‘He came to me to lie with me’ means that that truth wanted to be joined to it. ‘And I cried out with a loud voice’ means that it was filled with aversion. ‘And it happened as he was hearing [me]’ means when it was discerned. ‘That I lifted up my voice and cried out’ means that there was a great aversion. ‘And he left his garment with me’ means evidence that an approach had been made. ‘And fled, and went out of doors’ means that it nevertheless separated itself.
* lit. no man from the men
[2] The same happens to civil society if everyone there is out only for himself and nobody, except for his own purposes, takes any interest in anyone else. Without laws to unite its members, and without any fears for loss of gain, position, reputation, or life, society would fall completely to pieces. Therefore the ‘being’ of such a society in which everyone is out for himself consists in its members being joined or united together, but at a purely external level. Internally that society does not have any ‘being’. Consequently in the next life people like this are confined to hell, where in a similar way they are kept in check by external restraints, especially by fears. But as often as those restraints are eased, one individual hastens to destroy another, there being nothing he wants to do more than to destroy another completely. It is different in heaven, where love to the Lord and mutual love deriving from that love join its members together at an internal level. When external restraints are removed there, angels become even more closely joined to one another. And being thereby drawn nearer to the Divine Being (Esse) coming to them from the Lord, they are filled deeper still with affection, and from this with a sense of freedom, and as a consequence with feelings of blessedness, happiness, and joy.
Who is this who is coming from Edom, with spattered clothes from Bozra, He that is glorious in His apparel, marching in the vast numbers of His strength? I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no man was with Me. I looked about but there was none helping, and I wondered, but there was not one to uphold; therefore My own arm brought salvation to Me. Isa. 63:1, 3, 5.
And elsewhere in the same prophet,
He saw that there was no man, and as it were wondered that there was no intercessor; therefore His own arm brought salvation to Him, and His righteousness lifted Him up. Consequently He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon His head. Isa. 59:16, 17.
For more about the Lord making the Human within Him Divine by His own power, see 1616, 1749, 1755, 1812, 1813, 1921, 1928, 1999, 2025, 2026, 2083, 2500, 2523, 2776, 3043, 3141, 3382, 3637, 4286.
[2] But as to what a wish on the part of unspiritual natural truth to become joined to spiritual natural truth may be and what is implied by it, this is a mystery at the present day, chiefly because few people have any concern or wish to know what spiritual truth is and what unspiritual truth is. Indeed that lack of concern is so great that people are hardly willing to listen when the word spiritual is used, for at the mere mention of this a kind of darkness instantly descends upon them, and along with this a melancholy feeling, which gives rise to a distaste for the word and so a rejection of it. The truth of this has also been demonstrated to me. While I was once pondering on these matters, some spirits from the Christian world were present, who were then taken back into the state that had been theirs in the world. The mere thought of spiritual good and truth not only gave them a melancholy feeling; it also seized them with such loathing on account of their aversion to it that they said they felt as they had done in the world when they wanted to vomit. But I was allowed to tell them that this happened because their affections were centred solely on earthly, bodily, and worldly interests; and when a person is concerned solely with these, the things of heaven nauseate him. I also told those spirits that when they had gone to church where the Word was preached they had not gone out of any wish to know the things of heaven, but out of some other desire present in them since early childhood. This experience showed me what the Christian world is like at the present day.
[3] The overall reason why this is the situation is that the Christian Church at the present day preaches faith alone, not charity, and so doctrine, not life. And when the Church fails to preach life, no one acquires any affection for good; and when there is no affection for good, neither is there any for truth. Consequently most people find it contrary to their life’s delight to listen to anything about the things of heaven beyond what they have known since they were young children.
[4] But the fact of the matter is that a person exists in the world to the end that he may be introduced through the services he renders there into the things of heaven. But his life in the world lasts barely a moment so to speak, compared with his life after death; for the latter goes on for ever. Yet there are few who believe that they will be alive after death, which explains why heavenly things are of little importance to them. And this I can positively declare, that a person is in the next life as soon as he has died, carrying on to the full the life he was leading in the world; the nature of his life remains the same as it was in the world. I can positively declare this to be so because I know it to be so. I have talked to almost all those I knew during their earthly lives after these were over. I have therefore been allowed to know through actual experience the nature of the lot that awaits everyone – that each person’s lot is determined by the life he has led. But the kind of people mentioned above do not believe any of this. As to what a wish on the part of unspiritual natural truth to become joined to spiritual natural truth may be, and what is implied by it, meant by ‘she took hold of Joseph by his garment’, this will be discussed in what follows immediately below.
[2] But, as has been said, examples will help to shed light on this matter. Take this one first. Within the Church there exists the unspiritual natural truth which says that good should be done to the poor, widows and orphans, and that doing good to these is the charity which is commanded in the Word. But unspiritual truth, or rather, people guided by unspiritual truth, understand the poor, widows and orphans to be those who are literally called such, whereas spiritual natural truth, or rather, people guided by this kind of truth – while giving their firm assent to this unspiritual natural truth – place such an understanding of the expression ‘poor, widows and orphans’ in the last or outermost position. For in their hearts they say that not all people calling themselves the poor are in fact such, and also that some of those who are poor lead very wicked lives, fearing neither God nor men, and ready to plunge into every unmentionable deed but for the fear that holds them back. They also say in their hearts that in the Word the expression ‘the poor’ is used to mean those who are such spiritually, that is to say, those who know and in their hearts confess that nothing good or true at all that originates in themselves resides with them and that everything that is there has been freely given them. The expressions ‘widows’ and ‘orphans’ are considered by them in a similar way, the difference being that each involves some different state. From this example it may be seen that to people guided by spiritual natural truth doing good to the poor, widows and orphans who are literally called such is an outermost truth, and that this outermost truth is like a garment covering the things within. One may also see that this outermost truth fits in with the truth as understood by those guided by unspiritual natural truth; and that even so the two are not joined together but have merely an association with each other.
[3] Take the example of doing good to the neighbour. Those guided by spiritual natural truth consider every individual person to be their neighbour, yet each one to be such in a different manner and degree. In their hearts they say that those governed by good are pre-eminently the neighbour to whom good should be done. They also say that those governed by evil are likewise the neighbour, but that good is done to these if they suffer the punishments prescribed by laws, because those punishments serve to correct them, as well as to prevent evil being done to the good by them and the bad examples they set. Those within the Church who are guided by unspiritual natural truth likewise call every individual person the neighbour; but they do not take into consideration the degree or manner in which each one is a neighbour. Therefore if motivated by natural goodness they do good indiscriminately, to everyone who moves them to pity, most of all to the evil rather than the good because the evil in their malice know how to arouse feelings of pity. From this example too one may see that this outermost truth brings together those guided by unspiritual natural truth and those guided by spiritual natural truth, and yet the two are still not joined together but have merely an association with each other, since one has a different idea and different perception from the other of the neighbour and of charity towards him.
[4] Take a further example. Those guided by spiritual natural truth say in general that the poor and the wretched are to inherit the kingdom of heaven. But for them this is an outermost truth since they gather up within this the belief that ‘the poor’ and ‘the wretched’ are those who are spiritually such, and that these are the ones meant in the Word, to whom the heavenly kingdom will belong. But those within the Church who are guided by unspiritual natural truth say that no others can inherit the kingdom of heaven but those who in the world have been reduced to poverty, live in wretched circumstances, and suffer greater affliction than everyone else. They also call riches, important positions, and worldly joys just so many distractions or means that divert a person from heaven. This example also shows what an outermost truth is and the nature of the harmony between the two kinds of natural truth; it shows that they are not joined together, but have merely an association with each other.
[5] Take this example too. Those guided by spiritual natural truth consider it an outermost truth that those objects which in the Word are called holy really were holy, such as the ark and mercy seat, the lampstand, the incense, the leaves, and so on, as well as the altar; also the temple; and Aaron’s vestments too, which are called vestments of holiness – in particular the ephod together with the breastplate where the urim and thummim were. Yet the idea they have so far as this outermost truth is concerned is that those objects were not in themselves holy, nor had they had any holiness instilled into them, but that they were holy in a representative sense, that is to say, they represented the spiritual and celestial realities of the Lord’s kingdom, and in the highest sense the Lord Himself. People guided by unspiritual natural truth however also call those objects holy, but holy in themselves because holiness has been instilled into them. From this one may see that the two kinds of truth meet but do not become joined to each other; for as the spiritual man’s conception of that outermost truth is different from that of the merely natural man, a different form is taken by each.
[6] Take yet another example. To the spiritual man it is an outermost truth that all Divine truths can be substantiated from the literal sense of the Word, and also by means of the rational or intellectual concepts known to the enlightened. That same outermost or general truth is also accepted by the natural man, but he has the simple belief that everything is true which can be substantiated from the Word, above all that which he himself has substantiated from it. The spiritual man and the natural man meet each other therefore in their common acceptance of the idea that every Divine truth can be substantiated; yet one sees this general truth in a different way from the other. The merely natural man believes that whatever he himself has substantiated for himself, or else has heard others substantiate, is a Divine truth. He does not realize that falsity can be substantiated just as easily as truth, and that, once substantiated, falsity has all the appearance of truth; indeed it appears to be more true than the truth itself, because the illusions of the senses enter in and present it in the light of the world separated from the light of heaven.
[7] This too shows what outermost spiritual truth seems like to the natural man – like a garment. It also shows that when this garment is removed nothing at all is left to draw the two together, as a consequence of which the spiritual man no longer has anything with which to protect himself from the natural man, which considerations are meant by Joseph’s leaving his garment behind, fleeing, and going out of doors. For the merely natural man does not acknowledge interior truths, and therefore when exterior ones are taken away or removed a severance instantly takes place. What is more, all the ideas introduced by the spiritual man to substantiate outermost truth are called falsities by the natural man since he has no ability to see whether the idea substantiated by the spiritual man is really true. It is not possible to see by natural light what belongs to spiritual light, for to do so is contrary to order. But seeing by spiritual light what belongs to natural light is in keeping with order.
[2] The way natural people look upon spiritual things as so to speak a body of slaves was also represented by the way the Egyptians regarded the Hebrews as nothing else than their slaves; for the Egyptians represented those who are preoccupied with natural knowledge, and so are natural people, whereas the Hebrews represented those who belong to the Church and so are spiritual when considered in relation to the Egyptians. Furthermore the Egyptians thought the Hebrews were of so low or slave-like a degree that it was an abomination to them to eat with Hebrews, Gen. 43:32; also the sacrifices which Hebrews offered were an abomination to them, Exod. 8:26.
And she kept his garment with her’ means that it retained outermost truth. ‘Until his lord came to his house’ means so that it might communicate with natural good. ‘And she spoke to him in these words’ means speaking falsely. ‘Saying, The Hebrew slave whom you have brought to us came to me’ means that servile thing. ‘To make sport of me’ means that it rose up. ‘And it happened as I lifted up my voice and cried out’ means when it discerned the great aversion. ‘That he left his garment with me’ means proof. ‘And fled out of doors’ means that at that point it separated itself.
* lit. according to
[2] The fact that a person’s natural mind, like his rational mind, is called ‘a house’ is evident from the following places: In Luke,
When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person he passes through dry places seeking rest; and if he does not find any he says, I will return to my house out of which I came. And if when he comes he finds it swept and decorated, he goes away and brings seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there. Luke 11:24-26.
‘House’ here stands for the natural mind, which is called a house that is ’empty and swept’* when there are no forms of good and truth in it meant by ‘husband and wife’, no affections for good and truth meant by ‘daughters and sons’, nor anything such as supports these meant by ‘women servants and men servants’. The person himself is ‘the house’ because the rational mind together with the natural mind constitutes a human being. Without the inhabitants just mentioned – that is, without the forms of good and truth, and without the affections for these, and the service rendered by those affections – a person is not a human being but a beast.
[3] The human mind is again meant by ‘a house’ in the same gospel,
Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and house falls upon house. Luke 11:17.
And in Mark,
If a kingdom is divided against itself, this kingdom cannot stand. Also, if a house is divided against itself, this house cannot stand. No one can go into the house and plunder the vessels of a strong man unless he first binds the strong man, and then he may plunder his house. Mark 3:14, 25, 27.
‘Kingdom’ means truth, 1672, 2547, 4691, and ‘house’ good, 2233, 2234, 3720, 4982, ‘house’ meaning good on account of its greater importance.
[4] In Luke,
If the householder had known at what hour the thief was coming he would certainly have been awake and would not have permitted his house to be broken into. Luke 12:39.
In the same gospel,
From now on there will be in one house five divided, three against two, and two against three. Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother. Luke 12:52, 53.
This refers to the spiritual conflicts which members of the Church enter into once the internal or spiritual contents of the Word have been opened up to them. ‘House’ stands for the actual person or his mind, while the ‘father’, ‘mother’, ‘son’, and ‘daughter’ in it are forms of good and truth together with affections for these, or in the contrary sense evils and falsities together with affections for these, which are the source of conflict and the things to be grappled with in such conflict.
[5] The Lord commanded His disciples, in Luke,
Whatever house you enter, first say, Peace be to this house! And if indeed a son of peace is there, your peace shall rest on it; but if not, it shall return to you. But remain in the same house; eat and drink what they have there. Do not pass on from house to house. Luke 10:5-7.
This represented the requirement for them to remain with genuine good, that is, with the good of love to the Lord and of charity towards the neighbour, and not to pass on to any other kind. For more about the actual person or his mind being meant by ‘a house’, see also 3538, 4973.
* empty and swept belongs to Matthew 12:44.
[2] Take another example. If one says that the purpose and end in view determine whether something is spiritual or unspiritual – spiritual when the purpose and end have the common good, the Church, and God’s kingdom in view, but unspiritual when the purpose and end have, preponderating over these, oneself and one’s own family and friends in view – the natural man is indeed able to affirm this with his lips but not in his heart. He can do so with his lips because of the instruction received by his understanding, but he cannot do so in his heart because his understanding has been ruined by evil desires. Consequently he makes ‘a lord’ out of the purpose and end that has himself in view, and ‘a slave’ out of the purpose and end that has the common good, the Church, and God’s kingdom in view. Indeed he says in his heart, How can anyone possibly be any different from this?
[3] In short, everything that the natural man regards as being separated from himself is considered utterly worthless by him and is cast aside; and everything that he regards as being linked to himself is considered by him to be valuable and acceptable. The natural man neither knows nor wishes to know about any spiritual way of thinking in which a person sees himself linked to everyone who is governed by good, whether or not he is actually acquainted with him, and separated from everyone who is governed by evil, whether or not he is actually acquainted with him. For when this is a person s way of thinking he is linked to those in heaven and cut off from those in hell. But since the natural man does not experience any delight in that spiritual attitude, for the reason that he does not entertain any spiritual influence, he therefore looks upon it as something utterly base and servile, thus something worthless compared with the delight he experiences, coming to him through his physical senses and through the desires of his selfish and worldly love. But this delight is a dead one because it originates in hell, whereas the delight brought by a spiritual influence is living, since this delight, which comes by way of heaven, begins in the Lord.
[2] The spiritual man says, just as the natural man does, that good should be done to the poor, widows, and orphans; but the spiritual man thinks that good should not be done to the poor, widows, or orphans who are evil, or who call themselves poor when in fact they are rich; for then they would mislead simply by the words they use. From this the spiritual man is led to deduce that the poor, widows, and orphans mentioned in the Word mean those who are spiritually so. But the natural man thinks that good should be done to the poor, widows, and orphans who are literally called such, and that none other than these are meant in the Word; nor is he interested in whether they are evil or good people. What the poor, widows, and orphans may be on a spiritual level he neither knows nor wishes to know. From this one may see that this outermost truth – that good should be done to the poor, widows, and orphans – appears to be the same with both the spiritual man and the natural man; but when it is explained no such similarity exists. But when the lack of any similarity comes out, the two are consequently parted from each other, and then outermost truth serves the natural man as evidence or proof that an approach has been made. Therefore it speaks falsely against the spiritual man who no longer has anything with which to protect himself. Accordingly this example too serves to show why and in what way ‘a garment’ means evidence or proof.
[3] Take another example. The spiritual man says, just as the natural man does, that good should be done to the neighbour. He also says that everyone is his neighbour, yet he thinks that one person is his neighbour in a different respect and degree from another, and that to do good to an evil person because he calls himself his neighbour is to do evil to the neighbour. The natural man joins the spiritual man in subscribing to that outermost truth – the truth that good should be done to the neighbour, and also the truth that everyone is the neighbour. But he supposes that the neighbour is anyone who is favourably disposed towards him; and he has no interest in whether that person is good or evil. This example too shows that the two appear to be joined together so far as outermost truth is concerned, but that there is no real joining together, also that as soon as that truth is explained they become parted from each other. Once they are parted outermost truth serves the natural man as evidence against the spiritual man that the latter has been making sport of it so to speak. The same can be seen in all the other examples [in 5008].
‘And it happened’ means a new state. ‘As his lord heard his wife’s words which she spoke to him’ means the communication of falsity which looked like the truth. ‘Saying, This is what your slave did to me means corroboration. ‘That his anger flared up’ means an aversion to spiritual truth. ‘And Joseph’s lord took him’ means temptation coming from the natural. ‘And committed him to the prison-house’ means involving false-speaking against good. ‘A place where the king’s bound ones were bound’ means the state of those governed by falsities. ‘And he was there in the prison-house’ means the duration of that temptation.
* lit. According to these words
[2] Dealt with here is the fact that unspiritual natural good is easily convinced, so easily that to it falsity looks altogether like truth. For what unspiritual natural good is and what it is like – that is, who those people are with whom that good resides, and what they are like – see above in 4988, 4992, 5008, 5013, 5028. In these places it is shown that they are those who by heredity and consequently adventitiously are disposed to be meek and upright, and so who do what is good from some natural inclination and not from any religious motive. Doing good from some natural inclination is entirely different from doing it from a religious motive. In the world a person cannot distinguish one from the other because he is not immediately aware of inward things; but in the next life he can clearly tell the difference because in that world inward things are laid bare. There thoughts, intentions, and ends in view reveal themselves, being laid bare as if in broad daylight.
[3] This being so I have been allowed to know what those people are like with whom unspiritual good resides and what those are like with whom spiritual good resides. Those with whom unspiritual natural good resides allow themselves to be persuaded by no matter whom, easily so by the evil, for evil spirits and genii are in their element or their life’s delight when they can get into another’s desires; and once they have entered them they allure that person into every kind of evil. For at such times they convince him that what is false is true. This they can easily do to those with whom unspiritual natural good resides. They cannot do the same to those with whom spiritual good resides because these know from within themselves what evil and falsity are. The reason for this is that when those with whom spiritual good resides lived in the world they welcomed whatever doctrine prescribed, and disciplined their internal man in the same, thereby enabling heaven to act upon their internal man. But when those with whom unspiritual natural good resides lived in the world they did not welcome anything prescribed by doctrine or discipline their internal man in the same. Consequently they have nothing laid down in them into which heaven can operate, but whatever enters them from heaven passes straight through; and when this enters the natural man it is not welcomed there because evil ones, that is, the devil’s crew, instantly remove it by smothering it, or repelling it, or perverting it.
[4] Therefore those whose good is wholly natural suffer severely in the next life. Sometimes they complain profusely about being among those in hell even though, they believe, they have done good, just as has everyone else. But they have been told that in their doing of good they were no different from harmless living creatures that are not endowed with reason. They had shown no concern, they are told, for anything good and true that is known to the Church; and since, as a consequence of this, nothing existed in their internal man to receive what was good and true, they now have nothing enabling angels to protect them. Furthermore, under a cloak of goodness, they had performed very many evil deeds.
[2] As for temptations themselves, they are going on while a person is in the actual process of being regenerated, for no one can be regenerated unless he also undergoes temptations; and the evil spirits around him are the means through which those temptations are brought about. In temptation the person is brought into a state in which the evil that possesses him, that is, possesses his own essential self, is dominant. Once he enters this state evil and hellish spirits surround him, and when they realize that inwardly he is protected by angels those evil spirits reactivate the false ideas he has previously contemplated and the evil deeds he has committed. But the angels defend him from within. This conflict is what the person experiences as temptation, yet the experience is so vague that he is aware of it as scarcely anything more than a feeling of anxiety. For a person, especially one who has no belief at all in influx, dwells in a state of complete obscurity and discerns scarcely the smallest fraction of the things over which evil spirits and angels are engaged in conflict. Yet a battle is taking place at such a time over that person and his eternal salvation, with both sides using what is within him; for both draw on what resides with the person and engage in conflict over it. The truth of this I have been led most certainly to know. I have heard such conflict going on, I have perceived the influx taking place, and I have seen the spirits and the angels, to whom I spoke at the time and subsequently about what was happening.
[3] As stated, temptations arise primarily when a person is becoming spiritual, for at that time he is gaining a spiritual understanding of the truths of doctrine. The person himself is often unaware that this is happening; even so, the angels present with him see spiritual concerns within his natural ones since his interiors at this time are open towards heaven. (This also explains why, after living in the world, a person who has been regenerated is among angels, where he both sees and perceives the spiritual concerns which had previously appeared to him as natural ones.) When therefore a person is such as this, it is possible for the angels to defend him in temptation when he is assailed by evil spirits; for the angels then have a place that has been established in him into which they can operate; that is, they can flow into the spiritual level established in him, and through this into that which is natural.
[4] Once therefore outermost truth has been removed, with the result that the person does not possess anything to protect himself from those who are natural, dealt with in 5006, 5008, 5009, 5022, 5028, he enters into temptations in which evil spirits, all of whom are wholly natural, make accusations against him, especially that of false-speaking against good. They say, for example, that he has thought and said that good should be done to the neighbour and has also given proof of this in his actions, yet by the neighbour he now means only those with whom good and truth are present, not those with whom evil and falsity are present and who are incapable of receiving correction. Consequently, because he is no longer willing to do good to the evil, apart from punishing them so as to correct them and to protect his neighbour from what is evil, they accuse him of having thought and spoken what was false and of not thinking as he speaks.
[5] Take another example. Because a person, once he has become spiritual, no longer believes it to be a holy and godly act to give to monasteries or even churches where great wealth exists, and because prior to his becoming spiritual he had thought it a holy and godly thing to do, those spirits accuse him of falsity. They reactivate all the thoughts he had cherished previously about such holy and godly giving, as well as all his actual deeds resulting from that way of thinking. Those spirits make similar accusations in countless other instances which these examples serve merely to illustrate somewhat. In particular those spirits enter the affections which the person possessed previously and reactivate these, reactivating also the falsities and evils which he had thought and committed, and in this way they fill him with anxiety and quite often with doubt extending to the point of despair.
[6] Such then is the origin of spiritual kinds of anxiety and of those feelings called the pangs of conscience. What makes these appear to exist essentially within himself is influx and communication. Anyone who knows and believes this may be compared to a person who sees himself in a mirror but knows that it is not he himself who appears in the mirror or on the other side of it, only his image, whereas anyone who does not know and believe this may be compared to a person who sees himself in the mirror and supposes that he himself, not his image, appears there.
[2] Such is the condition of those meant in the Word by ‘the bound’ and by ‘those who are in prison’, as is evident from other places in the Word:
In Isaiah,
I will give You to be a covenant of the people, a light of the nations, to open the blind eyes, to bring the bound out of prison, out of the dungeon-house those who sit in darkness. Isa. 42:6, 7.
This refers to the Lord and His Coming. Here ‘opening the blind eyes and bringing the bound out of prison, and out of the dungeon-house those who sit in darkness’ stands for those who have no knowledge of goodness and truth but who nevertheless have the desire to know and be taught about these. But in this instance a different word is used in the original language to describe a prison.
[3] In the same prophet,
All the young men are hidden in prison houses; they have become a prey, and none delivers and none says, Bring out. Isa. 42:22.
‘The young men’ in the internal sense are the truths of faith, which are said ‘to be hidden in prison-houses and to become a prey’ when they are not acknowledged any longer. In the same prophet,
It will be on that day, that Jehovah will visit the host of the height on high, and the kings of the ground on the ground, and the bound will be gathered together over the pit, and they will be shut in* the dungeon; after a multitude of days they will be visited. Isa. 24:21, 22.
‘The bound over the pit’ stands for those undergoing experiences of vastation, that is, temptation.
[4] In the same prophet,
What will you do on the day of visitation and vastation? It will come from afar. To whom will you flee for help? [Anyone] who has not bowed himself down will fall beneath the bound and beneath the slain. Isa. 10:3, 4.
‘Beneath the bound’ stands for the hell which lies below the places of vastation.’ The slain’ stands for those who through the false assumptions adopted by them have destroyed the truths of faith to a smaller extent than those pierced [by the sword] have done, dealt with in 4503.
[5] In Zechariah,
He will speak peace to the nations, and His dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. Also as for You, through the blood of Your covenant I will let out the bound ones from the pit in which there is no water. Return to the stronghold, O bound ones of hope. Zech. 9:10-12.
‘Letting out the bound ones from the pit’ stands for those who are undergoing vastation and temptation; for the places where such undergo vastation are called ‘pits’, see 4728, 4744. In David,
Jehovah hears the needy and does not despise His bound ones. Ps. 69:33.
In the same author,
Let the groaning of him who is bound come before You. Ps. 79:11.
In the same author,
Jehovah looked from the heavens towards the earth to hear the groaning of him who was bound, to open to the sons of death. Ps. 102:19, 20.
‘Those who are bound’ stands for those who are undergoing vastation and temptations. In Isaiah,
In a time of good pleasure I have answered You, and in a day of salvation I have helped** You; I have also guarded You, and I have given You for a covenant of the people to restore the land, to apportion the inheritances that have been laid waste, to say to those that are bound, Go out; and to those who are in darkness, Reveal yourselves. They will feed*** along the roads, and on all slopes will their pasture**** be. And they will neither hunger nor thirst. Isa. 49:8-10.
[6] In the same prophet,
The Spirit of the Lord Jehovih is upon Me, Jehovah has anointed Me; to bring good tidings to the poor He has sent Me, and to bind up the broken in heart; to preach liberty to captives, and to those who are bound, to him who is blind; to proclaim the year of Jehovah’s good pleasure.
In David,
Jehovah who executes judgement for the oppressed, who gives bread to the hungry; Jehovah who sets the bound free; Jehovah who opens the blind [eyes]; Jehovah who lifts up the bowed down; Jehovah who loves the righteous; Jehovah who guards strangers, upholds the orphan and the widow. Ps. 146:7-9.
‘The bound’ stands for those who are undergoing vastation and temptations because of falsities.
From all these places it is also evident who are meant in Matthew by those who are bound or ‘in prison’ and likewise who are meant by ‘the hungry, the thirsty, and strangers’,
Then the King will say to those at His right hand, I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, naked and you clothed Me around, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me. Matt. 25:34-36
Regarding these verses, see the preliminary section of the present chapter, 4954-4958.
* lit. over
** The Latin means heard, but the Hebrew means helped.
*** lit. pasture
**** The Latin means good pasture, but the Hebrew means their pasture, which Sw. has in other places where he quotes this verse.
By theft I have been taken out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have not done anything for which they should have put me in the pit.
As regards ‘a pit’ meaning a place of vastation, see 4728, 4744.
‘And Jehovah was with Joseph’ means that the Divine was inwardly present. ‘And showed mercy to him’ means Divine love within every individual thing. ‘And gave him favour in the eyes of the governor of the prison-house’ means consequent support in temptations. ‘And the governor of the prison-house gave’ means the truth governing in a state of temptations. ‘Into Joseph’s hand all the bound who were in the prison-house’ means from Him over all falsities. ‘And everything they did there, he was the doer of it’ means absolute power and control. ‘The governor of the prison-house oversaw nothing whatever that was in his hand’ means that He Himself governed truth. ‘In that Jehovah was with him’ means from the Divine that was within Him. ‘And whatever he did, Jehovah made it prosper’ means that the Divine Providence began in Himself.
* lit. prince or chief
** i.e. it was done under his instructions
[2] Not the actual truth but an affection for it is what the Lord uses to govern those undergoing temptations; for the Divine does not flow into anything except that which is regarded with affection. Truth that has been implanted and become rooted in a person interiorly has been implanted and become rooted there through affection. Absolutely nothing grows there without affection. Truth that has been implanted and become rooted through affection sticks in the mind, and it is recollected through an affection for it. Furthermore when that truth is recollected it also manifests the affection attached to it, an affection which in that person is a reciprocal one. This being what goes on in a person who undergoes temptations, no one is therefore allowed to experience any spiritual temptation until he reaches adult years and so has acquired some truth by means of which he may be governed. Without that truth he goes under, in which case his latter state is worse than his former one. From all this one may see what is implied by the truth governing in a state of temptations, meant by ‘the governor of the prison-house’.
[3] The reason ‘a prince (or a governor)’ means a primary truth is that ‘a king’ in the internal sense means the truth itself, 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4575, 4581, 4789, 4966, and consequently because ‘princes’ are the king’s chief subjects the primary features of that truth are meant by them. For this meaning of ‘princes’, see 1482, 2089; yet because those two paragraphs have not shown that meaning from other places in the Word, let some be introduced here: In Isaiah,
To us a boy is born, to us a son is given, on whose shoulder will be the government* – the prince of peace, increasing government** and peace [to which] there will be no end. Isa. 9:6, 7.
This refers to the Lord. ‘The government upon his shoulder’ means all Divine Truth in the heavens originating in Him, for the heavens are distinguished into separate principalities in keeping with the varieties of truth derived from good, which also explains why angels are called principalities. ‘Peace’ means the state of bliss in the heavens which inmostly affects what is good and true, 3780. This is why the Lord is called ‘the prince of peace’ and why it speaks of Him ‘increasing government and peace to which there will be no end’.
[4] In the same prophet,
The princes of Zoan are foolish, the wise counsellors of Pharaoh. How do you say to Pharaoh, I am a son of the wise, a son of the kings of old? The princes of Zoan have become fools, the princes of Noph deluded, and they have led Egypt astray, the corner-stone of the tribes. Isa. 19:11, 13.
This refers to Egypt, by which the Church’s factual knowledge is meant, 4749, and so natural truth, which is the last and lowest degree of order. For the same reason Egypt is here called ‘the corner-stone of the tribes’, for by ‘the tribes’ are meant all aspects of truth in their entirety, 3858, 3862, 3926, 3939, 4060. Here however ‘Egypt’ is factual knowledge that perverts the truths known to the Church, and so is truths in the lowest degree of order that have been falsified, meant by ‘the princes of Zoan and the princes of Noph’. The reason Egypt calls itself ‘a son of the kings of old’ is that the factual knowledge which existed in that land had its origin in the truths known to the Ancient Church. Actual truths are meant by ‘kings’, as shown above, and the truths known to the Ancient Church by ‘the kings of old’.
[5] In the same prophet,
Asshur does not think what is right and his heart does not consider what is right, for his heart is to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few, for he says, Are not my princes kings? Isa. 10:7, 8.
‘Asshur’ stands for reasoning about Divine truths which gives rise to falsities, and so stands for perverted reason, 1186. Truths falsified in this way, that is, falsities, which are the product of reasoning and look altogether like truths, are meant when Asshur says ‘Are not my princes kings?’ As long as a person’s mind is fixed on the historical sense of the letter he cannot see or consequently believe that ‘Asshur’ means reasoning, and that ‘princes who are kings’ means major falsities which are regarded as supreme truths. Still less can he believe this if he refuses to entertain the idea that there is something holier and more universal within the Divine Word than that which is seen in the literal sense. Yet in the internal sense ‘Asshur’ is used to mean in the Word nothing else than reason and reasoning, and ‘kings’ to mean actual truths, ‘princes’ the primary features of truth. Also, those in heaven have no knowledge as to what or who ‘Asshur’ may be, besides which angels put away from themselves the idea of a king or a prince; and when they detect this idea residing with man they transfer it to the Lord and then perceive that which goes forth from the Lord and which is the Lord’s in heaven, namely His Divine Truth going forth from His Divine Good.
[6] In the same prophet,
Asshur will fall by the sword, not of man (vir), and a sword, not of man (homo), will devour him. Also his rock will pass away by reason of terror, and his princes will be dismayed by the ensign. Isa. 31:8, 9.
This too refers to Egypt, by which the Church’s factual knowledge once it has been perverted is meant. Reasoning based on known facts regarding Divine truths which leads to perversion and falsification is meant by ‘Asshur’, those perverted and falsified truths being ‘his princes’. ‘The sword by which Asshur will fall’ is falsity engaged in conflict with truth and bringing about the devastation of it, 2799, 4499.
In the same prophet,
The strength of Pharaoh will become shame for you, and trust in the shadow of Egypt ignominy, when his princes will be in Zoan. Isa. 30:3, 4.
‘Princes in Zoan’ stands for truths that have been falsified, and so stands for falsities, as above.
[7] In the same prophet,
The spoon-bill and the duck will possess it, and the owl and the raven will dwell in it; and he will stretch over it the line of emptiness, and the plumb-line of a waste place. Let them call its nobles who are not there a kingdom, and all its princes will be nothing. Isa. 34:11, 12.
‘The spoon-bill’, ‘the duck’, ‘the owl’, ‘the raven’ stand for varieties of falsity which arise when Divine truths in the Word are rendered valueless. The desolation and laying waste of truth is meant by ‘the line of emptiness and the plumb-line of a waste’, while the falsities, which are primary truths so far as the people described here are concerned, are meant by ‘its princes’. In the same prophet,
I will render the princes of holiness profane, and I will give Jacob to utter destruction and Israel to reproaches. Isa. 43:28.
‘Rendering the princes of holiness profane’ refers to holy truths. The annihilation of the truth known to the Church – the internal Church and the external – is meant by ‘giving Jacob to utter destruction and Israel to reproaches’, ‘Jacob’ being the external Church and ‘Israel’ the internal, see 4286.
[8] 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. Jer. 17:25.
Anyone who understands the Word at this point according to its historical sense cannot know that anything deeper and holier lies hidden within these words than the idea that kings and princes will enter through the gates of the city in chariots and on horses, from which he gathers that the duration of the kingdom is meant. But one who is aware of what is meant by ‘city’ in the internal sense, and what is meant by ‘kings’, ‘princes’, ‘the throne of David’, and ‘riding in chariots and on horses’ sees deeper and holier matters in this description. For ‘the city’, which is Jerusalem, means the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, 2117, 3654; ‘kings’ Divine Truths, as shown above; ‘princes’ the primary features of truth; ‘the throne of David’ the Lord’s heaven, 1888; and ‘riding in chariots and on horses’ the existence in the Church of a spiritual understanding, 2760, 2761, 3217.
[9] In the same prophet,
O sword against the Chaldeans and against the inhabitants of Babel, and against its princes and against its wise men! O sword against the liars! O sword against its horses and against its chariots! Jer. 50:35-37.
‘Sword’ stands for truth engaged in conflict with falsity, and for falsity in conflict with truth and laying it waste, 2799, 4799. ‘The Chaldeans’ stands for those who profane truths, and ‘the inhabitants of Babel’ for those who profane good, 1182, 1283, 1295, 1304, 1307, 1308, 1321, 1322, 1326, 1327 (end). ‘Princes’ stands for falsities, which to such people are primary truths. ‘Horses’ stands for the Church’s possession of understanding, and ‘chariots’ for its doctrinal teaching, the laying waste of these being meant by ‘a sword against its horses and against its
chariots’.
[10] In the same prophet,
How in His anger the Lord covers the daughter of Zion with a cloud! The Lord has swallowed up – He has not spared – all the dwelling-places of Jacob. He has destroyed in His wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; He has cast them down to the ground; He has profaned the kingdom and her princes. The gates have sunk into the ground; He has broken in pieces her bars; her king and princes are among the nations. Lam. 1:1, 2, 9.
‘The daughter of Zion and Judah’ stands for the celestial Church, in this case for that Church when it has been destroyed. ‘The kingdom’ stands for the truths of doctrine there, 2547, 4691, ‘king’ for truth itself, and ‘princes’ for the primary features of this truth.
[11] In the same prophet,
Our skins have been blackened like an oven because of the storms of famine; they have ravished women in Zion, virgins in the cities of Judah. Princes have been hung up by their hands. Lam. 5:10-12.
‘Princes hung up by their hands’ stands for the fact that truths have been made profane, for being hung up represented the damnation brought about by profanation. And because being hung up represented that profanation the command was also given that when the people went whoring after Baalpeor and worshipped their gods, the princes were to be hung up before the sun, Num. 25:1-4, since ‘to go whoring after Baalpeor and to worship their gods’ was to make worship profane.
In Ezekiel,
The king will mourn, and the prince will be wrapped in stupidity, and the hands of the people of the land will be all atremble; I will deal with them in their way. Ezek. 7:27.
Here likewise ‘the king’ stands for truth in general, and ‘the prince’ for the primary features of it.
[12] In the same prophet,
The prince who is in the midst of them will be carried on the shoulder under darkness and will go forth; they will dig through the wall to lead out through it; he will cover his face, so that with the eye he does not see the earth. Ezek. 12:12.
Here it is quite evident that ‘the prince’ does not mean a prince but truth known to the Church. When the words ‘will be carried on the shoulder under darkness’ are used in reference to it, the meaning is that total power is used to bear away among falsities, ‘darkness’ meaning falsities. ‘Covering the face’ means that truth is completely out of sight; ‘so that with the eye he does not see the earth’ means that nothing of the Church is visible, ‘earth’ or ‘land’ meaning the Church, see 661, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1413, 1607, 1733, 1850, 2117, 4535. In Hosea,
The children of Israel will sit many days with no king and no prince, and no sacrifice, and no pillar, and no ephod, and no teraphim. Hosea 3:4.
[13] And in David,
All glorious is the king’s daughter within, in her clothing with gold interweavings; in embroidered robes she will be led to the king. Instead of your fathers will be your sons; you will set them as princes in the whole earth. Ps. 45:13, 14, 16.
‘The king’s daughter’ means the Lord’s spiritual kingdom. It is called His spiritual kingdom by virtue of the Lord’s Divine truth, which in this instance is described by means of ‘clothing consisting of gold interweavings and of embroidered robes’. ‘Sons’ are the truths of that kingdom which are derived from the Lord’s Divine, which are going to be ‘the princes’, that is, the primary features of it.
‘The prince’ who is described – he and his possession in the New Jerusalem and in the new land – in Ezekiel 44:3; 45:7, 8, 17; 46;8, 10, 12, 16, 18; 48:21, means, in general, truth that is derived from the Lord’s Divine. For ‘the New Jerusalem’ in these places, ‘the New Temple’, and ‘the new land’ are used to mean the Lord’s kingdom in heaven and on earth, which kingdom is described here in Ezekiel by means of representatives such as figure elsewhere in the Word.
* lit. principality or princely rule
** lit. multiplying the principality or princely rule
I lay down My life,* so that I may receive it again. No one takes it 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 10:17, 18.
The passion of the Cross was the last temptation, by which He fully glorified the Human within Him, that is, made it Divine, as is also evident from many places in the Word, such as John 13:31, 32; 17:1, 5; Luke 24:26.
* lit. soul
IN THIS SECTION THE CORRESPONDENCE OF THE LOINS AND THE ORGANS OF GENERATION WITH IT
Who exactly in the Grand Man or heaven belong to the province of the hands, the arms, and the feet has been shown from experience at the end of the previous chapter, in 4931-4953. Now this present section must state which particular communities in heaven or the Grand Man are the ones to which the loins, also the parts associated with the loins called the generative organs, correspond. In general it should be recognized that the loins and associated organs correspond to genuine conjugial love and consequently to those communities where angels live who possess that love. The inhabitants of those communities are the most heavenly ones and in their lives they enjoy greater peace and delight than any others do.
[2] After this I saw a large dog, like the one which very ancient authors call Cerberus. It had horrible, gaping jaws. I was told that a dog such as this means the guard which is set to prevent a person crossing over from heavenly conjugial love to a love of adultery, which is a hellish love. For heavenly conjugial love consists in one living, content in the Lord, together with one’s partner whom one loves very tenderly, and with one’s children. In the world this brings a person a deeper pleasure, and in the next life heavenly joy. But if people cross over from that love to its opposite, and this opposite love seems to them to hold heavenly delight within it, though in fact it is a hellish delight, a dog resembling Cerberus presents itself as if on guard to prevent any communication of opposite delights.
[2] I was told that this is what people of this sort are like initially, before they are received among those who constitute the province of the seminal vesicles, for in these vesicles sperm (semen)* is gathered together along with the suitable fluid with which the sperm is combined. That combination places the sperm in the right condition, so that once it has been sent forth it is released from the fluid at the cervix and thus serves to bring about conception. This kind of substance also holds within it the endeavour and so to speak desire to fulfill the same purpose and so to cast aside the fluid that clothes it. Something similar to this was seen to happen to that spirit. He returned to me, but now he was dressed in humble clothing. He said he had a burning desire to enter heaven and recognized that now he was in a fit state to remain there. I was led to say to him that this was perhaps a sign that he would be received there shortly. At this point angels told him to cast aside his clothing, which in his desire to do so he cast aside so quickly that hardly anything could have been done more quickly. This represented the nature of the desires of those in the province to which the seminal vesicles correspond.
* In Latin semen is the sperm or seed within the seminal fluid, not – as in English – both the sperm and the fluid.
[2] In view of this it is astonishing that anyone should ever believe that that nation was chosen or elected in preference to any other one. Believing that they were so elected many people go on to convince themselves of the idea that one’s life is of no consequence at all but that election and consequent acceptance into heaven is attributable to mercy alone, irrespective of the life one has led. Yet anyone of sound reason can see that to think in that way is to think contrary to the Divine. The Divine is mercy itself, and therefore if the attainment of heaven were attributable to mercy alone irrespective of the life one leads, all would be accepted, no matter how many these might be. To thrust anyone down into hell to suffer torment there, when it was possible for him to be received into heaven, would not be mercy but the opposite of mercy, and to elect one in preference to another would not be righteousness but the opposite of righteousness.
[3] Consequently those who have believed and convinced themselves of the idea that some have been elected and the rest have not been elected, also of the idea that admittance into heaven is attributable solely to mercy regardless of the life they have led, have been for the most part the kind of people who have led evil lives. These are told, as I have also heard and seen on several occasions, that the Lord never refuses anyone entrance into heaven, and that if they like they can find this out from experience. They are therefore raised up into some community of heaven whose inhabitants have led their lives under the influence of an affection for good, that is, they have led charitable lives. But when those raised up arrive there they begin, being evil, to suffer pain and inner torment because their life is contrary to that of heaven. And when heavenly light shines on them they look in that light like devils that are almost wholly devoid of human appearance. Some have sunken faces; some are all teeth, looking like crates; and some, who are different again, look like monsters. Thus they are horrified at themselves and hurl themselves headfirst into hell; and the deeper they can go, the better it is for them.
[2] From the region round Gehenna there once rose up something so to speak air-like and barely visible. It was a band of spirits who were like those just described. But after that, although there were quite a number of them, they looked to me like a single spirit, who was impeded by bandages which however he seemed to himself to remove. This was a sign meaning their desire to remove obstructions, for in the world of spirits representative images like this one serve to reveal people’s thoughts and intentions, and as soon as those images are seen their meaning is recognized instantly. After this, one who looked like a small snowy-white spirit seemed to come out of that band of spirits and to make his way towards me. This was a representation of their thought and intention, which was a wish to assume a state of innocence so that no one could suspect them of being what they were in fact like. When he reached me he stooped down towards my loins, where he seemed to wind himself all round them. This represented their wish to present themselves as spirits filled with chaste conjugial love. After this he seemed to twist like a coil around my feet, which represented their wish to worm their way in by means of such things as are naturally delightful. At length the small spirit became practically invisible, which represented their wish to lie completely out of sight.
[3] Angels told me that worming their way in like this is characteristic of those who deal treacherously in respect of conjugial love. That is to say, being intent on committing adultery with other men’s wives they would worm their way in, when they were in the world, by talking about conjugial love in a chaste and wholesome manner, by fondling the children and praising the husband in every possible way. They did all this so as to be considered friendly, chaste, and above suspicion, when in fact they were deceitful adulterers. Such being their true nature therefore, this was revealed, for once the incidents described above had taken place, the small snowy-white spirit became visible again. But now he had a dusky and very black appearance, and also a misshapen one. He was cast out into his own hell, which too was deep down below the middle of the loins, where the inhabitants live among utterly disgusting excrement, and also among the robbers, described in 4327, who correlate with general and involuntary sensory activity. I have spoken subsequently to spirits of this kind, who have been amazed that anyone should have any conscientious objection to committing adultery, that is to say, that his conscience should forbid him to lie with another man’s wife even if allowed to do so. Indeed when I have talked to them about conscience they have refused to believe that anyone possesses a conscience. I have been told that spirits like these come mainly from the Christian world, and only rarely do any come from other parts.
The opening section of the previous chapter contained an explanation of what the Lord said about the judgement on the good and on the evil, in Matthew 25:34-36. There now follows what He said after that,
Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You? But the King answering will say to them, Truly I say to you, Insofar as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers you did it to Me. Then He will also say to those on the left, Depart from Me, O cursed ones, into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave Me no food, I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me. Then they also will answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to You? Then He will answer them, saying, Truly I say to you, Insofar as you did not do it to one of the least of these you did not do it to Me. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. Matt. 25:37-46.
This reply means that if they had seen the Lord Himself, all of them would have performed these acts of kindness to Him. Yet it would not have been love towards Him that would have led them to do so, only fear because He was about to come and judge the whole world. Nor would they have acted for His sake but their own, and so not because of anything present more internally in them, in their hearts, but for quite external reasons, and in outward conduct alone. They may be likened to a person who, when he sees his king whose favour he wishes to secure so that he may become great or rich, therefore conducts himself in a submissive manner before the king. Or they may be likened to those who engage in external holy worship in which so to speak they see the Lord and are submissive before Him. They do this because they believe that by engaging in such worship they will receive eternal life, even though they have no charity and do not do good to anyone except for selfish reasons, thus solely for their own benefit. Those on the right are like people who outwardly show great respect to their king yet scoff at what he commands because in their hearts they despise him. These and other examples like them are what are meant by the reply given by those on the right. And because the outward actions of the evil as well are similar, the reply given by those on the left was practically the same.
Truly I say to you, Insofar as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers you did it to Me.
The word ‘brothers’ is used to describe those in whom the good of charity and life is present; for since good itself is present in them, the Lord resides with them. These are the ones who are meant, strictly speaking, by the neighbour. Yet the Lord does not present Himself even within these, for compared with Him they are worthless. But a person presents himself before the Lord by worshipping Him with his inner being.
[2] Eternal fire is clearly not material fire; and the reason it is not a tormented conscience is that none who are governed by evil have any conscience; and those who have had no conscience during their lifetime cannot have any in the next life. But the reason eternal fire is a craving is that the entire fire of life in a person is fuelled by his loves, a heavenly fire by the love of what is good and true, a hellish fire by the love of what is evil and false. Or what amounts to the same, a heavenly fire is fuelled by love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour, and a hellish fire by self-love and love of the world. Anyone can see, if he stops to think, that all the fire or heat burning within a person is fuelled by his loves. This also explains why love is called spiritual heat and why in the Word fire and heat have no other meaning, 934 (end), 1297, 1527, 1528, 1861, 2446, 4906. The fire of life in the evil is also such that when they feel very strong cravings, a kind of fire is also burning in them, which inflames them with an intense and furious desire to torment others. But the fire of life in the good is such that when a higher level of affection exists with them, a kind of fire is alight in them too. But this fire inflames them with a loving and zealous desire to do good to others.
GENESIS 40
1 And so it was after these words,* that they sinned – the cupbearer of the king of Egypt, and the baker – against their lord the king of Egypt.
2 And Pharaoh was incensed with his two courtier-ministers, with the chief of the cupbearers and with the chief of the bakers.
3 And he put them in the custody of the house of the chief of the attendants, at the prison-house, the place where Joseph was bound.
4 And the chief of the attendants set Joseph over them and he ministered to them; and they were in custody for days.**
5 And they both dreamed a dream, each his dream in one night, each according to the interpretation of his dream, the cupbearer and the baker to the king of Egypt, who were bound in the prison-house.
6 And Joseph came to them in the morning, and he saw them, and behold, they were troubled.
7 And he asked Pharaoh’s courtier-ministers who were with him in the custody of his lord’s house, saying, Why are your faces sad*** today?
8 And they said to him, We have dreamed a dream and there is no interpreter for it. And Joseph said to them, Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, I beg you.
9 And the chief of the cupbearers told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, and behold, a vine before me.
10 And on the vine three shoots, and it was as though budding; its blossom came up, and its clusters ripened into grapes.
11 And Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and put the cup onto Pharaoh’s palm.
12 And Joseph said to him, This is the interpretation of it: The three shoots are three days.
13 In yet three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and will restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand, according to the former manner when you were his cupbearer.
14 But remember me when it is well with you, and show, I beg you, mercy to me, and make mention of me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house.
15 For I have indeed been taken by theft out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have not done anything for which they should put me in the pit.
16 And the chief of the bakers saw that he had interpreted what was good, and he said to Joseph, I also was in my dream, and behold, three baskets with holes in them were on my head.
17 And in the highest basket there was some of every kind of food for Pharaoh, the work of the baker, and the birds were eating them out of the basket, from upon my head.
18 And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days.
19 In yet three days Pharaoh will lift up your head from upon you, and will hang you on wood; and the birds will eat your flesh from upon you.
20 And it happened on the third day, Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants, and he lifted up the head of the chief of the cupbearers, and the head of the chief of the bakers, in the midst of his servants.
21 And he restored the chief of the cupbearers to his supervision over [Pharaoh’s] drink, and he put the cup onto Pharaoh’s palm.
22 And the chief of the bakers he hanged, as Joseph had interpreted to them.
23 And the chief of the cupbearers did not remember Joseph, and forgot him.
* i.e. things, see 5075
** i.e. for a considerable length of time
*** lit. evil
The internal sense of this chapter continues to deal with the state of temptations, by means of which bodily things could be brought into a state of agreement. Rightly called bodily ones, those things are the powers of the senses, of which there are two kinds, some sensory powers being subordinate to the understanding part of the mind, others to the will part. Those subordinate to the understanding part are represented by the cupbearer of the king of Egypt, and those subordinate to the will part by the baker. The eventual retention of the former but casting away of the latter is represented by the fact that the cupbearer returned to the position he had held previously, whereas the baker was hanged. Everything else will become evident from the train of thought.
Verses 1-4 And so it was after these words,* that they sinned – the cupbearer of the king of Egypt, and the baker – against their lord the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh was incensed with his two courtier-ministers, with the chief of the cupbearers and with the chief of the bakers. And he put them into the custody of the house of the chief of the attendants, at the prison-house, the place where Joseph was bound. And the chief of the attendants set Joseph over them and he ministered to them; and they were in custody for days.**
‘And so it was’ means a new state and the things that followed. ‘After these words’ means after the things prior to this. ‘That they sinned’ means that order had become turned around. ‘The cupbearer of the king of Egypt’ means among the things of the body which are subject to the understanding part of the mind. ‘And the baker’ means among the things in the body which are subject to the will part. ‘Against their lord the king of Egypt’ means that these were contrary to the new state in the natural man. ‘And Pharaoh was incensed’ means that the new natural man turned away. ‘With his two courtier-ministers’ means from both kinds of sensory powers in the body. ‘With the chief of the cupbearers and with the chief of the bakers’ means in general from the sensory powers subordinate to the understanding part and to the will part. ‘And he put them into the custody’ means a casting aside. ‘Of the house of the chief of the attendants’ means the things that are first and foremost in explanations. ‘At the prison-house’ means among falsities. ‘The place where Joseph was bound’ means the state of the celestial of the natural now in relation to these things. ‘And the chief of the attendants set Joseph over them’ means that under the influence of the things first and foremost in explanations the celestial of the natural taught those bodily senses. ‘And he ministered to them’ means that it instructed them. ‘And they were in custody for days’ means that they lay in a state when they were cast aside for a long time.
* i.e. things, see 5075
** i.e. for a considerable length of time
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. John 1:1, 3.
[2] The interior meanings that words possess have their origin for the most part in the interior man, which dwells with spirits and angels. For as to his spirit, that is, as to his true self which lives after the death of his body, everyone lives in communion with angels and spirits, though the external man is not conscious of this. Living in communion with them he is also among those who use a universal language and so use that which is the origin of verbal expressions. It is for this reason that words have many spiritual meanings attached to them which to outward appearance seem to be out of keeping with them; but inwardly they are in keeping, as with the meaning of ‘words’ here as things. The same is true of very many other expressions, as when for instance a person’s understanding is called his inner sight and is said to possess light, or as when his apprehension of and obedience to something is called hearing and listening, or as when his detection of something is called smelling, and so on.
[2] A person’s external senses are directly related to his internal ones, for they have been given to a person and placed within his body to serve his internal man while he is in the world and to exist subject to the sensory powers of that internal man. Consequently when a person’s external senses begin to rule his internal ones he is done for. When this happens his internal sensory powers are regarded as no more than servants whose function is to reinforce whatever the external senses imperiously demand. When this is the state in which the external senses operate, order in their case has become turned around, a situation dealt with immediately above in 5076.
[3] A person’s external senses are, as stated, directly related to his internal ones, in general to the understanding and to the will. Consequently some external senses are subject or subordinate to the understanding part of the human mind, others are subject to the will part. One sensory power specifically subject to the understanding is sight; another subject to the understanding, and after that to the will also, is hearing. Smell, and more especially taste, are subject to both simultaneously, while the power subject to the will is touch. Much evidence could be introduced to show that the external senses are subject to the understanding and the will, and also to show how they are subject; but it would take up too much space to carry the explanation so far. Something of what is involved may be recognized from what has been shown at the ends of preceding chapters about the correspondence of those senses.
[4] In addition it should be recognized that all truths that are called the truths of faith belong to the understanding part, and that all forms of good which are those of love and charity go with the will part. Consequently it is the function of the understanding to believe, acknowledge, know, and see truth – and good also. But the function of the will is to feel an affection for that truth and to love it; and whatever a person feels an affection for and loves is good. But how the understanding influences the will when truth passes into good, and how the will influences the understanding when it puts that good into effect, are matters for still deeper examination- In :he Lord’s Divine mercy those matters will be discussed at various points further on.
[5] The reason ‘the cupbearer’ means the senses subject or subordinate to the understanding Part of the internal man is that everything which serves as drink, or which is consumed as such, for example, wine, milk, or water, is related to truth, which feeds the understanding and so belongs to the understanding. Also, because the external or bodily senses play a ministering role, ‘a cupbearer’ therefore means those senses or what is perceived by them. For in general ‘drinking’ has reference to truths which feed the understanding, see 3069, 3071, 3168, 3772, 4017, 4018; the specific meaning of ‘wine’ is truth deriving from good, or faith from charity, 1071, 1798, while ‘water’ means truth, 680, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976. From all this one may now see what ‘the cupbearer’ means.
[2] The reason why here and in the rest of this chapter external sensory powers of both kinds are dealt with in the internal sense is that the previous chapter dealt with how the Lord glorified or made Divine the interior aspects of His Natural, and therefore the present chapter deals with how the Lord glorified or made Divine the exterior aspects of that Natural. The exterior aspects of the natural are rightly called bodily ones, being both kinds of sensory powers of perception together with their recipient members and organs; for these recipients together with those powers make up that which is referred to as the body, see above in 5077. The Lord made Divine all that constituted His body, both its sensory Powers and their recipient members and organs, which also explains. Why He rose from the grave with His body, and after the Resurrection told His disciples,
See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; handle Me, and see; for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see Me have. Luke 24:39.
[3] Most people at the present day who belong to the Church believe that everyone is going to rise again on the last day and to do so at that time with his body. This supposition is so universal that scarcely anyone, because of what he is taught, believes anything different. But that supposition has gained strength because the natural man imagines that the body alone is the possessor of life. Consequently if he were not allowed to believe that this body is going to receive life once again he would refuse to believe in any resurrection at all. But the truth of the matter is that a person rises again immediately after death, at which point he seems to himself to be in his body just the same as when he was in the world, having a face and members, arms, hands, feet, breast, belly, and loins like the ones he had before. Indeed when he sees himself and touches himself he says he is exactly as he was in the world. However, that which he sees and touches is not his external which he carried round in the world but the internal which constituted the real person. That internal is what had life within it, but it had the external surrounding it, or outside every individual part of it, enabling it to exist in the world where it could act in the right way and carry out its functions.
[4] The actual earthly body is of no further use to him. He is in another world where he possesses other functions and other strengths and powers for which the kind of body he has there is suited. He sees that body with his own eyes – not the eyes he had in the world but those he now has in that other world. They are the eyes of his internal man, the ones he had used previously to see with through the eyes of his body and behold worldly and earthly objects. He also touches and feels that body – not with the hands or sense of touch he had been given in the world but with the hands and sense of touch which he is given in that other world and which had lain behind his sense of touch in the world. Furthermore each of the senses in that other world is keener and more perfect because it belongs to the internal man released from the external. The internal dwells in a greater state of perfection, because it is this that supplies sensory awareness to the external, though when it acts into the external, as it does in the world, that power is blunted and reduced. What is more, the sensory perception of the internal is a perception of what is internal, that of the external a perception of what is external. This being so, people can see one another after death, and they exist grouped together in communities on the basis of what they are inwardly like. In order to become quite sure of this I have been allowed to touch actual spirits and to talk to them many times on this subject, see 322, 1630, 4622.
[5] People after death – who are then called spirits or, if they have led good lives, angels – are utterly amazed at what the member of the Church believes about himself. For he believes that he will not see eternal life until the last day when the world is destroyed, and that at that time he will be reclothed with the dust that has been cast away; when yet one who belongs to the Church knows that he rises again after death. For who does not say, when someone dies, that his soul or spirit is in heaven, or in hell? Who does not say about his young children who have died that they are in heaven? Who does not comfort a person who is [incurably] sick or one who is condemned to death by saying that shortly he will enter the next life? And one who is in the throes of death and has been prepared for it does not believe anything different. Indeed such a conviction about a person’s rising again after he has died is what leads many to claim that they have the power to release others from places of condemnation and to admit them into heaven, and to say masses for their souls. Is anyone unacquainted with what the Lord said to the robber, ‘Today you will be with Me in paradise’, Luke 23:43, or with what the Lord said about the rich man and Lazarus, that the former was carried off into hell, whereas the latter was taken by the angels into heaven, Luke 16:22, 23? Or is anyone unacquainted with what the Lord taught about the resurrection when He said that God is not the God of the dead but of the living, Luke 20:38?
[6] A person acquainted with all this thinks in these ways and speaks in these ways when his spirit guides his thought and speech. But when his thought and speech are guided by what doctrine teaches that person says something entirely different, namely that he will not rise again Until the last day. But in fact each person’s last day is at hand when he dies, and this is his time of judgement too, as many also declare. As to what is meant by ‘being encompassed by my skin’ and ‘out of my flesh seeing God’ in Job 19:25, 26, see 3540 (end). These things were said so that people may know that no one rises again in the body that encompassed him in the world except the Lord alone. He did so because, while in the world, He glorified His body, that is, He made it Divine.
[2] There are interior aspects of the natural and there are exterior ones. The interior aspects of the natural are known facts and the affections for them, but the exterior aspects are both kinds of sensory perception spoken of above in 5077. When a person dies he leaves behind those exterior aspects of the natural; but the interior aspects of the natural he takes with him into the next life where they serve as the foundation on which spiritual and celestial things can be based; for when a person dies he loses nothing apart from his flesh and bones. He keeps his memory in which everything he has done, spoken, or thought is recorded, and he keeps every natural affection and desire, and so every interior aspect of the natural. He does not need its exterior aspects, for he does not see anything that is in the world, or hear anything that is in the world, or smell, taste, or touch anything that is in the world, only what is in the next life. Things in the next life, it is true, seem for the most part to be like those in the world, but they are not, for they hold what is living within them, such as things proper to the natural world do not hold within them. For every single thing in the next life owes the beginning and the continuance of its existence to the Sun there, which is the Lord, as a consequence of which it has that which is living within it. But every single thing in the natural world owes the beginning and the continuance of its existence to the sun there, which is material fire, as a consequence of which it does not have that which is living within it. What gives it the appearance of having life within it is that its origin lies solely in the spiritual world, that is, in the Lord through the spiritual world.
[2] The word used in the original language means minister, courtier, bed-chamber servant, and eunuch. In the internal sense the good and truth of the natural man are meant, as is the case here. But specifically the good of the natural man is meant, as in Isaiah,
Do not let the son of the foreigner who clings to Jehovah say, Jehovah surely separates me from being with His people. Do not let the eunuch say, Behold, I am dry wood. For thus said Jehovah to the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths and choose that in which I delight, and are holding fast to My covenant, I will give those in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an eternal name which will not be cut off. Isa. 56:3-5.
In this case ‘the eunuch’ stands for the good of the natural man, and ‘the son of the foreigner for the truth of the natural man; for the Lord’s Church is both external and internal. Those who belong to the external Church are natural; those who belong to the internal Church are spiritual. Those who are natural and yet are governed by good are ‘the eunuchs’, while those governed by truth are ‘the sons of the foreigner’. Also, since the truly spiritual or internal ones are to be found solely within the Church, ‘the sons of the foreigner’ in addition means therefore those who are outside the Church – the gentiles – who are nevertheless governed by the truth as taught by their religion, 2049, 2593, 2599, 2600, 2602, 2603, 2861, 2863, 7263, while ‘the eunuchs’ means those governed by good.
[2] Few know what the illusions of the senses are and few believe that these cast a shadow over rational insights and most of all over spiritual matters of faith – a shadow so dark that it blots them out. This happens especially when at the same time what a person delights in is the result of desires bred by a selfish and worldly love. But let examples be used to shed some light on this matter, first some examples of illusions of the senses which are purely natural ones, that is, illusions about things within the natural creation, then some examples of such illusions in spiritual things.
i It is an illusion of the senses – a purely natural one, or an illusion about the natural creation – to believe that the sun is borne round this globe once a day, and that the sky too and all the stars are borne round at the same time. People may be told that it is impossible and therefore inconceivable that so vast an ocean of fire as the sun, and not only the sun but also the countless stars, should revolve once a day without undergoing any changes of position in relation to one another. They may be told in addition that one can see from the planetary system that our own globe performs a daily movement and an annual one, by rotations on its axis and by revolutions. This can be recognized from the fact that the planets are globes like ours, some of which have moons around them and all of which, as observation shows, perform daily and annual movements like ours. But for all that they are told, the illusion the senses prevails with very many people – that things really are as the eye sees them.
[3] ii It is an illusion of the senses – a purely natural one, or an illusion about the natural creation – that the atmosphere is a single entity, except that it becomes gradually and increasingly rarified until a vacuum exists where the atmosphere comes to an end. A person’s external senses tell him nothing else than this when their evidence alone is relied on.
iii It is an illusion of the senses, a purely natural one, that the power which seeds have to grow into trees and flowers and to reproduce themselves was conferred on them when creation first began, and that that initial conferment is what causes everything to come into being and remain in being. People may be told that nothing can remain in being unless it is constantly being brought into being, in keeping with the law that continuance in being involves a constant coming into being, and with another law that anything that has no connection with something prior to itself ceases to have any existence. But though they are told all this, their bodily senses and their thought that is reliant on their senses, cannot take it in. Nor can they see that every single thing is kept in being, even as it was brought into being, through an influx from the spiritual world, that is, from the Divine coming through the spiritual world.
[4] iv This gives rise to another illusion of the senses, a purely natural one, that single entities exist called monads and atoms. For the natural man believes that anything comprehended by his external senses is a single entity or else nothing at all.
v It is an illusion of the senses, a purely natural one, that everything is part of and begins in the natural creation, though there are indeed purer and more inward aspects of the natural creation that are beyond the range of human understanding. But if anyone says that a spiritual or celestial dimension exists within or above the natural creation, this idea is rejected; for the belief is that unless a thing is natural it has no existence.
vi It is an illusion of the senses that only the body possesses life and that when it dies that life perishes. The senses have no conception at all of an internal man present within each part of the external man, nor any conception that this internal man resides in the inward dimension of the natural creation, in the spiritual world. Nor consequently, since they have no conception of it, do the senses believe that a person will live after death, apart from being clothed with the body once again, 5078, 5079.
[5] vii This gives rise to the further illusion of the senses that no human being can have a life after death any more than animals do, for the reason that the life of an animal is much the same as that of a human being, the only difference being that man is a more perfect kind of living creature. The senses – that is, the person who relies on his senses to think with and form conclusions – have no conception of the human being as one who is superior to animals or who possesses a life superior to theirs because of his ability to think not only about the causes of things but also about what is Divine. The human being also has the ability to be joined through faith and love to the Divine, as well as to receive an influx from Him and to make what flows in his own. Thus because of his response to such influx from the Divine it is possible for the human being to receive it, which is not at all the case with animals.
[6] viii This gives rise to yet another illusion, which is that what is actually living in the human being – what is called the soul – is merely something air-like or flame-like which is dispersed when the person dies. Added to this is the illusion that the soul is situated either in the heart, or in the brain, or in some other part of him, from where it controls the body as if this were a machine. One who relies on his senses has no conception of an internal man present in every part of his external man, no conception that the eye sees not of its own accord, and that the ear hears not of its own accord, but under the direction of the internal man.
ix It is an illusion of the senses that no other source of light is possible than the sun or else material fire, and that no other source of heat than these is possible. The senses have no conception of the existence of a light that holds intelligence within it, or of a heat that holds heavenly love within it, or that all angels are bathed in that light and heat.
x It is an illusion of the senses when a person believes that he lives independently, that is, that an underived life is present within him; for this is what the situation seems to be to the senses. The senses have no conception at all that the Divine alone is one whose life is underived, thus that there is but one actual life, and that anything in the world that has life is merely a form receiving it, see 1954, 2706, 2886-2889, 2893, 3001, 3318, 3337, 3338, 3484, 3742, 3743, 4151, 4249, 4318-4310, 4417, 4523, 4524, 4882.
[7] xi The person who relies on his senses can be misled into a belief that adulterous relationships are allowable; for his senses lead him to think that marriages exist merely for the sake of order which the upbringing of children necessitates, and that provided this order is not destroyed it makes no difference who fathers the children. He can also be misled into thinking that the married state is no different from having sex with someone, except that it is allowable. That being so, he also believes that it would not be contrary to order for him to many several wives if the Christian world, basing its ideas on the Sacred Scriptures, did not forbid it. If told that a correspondence exists between the heavenly marriage and marriages on earth, and that no one can have anything of marriage within him unless spiritual good and truth are present there, also that a genuinely conjugial relationship cannot possibly exist between one man and several wives, and consequently that marriages are intrinsically holy, the person who relies on his senses rejects all this as worthless.
[8] xii It is an illusion of the senses that the Lord’s kingdom, or heaven, is like an earthly kingdom, that joy and happiness there consist in one person holding a higher position than another and as a consequence possessing more glory than another. For the senses have no conception at all of what is implied by the idea that the least is the greatest and the last is the first. If such people are told that joy in heaven or among angels consists in serving the welfare of others without any thought of merit or reward, it strikes them as a sorrowful existence.
xiii It is an illusion of the senses that good works earn merit and that to do good to someone even for a selfish reason is a good work.
xiv It is also an illusion of the senses that a person is saved by faith alone, and that faith may exist with someone who has no charity, as well as that faith, not life, is what remains after death. One could go on with very many other illusions of the senses; for when a person is governed by his senses the rational degree within him, which is enlightened by the Divine, does not see anything. It dwells in thickest darkness, in which case every conclusion based on sensory evidence is thought to be a rational one.
[2] Unless a person’s thought can be raised above sensory impressions so that these are beheld as existing so to speak beneath him, he cannot possibly discern any interior aspect of the Word, let alone things of heaven such as are totally removed from those of the world, since the senses take hold of them and stifle them. This explains why people who rely on their senses and have focused their attention on known facts rarely understand anything about the things of heaven; for they have immersed their thoughts in the kinds of things that belong to the world, that is, in terms and in definitions formed from these, and so in what the senses perceive, from which they can no longer be raised up and so preserved in a way of looking at things that is higher than the senses. Nor can their thought range freely any longer over the whole field of matters recorded in the memory, selecting those which agree and casting aside those which are contrary, and using those which are in any way appropriate. For their thought is locked up and immersed in terms, as has been stated, and consequently in sensory impressions, so that it cannot look round about. This is the reason why the learned possess less belief than the simple, and also indeed why they possess less discernment in heavenly matters. For the simple can view something from a position that is above mere terms and above known facts, and so above sensory evidence. This the learned cannot do; their viewpoint is based on terms and known facts because their mind is immersed in these. Thus they are bound so to speak in a dungeon or prison.
‘And they both dreamed a dream’ means foresight regarding them. ‘Each his dream in one night’ means regarding what the outcome would be, which to them lay in obscurity. ‘Each according to the interpretation of his dream’ means which they held within them. ‘The cupbearer and the baker’ means regarding both kinds of sensory powers. ‘To the king of Egypt’ means which were subordinate to the interior natural. ‘Who were bound in the prison-house’ means which were among falsities. ‘And Joseph came to them in the morning’ means that which was revealed and made clear to the celestial of the natural.** ‘And he saw them’ means perception. ‘And behold, they were troubled’ means that they were passing through a sad state. ‘And he asked Pharaoh’s courtier-ministers’ means those sensory powers. ‘Who were with him in the custody of his lord’s house’ means which had been cast aside. ‘Saying, Why are your faces sad today?’ means, What affection gives rise to this sadness? ‘And they said to him’ means perception regarding these matters. ‘We have dreamed a dream’ means a foretelling. ‘And there is no interpreter for it’ means that no one knows what they hold within them. ‘And Joseph said to them’ means the celestial of the natural. ‘Do not interpretations belong to God?’ means that the Divine is within them. ‘Tell it to me, I beg you’ means that it might be known.
* lit. evil
** the celestial of the spiritual is possibly intended here; see 5097.
[2] An idea simply of night and of the obscurity that comes with it is sufficient to enable one to see how the spiritual sense and the natural sense of something are related to each other. Furthermore there are three kinds of spiritual obscurity – the first being that which is due to falsity that is a product of evil; the second being that which is due to ignorance of the truth; and the third being the obscurity in which exterior things dwell, compared with interior ones, and so the obscurity in which ideas formed by the senses and present in the external man dwell, compared with the rational concepts present in the internal man. All three kinds of obscurity arise however because the light of heaven, or intelligence and wisdom flowing from the Lord, is not received. This light shines unceasingly, but falsity that is a product of evil either rejects, smothers, or else perverts it; ignorance of truth receives only a little; while ideas formed by the senses that are present in the external man reduce it to a dim light by making it a general or ordinary one.
[2] The interior natural is what ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt’ represents, while the exterior natural is what ‘the cupbearer and the baker’ represents. The nature of the difference between the two becomes clear from the different ways they look at things, that is, from their thoughts and their conclusions based on those thoughts. The person who uses the interior natural to think with and to form conclusions is rational, and is so insofar as he has absorbed what comes to him through rational thought; but the person who uses the exterior natural to think with and form conclusions is governed by his senses, and is so insofar as he has absorbed what comes to him from sensory evidence. Such a person is called one governed by his senses, whereas the other is called one who is rational-natural. When a person dies he has the entire natural with him; and its form remains the same as that which it took in the world. He is also rational-minded to the extent he has absorbed ideas from rational thought, but sensory-minded to the extent he has absorbed ideas from his senses. The difference between the two is that, to the extent it has absorbed ideas from rational thought and made them its own, the natural looks down on the senses belonging to the exterior natural and controls them by disparaging and casting aside illusions formed by the senses. But to the extent that it has absorbed ideas formed by the bodily senses and made them its own the natural looks down on rational thought by disparaging this and casting it aside.
[3] An example of the difference between the two may be seen in the ability of the rational-natural man to comprehend that no one’s life is self-existent but that it comes to him through an influx of life from the Lord by way of heaven, and the inability of one governed by the senses to comprehend the same. For the latter says his senses tell him and he can plainly see that his life is self-existent and that it is pointless to contradict the evidence of the senses. Let another example be given. The rational-natural man comprehends the existence of a heaven and a hell; but one governed by his senses denies the existence of these because he has no conception of another world purer than the one he sees with his eyes. The rational-natural man comprehends the existence of spirits and angels who are not visible to him; but one governed by the senses cannot comprehend the same, for he imagines that what he cannot see or touch has no existence.
[4] Here is another example. The rational-natural man comprehends that it is the mark of an intelligent being to have ends in view, and with foresight to be directing means towards some final end. When he looks at the natural creation from the point of view of the order of everything, he sees the natural creation as a complex system of means and realizes that an intelligent Supreme Being has given them direction, though to what final end he cannot see unless he becomes spiritual. But a person governed by his senses does not comprehend how anything distinct and separate from the natural creation can exist or how some Being superior to the natural order can do so. He has no notion of what exercising intelligence, exercising wisdom, having ends in view, or giving direction to means may be unless all these activities are being spoken of as natural ones; and when they are spoken of as such, his idea of them is like that of one who is designing a machine. These few examples show what is meant by the interior natural and the exterior natural, and by the powers of the senses being cast aside – not sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch in the body, but the conclusions reached by these about interior matters.
* previously the expression Divine Rational has been used to describe Isaac’s representation; cp 5998.
Other seeds fell on the hard path, and the birds came and devoured them. Matt. 13:4.
‘Seeds’ means Divine truths, ‘hard rock’ conviction, and ‘birds’ false assumptions.
[2] People like these are not even aware that they are in bonds or in prison, for they are full of affection for their falsity, loving it because of the evil which produces it. This leads them to think that they are in freedom, since everything they have an affection for or love seems to make them feel free. But those who have not really subscribed to falsity, that is, who have not become convinced of it, entertain truths easily. They see them, choose them, and are full of affection for them, after which they look down on falsities so to speak, and then see how those convinced of falsity have come to be in bonds. Having such freedom they are able in their contemplation and thought to roam so to speak through the whole of heaven in search of countless truths. But nobody can have this freedom except one who is governed by good; for it is by virtue of good that he is in heaven and by virtue of good that truths are seen there.
[2] In addition to this, ‘morning” in the highest sense means the Lord Himself, for the reason that the Lord is the sun from which all light in heaven flows; He is always a rising sun and so is always a morning one. He is rising always on everyone who receives truth that is the truth of faith and good that is the good of love; but He is setting on everyone who does not receive these. Not that the sun there ever sets, for as has been stated, it is always a rising one, but that anyone who does not receive that truth or good causes it so to speak to set on himself. This may be compared in some measure to the changes which the sun of the world undergoes so far as the inhabitants on earth are concerned. Here too the sun does not really set since it remains all the time in its own fixed position, from where it is constantly shedding light. Yet it does seem to set because the earth spins daily on its axis, and as it goes round it takes its inhabitants out of sight of the sun, see the first example given in 5084. Thus the sun does not actually go down but anyone inhabiting the earth is removed from its light. This comparison is used to illustrate a particular point; but the phenomenon referred to is in itself instructive because every detail of the natural creation is representative of the Lord’s kingdom. The instruction held within that phenomenon is that a loss of the light of heaven, that is, of intelligence and wisdom, does not come about because the Lord, the Sun of intelligence and wisdom, sets on anyone. It comes about because the inhabitant of His kingdom takes himself away, that is, he allows hell to be his leader and so take him away.
[2] No face is looked at by the angels in any other way, for angels do not see the material but the spiritual form that a person’s face takes; that is, they see the form presented by his affections and the thoughts springing from those affections. These are the essential components of the human face, as anyone may recognize from the fact that when bereft of thought and affections the face is completely dead, and that the face is enlivened by them and owes its pleasing looks to them. The sadness expressing some affection, or an affection which gives rise to sadness, is meant by Joseph’s words, Why are your faces sad today?
‘And the chief of the cupbearers told his dream to Joseph’ means that the celestial of the spiritual discerned what the outcome would be for the sensory impressions subject to the understanding part of the mind, which until then had been cast aside. ‘And said to him’ means revelation resulting from perception. ‘In my dream’ means a foretelling. ‘And behold, a vine before me’ means the understanding part. ‘And on the vine three shoots’ means derivatives from this even to the final one. ‘And it was as though budding’ means an influx that allows rebirth to be effected. ‘Its blossom came up’ means the state next to regeneration. ‘And its clusters ripened into grapes’ means spiritual truth when joined to celestial good. ‘And Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand’ means an influx of the interior natural into the exterior natural, and the beginning of reception. ‘And I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup’ means a reciprocal influx into good deeds that have a spiritual origin. ‘And put the cup onto Pharaoh’s palm’ means that the interior natural made these its own. ‘And Joseph said to him, This is the interpretation of it’ means revelation resulting from perception received from the celestial within the natural as to what it held within it. ‘The three shoots are three days’ means continuous derivatives even to the final one. ‘In yet three days’ means that at that point a new state is arrived at. ‘Pharaoh will lift up your head’ means that which has been provided and therefore decided. ‘And will restore you to your position’ means that the impressions received through the senses subject to the understanding part were restored to order, to occupy the lowest position. ‘And you will put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand’ means in order that they might consequently serve the interior natural. ‘According to the former manner’ means in keeping with the law of order. ‘When you were his cupbearer’ means as is the normal position for sensory impressions of this kind.
[2] When the expression ‘the celestial of the spiritual’ is used, the Lord is meant by it. But it may also be used to refer to an abstract quality in Him, for He is the Celestial itself and the Spiritual itself, that is, He is Good itself and Truth itself. No one, it is true, can have any conception of an abstract quality separate from an actual person because what is natural enters into every individual idea present in his thought. But even so, if one holds in mind the idea that everything within the Lord is Divine and that the Divine transcends one’s entire thought, altogether transcending even what angels can comprehend; and if as a consequence one removes from one’s mind everything comprehensible, one is left with the idea of pure Being (Esse) and the Manifestation (Existere) of that Being. That is to say, one then has an idea of the Celestial itself and the Spiritual itself, which are Good itself and Truth itself.
[3] However, the human being is such that he cannot form in his mind any idea at all of abstract realities unless he associates with them some natural imagery that has come to him from the world through his senses; for without any such imagery his thought becomes lost so to speak in an abyss and is dissipated. Therefore to prevent the idea of the Divine becoming lost in the case of a person immersed in bodily and worldly interests, and to prevent the defilement of this idea, and at the same time of everything celestial or spiritual from the Divine, by foul thoughts in the case of anyone with whom it remained, Jehovah has been pleased to make Himself known as He exists essentially and as He manifests Himself in heaven, namely as a Divine Man. For the whole of heaven combines together and presents itself in the human form, as may be seen from what has been shown at the ends of chapters dealing with the correspondence of all parts of the human being with the Grand Man, which is heaven. This Divine, that is, Jehovah’s manifestation of Himself in heaven, is the Lord from eternity. It is also the appearance assumed by the Lord when He glorified, that is, made Divine, the Human within Him, as is also quite evident from the form in which He appeared before Peter, James, and John at His transfiguration, Matt. 17:1, 2, and in which He appeared on a number of occasions to prophets. All this being so, anyone can think of the Divine itself as Man, and at the same time of the Lord in whom the entire Divine and perfect Trinity dwell; for within the Lord the Divine itself is the Father, the Divine that manifests itself in heaven is the Son, and the Divine proceeding from these is the Holy Spirit – from which it is clear that these three are one, as He Himself teaches.
[2] There are in general two Churches – the celestial and the spiritual. The celestial Church exists with the person in whom the will part of the mind can be regenerated or made the Church, whereas the spiritual Church exists with one in whom, as stated, solely the understanding part can be regenerated. The Most Ancient Church before the Flood was a celestial one because there existed with those who belonged to it some degree of wholeness in the will part, whereas the Ancient Church after the Flood was a spiritual one because among those who belonged to it no degree of wholeness existed in the will part, only in the understanding part. This explains why, when the spiritual Church is dealt with in the Word, its understanding is dealt with in many instances too. Regarding these Churches, see 640, 641, 765, 863, 875, 895, 927, 928, 1023, 1043, 1044, 1555, 2124, 2256, 2669, 4328, 4493. As regards its being the understanding part that is regenerated in the case of those who belong to the spiritual Church, this may also be recognized from the fact that the member of that Church does not have any good from which he may perceive truth, as those who belonged to the celestial Church had. Rather, he must first learn the truth of faith and absorb it into his understanding, and so come to recognize with the aid of truth what good is. Once truth enables him to recognize what good is, he can think about it, then desire it, and at length put it into practice, in which case he now has a new will formed by the Lord in the understanding part of his mind. The Lord then uses this to raise the spiritual man up to heaven, though evil still remains in the will that is properly his own, which at this point is miraculously set aside. This is accomplished by a higher power which withholds him from evil and maintains him in good.
[3] In the case of the member of the celestial Church however the will part was regenerated. From earliest childhood he was absorbing the good of charity, and once he could see with perception what that good was, he was led on to perceive what love to the Lord was. Consequently all the truths of faith were seen by him in his understanding as if in a mirror. His understanding and will formed one complete mind; for those truths enabled him to perceive in his understanding that which existed as a desire in his will. This is what the wholeness of that first human being consisted in, by whom the celestial Church is meant.
[4] As regards ‘the vine’ meaning the understanding part in the case of the spiritual Church, this is clear from many other places in the Word, as in Jeremiah,
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 Assyria, to drink the waters of the River? Yet I have planted you as a wholly choice vine, a seed of truth. How therefore have you turned from Me into the degenerate branches of a strange vine? Jer. 2:18, 21.
This refers to Israel, which means the spiritual Church, 3654, 4286. ‘Egypt’ and ‘the waters of Shihor’ stand for factual knowledge which leads to perversion, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462; ‘Assyria’ and ‘the waters of the River’ stand for reasoning based on this, that is, on factual knowledge, against the good of life and the truth of faith, 119, 1186. ‘A choice vine’ stands for the member of the spiritual Church, who is called ‘a vine’ because of his understanding, while ‘the degenerate branches of a strange vine’ stands for someone belonging to the perverted Church.
[5] In Ezekiel,
A riddle and a parable about the house of Israel. A great eagle took some of the seed of the land and planted it in a seed field. It sprouted and became a spreading vine, low in height, so that its branches turned towards him and its roots were under him. So it became a vine which brought forth branches and sent out shoots towards the eagle. This vine directed its roots and sent its branches towards him in a good field by many waters. It was planted to produce a branch, that it might be a magnificent vine. Ezek. 17:1, 3, 5-8.
An eagle’ stands for rational thought, 3901,’the seed of the land’ for truth known to the Church, 1025, 1447, 1610, 1940, 2848, 3038, 3310, 3373. Its becoming ‘a spreading vine’ and ‘a magnificent vine’ stands for becoming a spiritual Church, which is called ‘a vine’ because wine is obtained from it – ‘wine’ meaning spiritual good or the good of charity, the source of the truth of faith implanted in the understanding part.
[6] 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. Consequently it had strong rods as sceptres for those who had dominion, and its stature rose up among entangled boughs, so that it was seen in its height amid the multitude of its branches. Ezek. 19:10, 11.
This too refers to Israel, by whom the spiritual Church is meant, which Church is compared to ‘a vine’ for a similar reason to that mentioned immediately above. It is a description of its derivatives even to the final ones in the natural man, that is to say, even to factual knowledge based on sensory impressions, meant by ‘entangled boughs’, 2831.
[7] In Hosea,
I will be as the dew of Israel. His branches will go out, and his beauty will be like the olive’s, and his odour like that of Lebanon. Those dwelling in its shadow will turn back, they will quicken the grain and will blossom as the vine; the memory of it will be as the wine of Lebanon. O Ephraim, what have I to do any more with idols? Hosea 14:5-8.
‘Israel’ stands for the spiritual Church, the blossoming of which is compared to ‘the vine’, and the memory of it to ‘the wine of Lebanon’, because of the good of faith when that good has been implanted in the understanding part. ‘Ephraim’ means the understanding part as it exists in the spiritual Church, 3969.
[8] In Zechariah,
The remnant of the people will be the seed of peace; the vine will give its fruit, and the land will give its increase, and the heavens will give their dew. Zech. 8:11, 12.
‘The remnant of the people’ stands for truths stored away by the Lord within the interior man, 468, 530, 560, 561, 660, 798, 1050, 1738, 1906, 2284. ‘The seed of peace’ stands for good there, ‘the vine’ for the understanding part.
[9] In Malachi,
I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that he does not ruin for you the fruit of the land, nor will the vine in the field fail you. Mal. 3:11, 12.
‘The vine’ stands for the understanding part. The expression ‘a vine that does not fail’ is used when the understanding part is not left bereft of the truths and goods of faith; on the other hand ‘an empty vine’ is used when falsities exist there together with derivative evils, as in Hosea,
Israel is an empty vine, it bears fruit like itself. Hosea 10:1.
[10] In Moses,
He will bind his ass’s colt to the vine, and the foal of his she-ass to a choice vine, after he has washed his clothing in wine, and his garment in the blood of grapes. Gen. 49:11.
This is the prophecy of Jacob, who by then was Israel, regarding his twelve sons, in this case regarding ‘Judah’, who represents the Lord, 7881. ‘The vine’ here stands for the understanding part as it exists in the spiritual Church, and ‘a choice vine’ for the understanding part as it exists in the celestial Church.
[11] In David,
O Jehovah, You caused a vine to journey out of Egypt. You cast out the nations, and You planted it. You cleared the way in front of it and caused its roots to be rooted, so that it might fill the land. The mountains were covered with the shadow of it, and the cedars of God with its branches. You sent out its shoots even to the sea, and its little branches to the Euphrates. The boar out of the forest tramples on it, and the wild animal of the fields feeds on it. Ps. 80:8-11, 13.
‘A vine out of Egypt’ stands in the highest sense for the Lord, the glorification of His Human being described by it and its shoots. In the internal sense ‘a vine’ here means the spiritual Church and the member of that Church – what he is like when the understanding and will parts of him have been made new or regenerated by the Lord. ‘The boar in the forest’ means falsity, and ‘the wild animal of the fields’ evil, which destroy the Church and faith in the Lord.
[12] In John,
The angel sent his sickle into the earth and harvested the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. The winepress was trodden outside the city, and the blood went out of the winepress up to the horses’ bridles. Rev. 14:19, 20.
‘Harvesting the vine of the earth’ stands for destroying the understanding part in the Church. And since ‘the vine’ means that understanding part it is also said that ‘the blood went out of the winepress up to the horses’ bridles’; for the powers of understanding are meant by ‘horses’, 2761, 2762, 3217. In Isaiah,
It will happen on that day, that every place in which there have been a thousand vines, worth a thousand [shekels] of silver, will be briers and brambles. Isa. 7:23.
In the same prophet,
The inhabitants of the land will be scorched and hardly any men (homo) left. The new wine will mourn, and the vine will languish. Isa. 14:6, 7.
In the same prophet,
They beat themselves on their breasts for the fields of unmixed wine, for the fruitful vine; for over the land of My people the them, the prickle is coming up. Isa. 32:12-14.
In these places the subject is the spiritual Church when laid waste as regards the good and truth of faith, and so as regards the understanding part, since, as stated above, the truth and the good of faith exist in the understanding part of the mind of the member of that Church. Anyone may see that in these places ‘the vine’ is not used to mean the vine, nor ‘the land’ to mean the land, but some feature of the Church.
[13] In the genuine sense ‘the vine’ means good present in the understanding part, and ‘the fig’ good present in the natural part; or what amounts to the same, ‘the vine’ means good present in the interior man, and ‘the fig’ good present in the exterior man. This being so, when the vine is mentioned in the Word, so also on many occasions is the fig, as
in the following places: In Jeremiah,
I will completely devour them. There will be no grapes on the vine or figs on the fig tree; and its leaf has come down. Jer. 8:13.
In the same prophet,
I will bring upon you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, which will devour your vine and your fig tree. Jer. 5:17.
In Hosea,
I will lay waste her vine and her fig tree. Hosea 2:12.
In Joel,
A nation has come up over the land. It has turned My vine into a waste, and My fig tree into froth. It has stripped it completely bare and cast it aside; its branches have been made white. The vine has withered and the fig tree languishes. Joel 1:6, 7, 12.
In the same prophet,
Fear not, you beasts of My fields, for the dwelling places of the wilderness have been made green; for the tree will bear its fruit, and the fig tree and the vine will give their full yield. Joel 2:12, 23.
In David,
He smote their vines and their fig trees, and broke to pieces the trees of their borders. Ps. 105:33.
In Habakkuk,
The fig tree will not blossom; neither will there be any yield on the vines. Hab. 3:17.
In Micah,
Out of Zion will go forth teaching, and the Word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. They will sit every one under his vine and under his fig tree, unafraid. Micah 4:1, 4.
In Zechariah,
On that day you will shout, each to his companion, under his vine and under his fig tree. Zech. 3:10.
In the first Book of Kings,
In Solomon’s time there was peace from all the border-crossings round about, and Judah and Israel dwelt with confidence, every one under his vine and under his fig tree. 1 Kings 4:24, 25.
The fig tree’ means the good of the natural or exterior man, see 217.
[14] ‘The vine’ may also mean an understanding part that has been made new or regenerated by means of good obtained from truth and of truth obtained from good. This is clear from the Lord’s words addressed to the disciples after He instituted the Holy Supper, in Matthew,
I tell you that I shall not drink from now on of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom. Matt. 16:29.
The good obtained from truth and the truth obtained from good, by means of which the understanding is made new, that is, by which a person is made spiritual, is meant by ‘the fruit of the vine’, while making such one’s own is meant by ‘drinking’. For ‘drinking’ means making one’s own, and is used in reference to truth, see 3168. The fact that this is fully accomplished only in the next life is meant by ‘until that day when I drink it new with you. In My Father’s kingdom’; for ‘the fruit of the vine’, it is quite plain, is not used to mean new wine or matured wine but something of a heavenly nature belonging to the Lord’s kingdom.
[15] Because the understanding part of the spiritual man’s mind is made new and regenerated by means of truth which comes solely from the Lord, the Lord therefore compares Himself to ‘the vine’. He then compares those who are secure in the truth which comes from Him and consequently is His to ‘the branches’, and the good produced by them to ‘the fruit’, in John,
I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, but every one that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I him, he it is that bears much fruit; for apart from Me you cannot do anything. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. John 15:1-5, 12.
[16] Because in the highest sense ‘the vine’ means the Lord as regards Divine Truth, and from this it means, in the internal sense, a member of the spiritual Church, ‘a vineyard’ therefore means the spiritual Church itself, 1069, 3220.
[17] Since ‘the Nazirite’ represented the celestial man – who is regenerated by means of the good of love and not, like the spiritual man, by means of the truth of faith, so that, as may be seen stated above, it is not in the understanding part but in the will part of the celestial man’s mind that the regeneration takes place – the Nazirite was therefore forbidden to eat anything that came from the vine and so was forbidden to drink wine, Num. 6:3, 4; Judg. 13:14. From this also it is evident that ‘the vine’, as has been shown, means the understanding part, which belongs to the spiritual man. For details about ‘the Nazirite’ representing the celestial man, see 3301. From this one may also see that nobody can possibly know why the Nazirite was forbidden anything that came from the vine, and many other things besides, unless he knows what ‘the vine’ means in the proper sense, and also unless he knows of the existence of a celestial Church and of a spiritual Church, and that the member of the celestial Church is regenerated in a different way from a member of the spiritual Church. The former is regenerated by means of seed implanted in the will part, the latter by seed implanted in the understanding part. These are the kinds of arcana stored away in the internal sense of the Word.
[2] In the human being there exist derivatives from the understanding part that dwells in the light of heaven; and they extend to the senses which dwell in the light of the world. Unless these derivatives existed the senses could not possess any life of a human quality. A person does not owe the life which his senses possess to what he sees by the light of the world, for the light of the world holds no life within it; he owes it to what he sees by the light of heaven, for this light does hold life within it. When the light of heaven falls on the perceptions a person has gained by the light of the world, it brings life to them and enables him to see objects in an intelligent manner, and thus as a human being. In this way a person possessing factual knowledge born from things which he has seen and heard in the world, and therefore from those which have entered in through the senses, comes to possess intelligence and wisdom, on which in turn he bases his public, private, and spiritual life.
[3] As regards derivatives specifically, the nature of their existence in a person is such that no brief explanation of them is possible. They exist as degrees, like steps, from the understanding part down to the senses. But no one can have any conception of those degrees unless he knows how they are related to one another, that is to say, that they are quite distinct and separate from one another, so distinct that interior degrees can come into being and remain in being without exterior ones, but not exterior degrees without interior ones. For example, a person’s spirit can remain in being without a material body, as it also actually does when death separates it from the body. For a person’s spirit exists in an interior degree, his body in an exterior one. Similarly with a person’s spirit after death. If he is one of the blessed his spirit exists in a final and outermost degree when in the first heaven; in a more interior degree when in the second; and in the inmost one when in the third. When it exists in the inmost it exists at the same time in the other degrees, though these are inactive with him, almost as the human body is inactive during sleep, but with this difference that interiorly angels are at such times fully awake. Therefore as many distinct and separate degrees exist in the human being as there are heavens, apart from the final one, which is the body and the bodily senses.
[4] From all this regarding a person’s spirit one may gain some idea of the way derivatives are related to one another from the first to the final one, that is, from the understanding part to the senses. A person’s life, which he receives from the Lord’s Divine, passes through these degrees from the inmost to the final one. At every degree there exists a derivative of that life which becomes increasingly general, until in the final degree it is the most general. Derivatives in the lower degrees are merely combinations – or to put it more appropriately, structured forms – of the individual and particular constituents of the higher degrees ranged consecutively, with the addition of the kinds of things drawn from purer nature, and after that from grosser nature, that can serve as containing vessels. Once these vessels are done away with, the individual and particular constituents of the higher degrees, which had received form in those vessels, move back to the degree immediately above. And because in the case of the human being there is a link with the Divine, and his inmost being is such that it can accept the Divine – and not only accept but also make Him its own, by acknowledging and having an affection for the Divine, thus by a reciprocal response to Him – and because he thereby has the Divine implanted within him, he can never die. Indeed what is eternal and infinite exists with him, not only through their flowing into him but also through his reception of them.
[5] From this one may see how uninformed and senseless in their thinking regarding the human being those people are who compare him to animals and imagine that he will not be alive after death any more than they are. Such people do not take into consideration the fact that with animals there is no acceptance of the Divine or any acknowledgement or affection leading to a reciprocal response to the Divine by making Him their own, or any consequent joining to Him. Nor do those people take into consideration the fact that, as the animal state is like this, the recipient forms of life which these possess are inevitably dissipated; for with animals that which flows into them passes through their organic forms into the world, where it comes to an end and melts away, never to make any return there.
[2] But in particular it is a person who is being born anew, that is, being regenerated by the Lord, who is called heaven; for during that time Divine good and truth from the Lord, and consequently heaven, are implanted in him. Indeed, like a tree, a person who is being born again begins from a seed, which is why in the Word ‘seed’ means truth obtained from good. Also, like a tree, he brings forth leaves, then blossom, and finally fruit; for he brings forth the kind of things that belong to intelligence, which again in the Word are meant by ‘leaves’, then the kind of things that belong to wisdom, which are meant by ‘blossoms’, and finally the kind of things that are matters of life, namely forms of the good of love and charity expressed in action, which in the Word are meant by ‘fruits’. Such is the representative likeness that exists between a fruitful tree and a person who is being regenerated, a likeness so great that one may learn from a tree about regeneration, provided that something is known first of all about spiritual good and truth. From this one may see that ‘the vine’ in the cupbearer’s dream serves to describe fully in a representative fashion the process by which a person is born again so far as the sensory power subject to the understanding part is concerned. That process is described first by the three shoots, then by the buds that were formed, after that by the blossom, followed by the ripening of the clusters into grapes, and finally by his pressing them into Pharaoh’s cup and his giving this to him.
[3] Furthermore the dreams which come from the Lord by way of heaven are never anything else than scenes based on representatives. Anyone therefore who does not know what this or that in the natural world represents, more so one who is totally unaware of anything at all being representative there, inevitably supposes that those representatives are merely comparisons such as anybody may use in ordinary conversation. They are indeed comparisons; but they are the kind which are also correspondences and which therefore present themselves as visible objects in the world of spirits while the angels positioned more internally in heaven are talking about spiritual or celestial things belonging to the Lord’s kingdom. Regarding dreams, see 1122, 1975, 1977, 1979-1981.
[2] These features of the vegetable kingdom owe their existence to the influx of the spiritual world into it; but people who attribute everything to natural forces and nothing to the Divine are in no way able to believe this. Those however who attribute everything to the Divine and nothing to natural forces have the ability to see that every single thing owes its existence to that influx. Not only that, each individual thing also has a correspondence, and because it has a correspondence it is a representative. In the end such people have the ability to see that the whole natural system is a theatre representative of the Lord’s kingdom, thus that the Divine exists within each individual thing, so much so that the whole natural system is a representation of that which is eternal and infinite – eternal because the reproduction of species continues without end, infinite because the multiplication of seeds is unlimited. Such endeavours to reproduce and multiply could not possibly come to exist in each individual thing in the vegetable kingdom if the Divine were not flowing into it unceasingly. This influx is what provides the impulse to reproduce and to multiply; the impulse brings the power to make this a reality, and that power leads to the actual realization of it.
[3] People who attribute everything to natural forces say that such impulses to reproduce and to multiply were introduced into fruits and seeds when things were first created, and because of the power which they have received from those impulses fruits and seeds ever since then are carried spontaneously into such activities. But those people do not take into consideration the fact that continuance in being is constant coming into being, or what is much the same, that reproduction is creation taking place constantly. Nor do they take into consideration the fact that an effect is the continuation of its cause, and that when a cause ceases to exist so does the effect, and consequently that without constant influx from its cause every effect perishes in an instant. Neither do they take into consideration the fact that anything that is not linked to the first being of all, consequently to the Divine, instantly ceases to have any existence; for to have any being, what is posterior must have what is prior existing unceasingly within it.
[4] If those attributing everything to natural forces and little, scarcely anything, to the Divine were to take these facts into consideration they would also be able to acknowledge that every single thing in the natural system represents something akin to it in the spiritual world, and therefore something akin to it in the Lord’s kingdom, where the closest representation of the Lord’s Divine exists. This is why reference has been made to an influx coming from the spiritual world; but by this is meant an influx from the Lord’s Divine coming by way of the spiritual world. The reason adherents to naturalism do not take such facts into consideration is that they are not willing to acknowledge them, since they are immersed in earthly and bodily interests and as a consequence in the life belonging to self-love and love of the world. As a result, so far as things belonging to the spiritual world, that is, to heaven are concerned, the complete reverse of true order exists with them; and to view such matters from within a state in which order is turned around is not possible, since higher things are then seen as lower ones, and lower things as higher ones. This also accounts for the fact that, when persons like these are seen in the next life in the light of heaven, they are seen with their heads pointing downwards and their feet upwards.
[5] Who among these, when he sees blossom on a tree or on anything else that grows, thinks of it as an expression of gladness so to speak that fruit and seeds are now being brought forth? All that such persons see is that blossom comes first and remains until rudimentary forms of the fruit and seeds are formed within it, whereby sap is conveyed into them. If they knew anything about human rebirth or regeneration, or rather if they wanted to know, they would also see in that blossom, because of the similarity there, a representative of a person’s state before regeneration. They would see that because of the good which his intelligence and wisdom desires he is in a similar way blooming, that is, he possesses an inner gladness and beauty, because now he is endeavouring to implant these – that is to say, forms of good desired by intelligence and wisdom – in his life; that is, he is endeavouring to bear fruit. Such persons cannot know about the nature of this state because knowledge of what that inner gladness and inner beauty so represented are does not exist at all with people who feel no gladness other than that which accompanies love of the world and no delight other than that connected with self-love. Worldly or selfish feelings of gladness or delight cause inner ones to be seen as the opposite of gladness and delight, so much so that those persons loathe them. In loathing them they also brush them aside as something worthless or as something that has no actual existence. As a consequence they refuse to accept them, and at the same time they refuse to accept that what is spiritual or celestial is really anything at all. This is how the absurd thinking of the present day which is believed to be wisdom comes about.
[2] ‘Grapes’ means the good of the spiritual man, and so means charity. This may be seen from many places in the Word, as in Isaiah,
My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.* He looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. Isa. 5:1, 2, 4.
‘A vineyard’ stands for the spiritual Church; ‘he looked for it to yield grapes’ for the good deeds of charity; ‘but it yielded wild grapes’ for the bad deeds of hatred and revenge.
[3] In the same prophet,
Thus said Jehovah, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one says, Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it. Isa. 65:8.
‘The new wine in the cluster’ stands for truth obtained from good within the natural.
[4] In Jeremiah,
I will surely gather them, says Jehovah; there will be no grapes on the vine, and no figs on the fig tree. Jer. 8:13.
‘No grapes on the vine’ stands for the non-existence of any interior or rational good, ‘no figs on the fig tree’ for the non-existence of any exterior or natural good; for ‘the vine’ means the understanding part, as shown just above in 5113. When truth and good exist joined together there, ‘the vine’ means the rational, for the rational exists as a result of that joining together. As regards ‘the fig’ meaning the good of the natural or exterior man, see 217.
[5] In Hosea,
Like grapes in the wilderness I found Israel, like the first fruit on the fig tree, in its beginning, I saw your fathers. Hosea 9:10.
‘Grapes in the wilderness’ stands for rational good not yet made spiritual; ‘the first fruit on the fig tree’ in a similar way for natural good. ‘Israel’ stands for the ancient spiritual Church when it first began, ‘fathers’ here and elsewhere being not the sons of Jacob but those people among whom the Ancient Church was first established.
[6] In Micah,
There was no cluster to eat; my soul desired the first fruit. The holy man has perished from the earth, and there is none upright among men. Micah 7:1, 2.
‘Cluster to eat’ stands for the good of charity in its first beginnings, ‘the first fruit’ for the truth of faith at the same stage also.
[7] In Amos,
Behold, the days are coming, so that the ploughman catches up with the reaper, and the treader of grapes with him who sows seed. The mountains will drip new wine, and all the hills will flow down with it. And I will bring again the captivity of My people, in order that they may build the devastated cities, and may settle down and plant vineyards, and may drink their wine, and make gardens and eat their fruit. Amos 9:13, 14.
This refers to the establishment of the spiritual Church, which is described in this manner. The joining of spiritual good to its truth is foretold by the statement that the ploughman will catch up with the reaper, and the joining of spiritual truth to its good by the statement that the treader of grapes will catch up with the one who sows seed. The good deeds of love and charity resulting from that joining together are meant by the statement that the mountains will drip new wine and the hills will flow down with it. ‘Bringing again the captivity of the people stands for deliverance from falsities, ‘building the devastated cities’ for the correction of falsified teachings regarding the truth, ‘settling down and planting vineyards’ for a development of what constitutes the spiritual Church, ‘drinking their wine’ for making the truths of that Church one’s own, which truths teach about charity, and ‘making gardens and eating their fruit’ for making one’s own the forms of good derived from these. Anyone can see that building cities, planting vineyards, drinking wine, making gardens and eating their fruit are descriptions of merely natural activities, which but for the spiritual sense would hold nothing Divine within them.
[8] In Moses,
He washes his clothing in wine, and his garment in the blood of grapes. Gen. 49:11.
This refers to the Lord. ‘Wine’ stands for spiritual good originating in Divine love, ‘the blood of grapes’ for celestial good originating in the same.
[9] In the same author,
Butter from the herd, and milk from the flock, with the fat of lambs and of rams, the breed** of Bashan, and of goats, with kidney-fat of wheat; and of the blood of the grape you drink unmixed wine. Deut. 32:14.
This refers to the Ancient Church whose good deeds of love and charity are described in this manner. Each particular product referred to means some specific kind of good. ‘The blood of the grape’ means spiritual-celestial good, the expression used for the Divine in heaven, coming forth from the Lord. Wine is also called ‘the blood’ of grapes because wine and blood mean holy truth coming forth from the Lord, though ‘wine’ is used in reference to the spiritual Church and ‘blood’ to the celestial Church. For the same reason wine has also been prescribed in the Holy Supper.
[10] In the same author,
From the vine of Sodom comes their vine, and from the fields of Gomorrah; its grapes are grapes of poison, they have clusters of bitterness. Deut. 32:32.
This refers to the Jewish Church. ‘From the vine of Sodom comes their vine, and from the fields of Gomorrah’ stands for the fact that the understanding part is occupied by falsities that are the product of hellish love. ‘Its grapes are grapes of poison, they have clusters of bitterness’ stands for the fact that the will part is in the same predicament; for as ‘the grape’ in the good sense means charity, it is therefore used in reference to the will part, though to the will present within the understanding part. The same is true in the contrary sense, for all truth belongs essentially to the understanding, and all good essentially to the will.
[11] In John,
The angel said, Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the earth, for its grapes have ripened. Rev. 14:18.
‘Gathering the clusters of the earth’ stands for destroying all existence of charity.
[12] In Matthew,
By their fruits you will know them. Do people gather grapes from thorns, and figs from thistles? Matt. 7:16.
And in Luke,
Every tree is known by its own fruit; for people do not collect figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble-bush. Luke 6:44.
The subject here being charity towards the neighbour, it is said that they will be recognized ‘by their fruits’, which are the good deeds of charity. Internal good deeds of charity are meant by ‘grapes’, external ones by ‘figs’.
[13] The law was laid down in the Jewish Church,
When you enter your companion’s vineyard you shall eat grapes at your pleasure until you have had enough;*** but you shall not put them into your vessel. Deut. 13:24.
This law implies that when anyone is among others whose teachings and religion are different from his own, he is free to learn about and welcome their charitable deeds, but he is not free to adopt the same charitable practices and link them into his own truths. ‘A vineyard’, meaning the Church, describes a place where teaching or religion exists; ‘grapes’ means the good deeds of charity, ‘vessel’ the truth that the Church possesses.
* lit. on a horn of a son of oil
** lit. the sons
*** lit. eat grapes in accordance with your soul, to your satisfaction
[2] As regards influx, this begins with the Lord and extends continuously through the rational into the interior natural and then through this into the exterior natural; but what flows through undergoes change and is converted according to the way it is received. With those who are not regenerate all good is converted there into evil, and all truth into falsity; but with those who are regenerate all good and truth presents itself there as in a mirror. For the natural is nothing else than a face so to speak that is representative of spiritual characteristics of the internal man; and the face becomes representative when exteriors correspond to interiors. From this one may gain some idea of what is meant by an influx of the interior natural into the exterior natural, and the beginning of reception there.
[2] It does seem as though things in the world pass by way of the senses into what is present within; but that is an illusion of the senses. The reality is that what exists within flows into what is outward, and that this influx is what enables discernment to take place. I have discussed these matters with spirits on several occasions and have been shown through actual experiences that the interior man sees and discerns within the exterior man what is taking place outside the exterior man, and that the life of the senses has no other origin; that is, neither the ability to perceive with the senses nor actual sensory perception has any other origin. But the nature and power of this illusion are such that it cannot by any means be banished from the natural man, nor even from the rational, unless the rational man can be made to stand aside from sensory impressions. All this has been mentioned to show what reciprocal influx is.
[2] But there is more to be said about ‘a cup’ mentioned very many times in the Word – about how in the genuine sense it has the same meaning as wine, namely spiritual truth or the truth of faith which is derived from the good of charity, and about how in the contrary sense it means falsity which produces evil, and also falsity which is a product of evil. The reason ‘a cup’ has the same meaning as ‘wine’ is that the cup is the container and the wine the content and therefore the two constitute a single entity, with the result that one is used to mean the other. This meaning of ‘a cup’ in the Word is evident from the following places:
[3] In David,
O Jehovah, You will spread a table before me in the presence of enemies and will make my head fat with oil; my cup will overflow. Ps. 23:5.
‘Spreading a table’ and ‘making the head fat with oil’ stand for being endowed with the good of charity and love. ‘My cup will overflow’ stands for the fact that the natural will thereby be filled with spiritual truth and good. In the same author,
What shall I render to Jehovah? I will take the cup of salvation and call on the name of Jehovah. Ps. 116:11, 17.
‘Taking the cup of salvation’ stands for making the goods of faith one’s own.
[4] In Mark,
Whoever gives you drink from a cup of water in My name, because you are Christ’s, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward. Mark 9:41.
‘Giving drink from a cup of water in My name’ stands for imparting the truths of faith from a small measure of charity.
[5] In Matthew,
Then taking a cup, and giving thanks, He gave it to them, saying, Drink from this, all of you; for this is My blood – that of the New Testament. Matt. 26:17, 28; Mark 14:27, 24; Luke 22:20.
The word ‘cup’ is used, not wine, because ‘wine’ has reference to the spiritual Church but ‘blood’ to the celestial Church. Both wine and blood however mean holy truth going forth from the Lord, though in the spiritual Church the holiness of faith springing from charity towards the neighbour is meant, whereas in the celestial Church the holiness of charity springing from love to the Lord is meant. The spiritual Church differs from the celestial in that the spiritual is moved by charity towards the neighbour, whereas the celestial is moved by love to the Lord. Furthermore the Holy Supper was established to represent and be a sign of the Lord’s love towards the whole human race and man’s reciprocal love towards Him.
[6] Because ‘a cup’ meant that which served to contain and ‘wine’ that which was contained, ‘the cup’ consequently meaning the external aspect of man and ‘wine’ the internal aspect of him, the Lord therefore said,
Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the exterior of the cup and of the plate but the interiors are full of pillage and lack of restraint. Blind Pharisee! cleanse first the interior of the cup and of the plate and the exterior will be made clean also. Matt. 23:25, 16; Luke 11:39.
Here also ‘cup’ is used to mean in the internal sense the truth of faith. Cultivating the truth of faith without the good of faith is ‘cleansing the exterior of the cup’, the more so when the interiors are full of hypocrisy, deceit, hatred, revenge, and cruelty; for in this case the truth of faith exists solely in the external man and not at all in the internal, whereas cultivating and embracing the good of faith causes truths to be joined to good in the interior man. Furthermore when the truth of faith is cultivated without the good of faith, false ideas are accepted as truths; this is meant by ‘cleansing first the interior of the cup, and the exterior will be made clean also’.
[7] It is similar with matters recorded in Mark,
There are many other things which the Pharisees and Jews have received carefully, the washing* of cups and of pots, and of bronze vessels, and of beds. Forsaking the commandment of God you keep to human tradition, the washing’ of pots and of cups; and many other similar things you do. You reject the commandment of God, so that you may keep to your tradition. Mark 7:4, 8, 9.
[8] As regards ‘a cup’ meaning in the contrary sense falsity which produces evil and also falsity produced by evil, this is clear from the following places: In Jeremiah,
Thus said Jehovah, the God of Israel, to me, Take this cup of the wine of anger from My hand, and make all the nations to which I send you drink it, in order that they may drink and stagger, and go mad because of the sword which I am going to send among them. So I took the cup from Jehovah’s hand, and made all the nations drink to whom Jehovah sent me. Jer. 25:15-17, 28.
‘The cup of the wine of anger’ stands for falsity that produces evil. The reason falsity producing evil is meant is that as wine can make people drunk and make them of unsound mind, so too can falsity. Spiritual drunkenness is nothing other than unsoundness of mind caused by reasonings regarding matters of belief when a person does not believe anything which he does not apprehend – which unsoundness of mind leads to falsities and to evils that are the product of falsities, 1072. Hence the statement ‘in order that they may drink and stagger, and go mad because of the sword which I am going to send’. ‘Sword’ means falsity at war against truth, 2799, 4499.
[9] In the Book of Lamentations,
Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom. dweller in the land of Uz; to you also the cup will pass, you will be made drunk and uncovered. Lam. 4:21.
‘Being made drunk by the cup’ stands for being made unsound in mind by falsities. ‘Being uncovered’, or shamelessly laid bare, stands for resulting evil, 213, 214.
[10] In Ezekiel,
You have walked in the way of your sister, therefore I will give her cup into your hand. Thus said the Lord Jehovih, You will drink your sister’s cup, which is deep and wide; you will be laughed at and mocked, as an ample recipient. You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of devastation and desolation. You will drink the cup of your sister Samaria, and crush it and crumple the pieces. Ezek. 27:31-34.
This refers to Jerusalem, by which the spiritual aspect of the celestial Church is meant. ‘The cup’ in this case stands for falsity that is a product of evil; and because such falsity lays waste or destroys the Church, the expression ‘the cup of devastation and desolation’ is used.
In Isaiah,
Stir, stir, surge up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of Jehovah the cup of His anger; you have drunk the dregs of the cup of consternation. Isa. 51:17.
In Habakkuk,
Drink, you also – that your foreskin may be revealed. The cup of Jehovah’s right hand will come round to you, so that disgusting vomit may be upon your glory. Hab. 2:16.
In David,
A cup is in the hand of Jehovah; and He has mixed the wine, filled it with the mixed, and poured out from it. But they will suck out the dregs of it; all the wicked of the earth will drink from it. Ps. 75:8.
[11] In these places ‘a cup’ also stands for the insanity caused by falsities and resulting evils. It is called ‘the cup of Jehovah’s anger’ and also ‘of His right hand’ for the reason that the Jewish nation believed, as the common people believe, that evils, and the punishments of evils and falsities, had no other origin than Jehovah, though in fact they originate in man and in the hellish crew who are present with him. From the appearance, and from a belief based on it, such statements occur many times; but the internal sense teaches how one ought to understand them and what to believe. On these matters, see 245, 592, 696, 1093, 1683, 1874, 1875, 2335, 2447, 3605, 3607, 3614.
[12] Since ‘a cup’, like ‘wine’, in the contrary sense means falsities that produce evils, and also falsities produced by evils, cup, as a consequence also means temptation, for temptation arises when falsity conflicts with truth and therefore evil with good. The word cup is used instead of and in reference to such temptation in Luke,
Jesus prayed, saying, If You are willing, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done. Luke 22:42; Matt. 26:39; Mark 14:36.
‘Cup’ here stands for temptation. Similarly in John,
Jesus said to Peter, Put your sword into its sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it? John 18:11.
And also in Mark,
Jesus said to James and John, You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? They said, We are able. But Jesus said to them, The cup indeed that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized you will be baptized. Mark 10:38, 39; Matt. 20:21, 13.
From this it is evident that ‘cup’ means temptation, for temptation comes about when evils use falsities to enter into conflict with goods and truths. ‘Baptism’ means regeneration which, being effected by means of spiritual conflicts, consequently means temptation also.
[13] In the completely contrary sense ‘cup’ means falsity that is a product of evil among those who are profaners, that is, with whom inwardly the exact opposites of charity are present but who put on an outward show of holiness. The word is used in this sense in Jeremiah,
Babel was a golden cup in Jehovah’s hand, making the whole earth drunken. All nations have drunk of her wine, therefore the nations are mad. Jer. 51:7.
‘Babel’ stands for people with whom there is holiness outwardly but unholiness inwardly, 1182, 1326. The falsity which they veil with holiness is meant by ‘a golden cup’. ‘Making the whole earth drunken’ stands for the fact that they lead those who belong to the Church, meant by ‘the earth’, into erroneous and insane ways. The profanities which they conceal beneath outward holiness involve nothing else than this – their intention to become the greatest and the wealthiest of all, to be worshipped as gods, the possessors of heaven and earth, and so to have dominion over people’s souls as well as their bodies. And the means Used by them is their outward display of respect for Divine and holy things. Consequently they look, so far as their external man is concerned, like angels; but so far as their internal man is concerned they are devils.
[14] A similar description of Babel exists in John,
The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and covered** with gold and precious stones and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup, full of abominations and the uncleanness of her whoredom. Rev. 17:4.
In the same book,
It has fallen, Babylon the great has fallen and become a dwelling-place of demons; for she has given all nations drink from the wine of the fury of her whoredom; and the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her. I heard a voice from heaven, saying, Render to her as she has rendered to you; in the cup which she mixed, mix double for her. Rev. 18:2-4, 6.
In the same book,
The great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. The remembrance of Babylon the great was established before God, to give her the cup of the fury of the anger of God. Rev. 16:19.
In the same book,
The third angel said with a loud voice, If anyone worships the beast and his Image, he will drink from the wine of God’s anger, poured unmixed as it is in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone. Rev. 14:9, 10.
* lit. baptisms or dippings
** lit. gilded
[2] With regard to revelations resulting either from perception or from talking to angels through whom the Lord speaks, it should be recognized that people who are governed by good and from this by truth, especially those who are governed by good flowing from love to the Lord, receive revelation as a result of perception. But those who are not governed by good or from this by truth can indeed receive revelations, but not those that are the result of perception, only those which come to them through a voice which they hear speaking within themselves and so through angels from the Lord. This kind of revelation is external, whereas the other kind is internal. Revelation resulting from perception is the kind that angels, especially celestial ones, receive. It was also the kind received by members of the Most Ancient Church, and by some members of the Ancient Church too; but scarcely anyone receives such at the present day. Very many people however, including those who have not been governed by good, have received revelations from conversations [with angels] which did not involve any perception, the same as with those receiving revelations through visions or through dreams.
[3] Most of the revelations received by the prophets in the Jewish Church were of this kind – they heard a voice, saw a vision, or dreamed a dream. But because they had no perception these were merely verbal or visual revelations which did not involve any perception about what was really meant by them. For genuine perception comes from the Lord through heaven; it fills the understanding with spiritual ideas and leads it, as may be perceived, to think along the lines of, and inwardly to recognize, the true nature of a thing. The source of that power of recognition is not known, but the understanding imagines that it begins within itself and springs from the interconnected ideas it has present within itself. But in fact that power is a dictate coming from the Lord by way of heaven into the interior parts of ones thought regarding the things that are above and beyond the natural and the senses, that is, the kinds of things that belong to the spiritual world or heaven. From all this one may see what revelation resulting from perception is. But the revelation resulting from perception which the Lord, who is represented here by ‘Joseph’, had – which revelation is the subject here in the internal sense – sprang from the Divine within Himself, and so originated in Himself.
[2] The states of rebirth which each sensory power and every aspect of the natural, as well as every aspect of the rational, pass through have from beginning to end their own progressive stages. When they attain any end they also begin at that point something else that is new; that is to say, they pass on from the end they had been striving to attain in a prior state to the realization of some further end, and so on after that. Eventually order is turned around, so that what has been last becomes first. This is what happens when a person is being regenerated, both in the case of his rational and in that of his natural. While his regeneration is taking place the phases that make up the first state are the stages of a movement from the truths of faith towards forms of the good of charity, when the truths of faith seemingly play the leading role while forms of the good of charity play a secondary one; for the truths of faith have the good of charity as their end in view. Phases like these continue until the person’s regeneration is completed. Once this is completed charity then moves from the final place to the first in the line, and so becomes the point from which new states begin. These states develop in two directions – in an increasingly inward direction and also in a more outward one. Inwardly they move closer to love to the Lord, while outwardly they move closer first to the truths of faith, then to natural truths, and after that to truths as these are perceived by the senses. Then these three degrees of truths are brought into agreement one after another with forms of the good of charity and love present within the rational and so are brought into heavenly order.
[3] These are the matters that are meant by progressive stages of development and by continuous derivatives even to the final one. Such stages and derivatives are unending in the case of a person who is being regenerated. They begin when he is a young child and continue through to the final phase of his life in the world; indeed they continue for ever after that, though his regeneration can never reach the point when he can by any means be called perfect. For there are countless, indeed a limitless number of things to be regenerated, both within his rational and within his natural. Everything there has limitless shoots, that is, stages of development and derivatives that progress in both inward and outward directions. A person has no immediate awareness at all of this, but the Lord is aware of every particular detail and is making provision for it moment by moment. If He were to stop doing this for a single instant every stage of development would be thrown into confusion. For one stage looks to the next in an unending sequence and produces chains of sequences which never cease. From this it is evident that Divine Foresight and Providence exist in every particular detail, and that if they did not, or did so in a merely overall way, the human race would perish.
Evil-merodach king of Babel, in the year he became king, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah from the prison-house; and he spoke to him that which was good, and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babel. 2 Kings 25:17, 28.
Similarly in Jeremiah,
Evil-merodach king of Babel, in the [first] year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him from the prison-house. Jer. 52:31.
But when someone was condemned to death the expression ‘lifting up the head from upon him’ was used, as in verse 19 further on which refers to the baker,
In yet three days Pharaoh will lift up your head from upon you.
[2] This phrase expressing the decision that someone should live or be put to death originated with the Ancients, among whom representatives existed; it originated in their representation of those who were bound in prison or the pit. Because those in prison represented people undergoing vastation beneath the lower earth, 4728, 4744, 5038, ‘lifting up the head’ therefore meant their release from this condition. For when they are released they are raised or brought up from that vastation to heavenly communities, see 2699, 2701, 2704. Being brought or raised up implies advances made towards interior things, for the expression raised up or high is used to refer to things that are interior, 2148, 4210. And because advances made towards interior things are meant, an advance towards heaven is meant, since heaven exists within interior things. Such is the meaning of ‘lifting up the head’. But ‘lifting up the head from upon someone’ meant his condemnation to death, for in this case those who were above the ones in the pit or undergoing vastation were raised up to heaven, while those in the pit were sent down into the nether regions. These things meant by this phrase expressing the decision whether one should live or be put to death are the reason for its usage in the Word. From this it is evident that ‘lifting up the head’ means that which has been decided; and as this is meant, that which has been provided is meant in the highest sense, since the Divine makes provision for that on which He has made a decision.
[2] A person can easily tell, if he pays the matter any attention, whether sensory impressions occupy the first or else the last and lowest position in him. If he says yes to everything his senses urge or desire and plays down all that his understanding tells him, then sensory impressions occupy the first position. When this is the case that person is carried along by natural desires and is ruled completely by his senses. The condition of a person like this is little different from that of animals, which are not endowed with reason; for animals are carried along by nothing else than their senses. Indeed that person’s condition is worse than theirs if he misuses his power of understanding or reason to lend support to evils and falsities which the senses urge and tend towards. But if he does not say yes to these, but from within himself recognizes that they can mislead him into false beliefs and incite desires for evil in him, and he strives to discipline them – thereby bringing them into a position of subservience, that is, making them subject to the understanding part and the will part which belong to the interior man – sensory impressions are in that case restored to order, to occupy the last and lowest position. When sensory impressions occupy that position, happiness and bliss radiate from the interior man into the delights of the senses and make these delights a thousand times better than they were before. Having no understanding of this, one who is ruled by his senses has no belief in it either; and feeling no other delight than that of the senses, and so imagining that no higher kind of delight exists, he regards the happiness and bliss that can be inwardly present in the delights of the senses as worthless. For what a person has no knowledge of is not thought by him to have any real existence.
[2] So that people can know what the exterior natural and what the interior natural are like, which make up the exterior man, and from this can know what the rational is which makes up the interior man, a brief reference to them must be made here. From infancy to childhood a person relies solely on his senses, for during those years he is receiving, through his bodily senses, nothing but earthly, bodily, and worldly impressions, which during those years are also the raw material from which he forms his ideas and thoughts. Communication with the interior man has not yet been opened up, except insofar as he is able to take in and hold on to those impressions. The innocence which exists in him at this time is solely external, not internal, because true innocence resides within wisdom. But the Lord uses this – his external innocence – to bring order into what enters through the senses. If innocence did not come to him from the Lord in that first period no foundation would ever be laid down on which the intellectual or rational degree of the mind proper to a human being could be established.
[3] From childhood to early youth communication is opened up with the interior natural, by the person’s learning about what is decent, public-spirited, and honourable, both through what parents and teachers tell him and through his own efforts to find out about such matters. During early youth to later youth however communication is opened up between the natural and the rational, by his learning about what is true and what is good so far as his public life and private life are concerned, and above all about what is good and what is true so far as his spiritual life is concerned, all of which he learns about through listening to and reading the Word. Indeed insofar as he uses truths to immerse himself in good deeds, that is, insofar as he puts the truths he learns into practice, the rational is opened up; but insofar as he does not use truths to immerse himself in good deeds, or does not put truths into practice, the rational is not opened up. Nevertheless the things he has come to know remain within the natural; that is to say, they remain in his memory, left on the doorstep so to speak outside the house.
[4] But insofar – during these years and the next period of life – as he impairs the things he knows, refuses to accept them, and acts contrary to them, that is, insofar as he believes falsities and practises evils instead, the rational is closed, as is the interior natural also. But in spite of that, the Lord’s Divine Providence enables communication to remain open enough to give him the ability to understand the good or truth he knows about. But he does not make these his own unless he truly repents and for a long while after that wrestles with falsities and evils. With people however who allow themselves to be regenerated the opposite takes place; for gradually, that is, in consecutive stages, their rational is opened up, the interior natural then becoming ranged in order beneath it, and the exterior natural beneath that. This occurs especially in the period from late youth to adulthood; it also continues in progressive stages to the final period of those regenerating people’s lives, and after that in heaven for ever. From all this one may know what constitutes a person’s interior natural and what his exterior natural.
[2] The fact that the law of order requires lower or exterior things to serve higher or interior ones is totally unknown to a person governed by his senses. For anyone who relies solely on his senses has no knowledge of what is interior, nor thus of what is exterior in relation to this. He knows about his thought and speech, and about his will and action, and from this presumes that thought and will are interior, speech and action exterior. But he is not aware of the fact that thought based solely on sensory experience, and action based solely on natural impulses, belong to the external man, so that his thought and will are activities of his exterior man alone. He is particularly unaware of this when his thoughts are false thoughts and his desires evil desires. And since in the case of anyone like him communication with his interiors is closed he therefore has no idea of what interior thought is or what interior will is. If he is told that interior thought is based on truth and that interior will is based on doing what is good, he does not begin to understand it. He understands still less if he is told that the interior man is distinct and separate from the exterior – so distinct that the interior man can, from a higher position so to speak, see what is going on in the exterior man – and that the interior man has the ability and power to discipline the exterior, and the ability not to will or think what the exterior man sees as a result of his having false notions and longs for as a result of his having evil desires.
[3] As long as his external man is in control and reigning he sees none of this. But when not in this state, when for example he suffers any pain or grief owing to misfortune or sickness, he can see and grasp it because the external man ceases at that time to be in control. For a person’s ability or power to understand is always preserved by the Lord, but it is largely obscured in the case of those steeped in falsities and evils, and is always more apparent as falsities and evils become dormant. The Lord’s Divine is constantly coming to a person and bringing him light, but when falsities and evils are present, that is, things contrary to truths and forms of good, the light of the Divine is then either cast aside, smothered, or perverted. Just enough is received, through chinks so to speak, to allow him to think and to speak by the use of ideas received through the senses, and also to think and to speak about spiritual matters with the help of expressions registered in the natural or bodily memory.
[2] The person with whom the senses have been made subject is called a rational person, but a person with whom they have not is called one ruled by his senses. But whether a person is rational or whether he is one ruled by his senses is scarcely discernible by others; only the individual himself can know, if he examines himself inwardly, that is, if he examines what he wills and what he thinks. Others cannot know from a person’s speech whether he is one ruled by his senses or whether he is a rational person, nor can they know it from his actions, because the life of his thought held within his speech and the life of his will held within his actions cannot be perceived by any of the physical senses. These hear merely the sound he utters, or they see the movement made by his body together with the affection that impels him to make it. One cannot tell whether this affection is artificial or genuine. In the next life however those who are governed by good perceive clearly both what is held within a person’s speech and what is held within his actions, and so perceive the nature of the life within them and where that life has its origin. Yet even in the world several indications exist which enable one to deduce to some extent whether the senses are subject to the rational, or the rational to the senses; or what amounts to the same, whether a person is rational or ruled solely by his senses. Those indications are as follows: If one notices that a person who makes false assumptions is not ready to become more enlightened but casts truths altogether aside, dispenses with reason, and obstinately defends falsities, this is an indication that he is ruled by his senses and is not a rational person. His rational is closed, so that it does not let in the light of heaven.
[3] Ruled even more by their senses are those who are quite convinced by what is false, for such a conviction closes the rational altogether. It is one thing to make false assumptions, another to be convinced by what is false. Those convinced by what is false do have some light shining within their natural, but this is like the light in winter. When it shines among them in the next life that light is as bright as snow; but as soon as the light of heaven falls on it, it becomes a dull light, the degree and nature of their conviction making it dark as night. The same is also evident in these people while they are living in the world, for during that time they are unable to see the faintest glimmer of truth. Indeed because of the dullness and benightedness due to the falsity of which they are convinced, they see no value at all in truths and laugh at them. To the simple those people sometimes give the impression that they are rational, for by means of that snowy-white wintry light they are able to employ clever reasonings to substantiate falsities and make them look like truths. This kind of conviction exists in many of the learned, more than in every other kind of person, for they have used syllogistic and philosophical reasonings, and finally much factual knowledge to become firmly convinced by falsities. Among the ancients such people were called serpents belonging to the tree of knowledge, 195-197, but today they may be called those who are ruled inwardly by their senses and are devoid of true rationality.
[4] The main indication that shows whether someone is ruled wholly by his senses or whether he is a rational person exists in the life he leads. By this one does not mean the kind of life that is evident in his words and deeds but the kind that is held inwardly in these. For the source of the life within his words is his thought, and the source of the life within his deeds is his will, both having their origin in his intentions or end in view. The nature therefore of the intentions or end in view present within his words and deeds determines the nature of the life they hold within them, for without the life within them words are mere sounds, while deeds are mere motions. This kind of life is also what is meant when one speaks of life continuing after death. If a person is rational his words flow from right thinking and his deeds from right willing; that is, his words are a product of faith and his deeds a product of charity. But if a person is not rational he can, it is true, make a pretence of acting as one who is rational, and likewise of speaking as one who is such; but no life at all is coming from his rational. For a life of evil closes entirely the path to or communication with the rational, which causes him to be a merely natural person or one ruled by his senses.
[5] There are two things which not only close that path of communication but also rob a person of the ability ever to become rational – deceit and profanation. Deceit is like a subtle poison which affects the inward parts, while profanation is that which mixes up falsities with truths and evils with forms of good. The two completely destroy the rational. Present with everyone there are forms of good and truth which have been stored away by the Lord since earliest childhood. In the Word these forms of good and truth are called remnants, regarding which see 468, 530, 560, 561, 661, 1050, 1738, 1906, 2284; and it is these remnants that deceit poisons and that profanation mixes up with falsities and evils. For what profanation is, see 593, 1008, 1010, 1059, 1327, 1328, 2051, 2426, 3398, 3402, 3489, 3898, 4289, 4601. All these indications show to some extent who a rational person is and who one ruled by his senses is.
[6] When the senses have become subject to the rational, the sensory powers that serve to form a person’s first mental images receive light which comes through heaven from the Lord; they are at the same time brought into a state of order that enables them to receive that light and agree with the rational. Once they exist in this condition sensory impressions are no longer a barrier that prevents truths from being either acknowledged or seen, for those that are not in keeping with truths are instantly set aside, while those which are in keeping are accepted. Those that are in keeping are now so to speak at the centre and those that are not are on the fringes. Those at the centre are so to speak raised up towards heaven, while those on the fringes are hanging downwards. Those at the centre receive light from the rational, and when they are manifested visually in the next life they look like small glittering stars which radiate light, gradually decreasing, out to the fringes. This is the kind of form that natural or sensory images are being brought into when the rational has dominion and the senses exist subject to it. This is what happens to a person while he is being regenerated, bringing him as a consequence into a state in which truths can be seen and acknowledged by him in abundance. But when the rational is subject to the senses the opposite happens, for in this case falsities are in the middle or at the centre and truths are on the fringes. The falsities at the centre dwell in a certain kind of light, which however is an inferior and deceptive one, like that emitted by a coal fire. Into this there is flowing light on every side from hell. This inferior light is that which is called darkness, for as soon as any light from heaven flows into it, it is converted into darkness.
‘But remember me’ means the reception of faith. ‘When it is well with you’ means when a correspondence exists. ‘And show, I beg you, mercy to me’ means the reception of charity. ‘And make mention of me to Pharaoh’ means communication with the interior natural. ‘And bring me out of this house’ means a release from evils. ‘For I have indeed been taken away by theft’ means that evil caused celestial things to become alienated. ‘Out of the land of the Hebrews’ means from the Church. ‘And here also I have not done anything’ means innocence. ‘For which they should put me in the pit’ means a casting away among falsities.
[2] This may be illustrated by many aspects of human character. One who is governed by some love, whatever this may be, is thinking constantly about things connected with that love. This is so even when other matters occupy his mind, conversation, or action. This is quite evident in the next life from the spiritual spheres which surround everyone individually. From those spheres alone one can detect what the faith is and what the love is that are present in all who are there, even though they may be thinking or talking about something completely different, 1048, 1053, 1316, 1504-1520, 2489, 4464. For that which governs a person’s whole being produces the sphere surrounding him and reveals to others what his life is. From this one may see what is meant by the statement that one ought to be thinking constantly about the Lord, salvation, and life after death. All who possess faith that is grounded in charity do so, as a consequence of which they do not entertain evil thoughts regarding their neighbour, and that which is just and fair is present in every aspect of their thought, speech, and action; for that which governs the person’s whole being enters every particular aspect of it, both leading it and controlling it. Indeed the Lord holds the mind to those concerns that are charitable and are therefore matters of faith, and in so doing He fits every single thing in the mind into its proper place. The sphere of faith grounded in charity is the sphere which reigns in heaven, for the Lord flows in with love, and by means of love with charity, and as a consequence with truths which are the truths of faith. This explains why those in heaven are said to be in the Lord. The subject in what follows next is the rebirth of the sensory power subject to the understanding part represented by ‘the cupbearer’; and as the rebirth of this is the subject, so also is the reception of faith. Indeed sensory awareness, like the rational, is born again by means of faith, but by faith into which charity is flowing. Unless charity flows into faith and imparts life to it, faith cannot possibly exist throughout a person’s whole being, for it is what a person loves that reigns in him, not what he merely knows and retains in his memory.
[2] Since it is difficult for anyone to have any conception of the nature of correspondences if he has not previously given any thought to them, a brief statement must therefore be made about them. It is well known from philosophy that the end is prior to the cause, and the cause prior to the effect. To enable end, cause, and effect to follow one another and act as one, the effect must correspond to the cause, and the cause must correspond to the end. Nevertheless the end does not manifest itself as the cause, nor does the cause manifest itself as the effect. Rather, to enable the cause to exist the end must act on the level where the cause belongs, calling on assistant means to help it – the end – to bring the cause into existence; and to enable the effect to exist the cause likewise must act on the level where the effect belongs, by calling on assistant means to help it – the cause – to bring the effect into existence. These assistant means are ones that correspond; and because they correspond, the end can exist within the cause and bring the cause into operation, and the cause can exist within the effect and bring the effect into operation. Consequently the end uses the cause to bring the effect into operation. But it is different when no correspondence exists. In this case the end does not have a cause in which it may exist, let alone any effect in which it may do so. Instead the end undergoes change and variation within the cause, and finally within the effect, according to the form which the assistant means create.
[3] All things without exception within the human being, indeed all things without exception in the natural creation, follow one another as end, cause, and effect. When these correspond to one another in this way they act as one, for in this case the end is the all in all of the cause, and through the cause is the all in all of the effect. Take for example heavenly love, when this is the end, the will is the cause, and action is the effect. If the three exist in correspondence with one another – that love flowing into the will, and the will into action – they then act as one, so much so through their correspondence with one another that the action is seen as the love. Or take for another example faith grounded in charity. When this is the end, thought is the cause, and conversation is the effect. If the three exist in correspondence with one another – if faith grounded in charity is flowing into a person’s thought, and this into his conversation – they then act as one, so much so that through their correspondence with one another his conversation is seen as if it were the end. But to enable the cause to exist, which is will or thought, the end, which is love or faith, must call on assistant means within the rational mind which must correspond. For without the corresponding assistant means the end, which is love and faith, has nothing to receive it, even though it flows in from the Lord through heaven. From this it is evident that both the interior and the exterior aspects of the human being, that is, his rational concepts, natural ideas, and sensory impressions, must be brought into a state of correspondence so that the Divine can flow in and be received by a person, consequently so that he may be born again, prior to which all is not well with him. From all this one may see that ‘when it is well with you’ here means [when] a correspondence exists.
I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to me. Matt. 25:35, 36.
And in other places the practice of charity is described as acts of mercy done to the poor, the afflicted, widows, and orphans.
[2] Charity consists essentially in desiring the welfare of one’s neighbour, in having an affection for what is good, and in acknowledging that since what is good is one’s neighbour, those who are governed by good are consequently one’s neighbour, but varyingly so, depending on the amount of good that governs the individual person. Therefore since charity consists in having an affection for what is good, it also consists in feelings of mercy for those in distress. The good of charity holds such feelings within it because it comes down from the Lord’s love towards the whole human race, a love which is ‘mercy’ because the whole human race is in distress. Mercy sometimes seems to exist among the evil who have no charity. But this is a case of pain because of their own suffering; for it consists in a concern for friends whom they identify with themselves, and when those friends suffer, they suffer too. This kind of mercy is not the mercy that belongs to charity but that which goes with friendship based on self-interest, which regarded in itself is the opposite of mercy. That kind of person despises and hates everyone else apart from himself, and so everyone else apart from the friends whom he identifies with himself.
[2] Unless these latter ideas receive light from ideas present in the interior natural they give rise to illusions, which are called the illusions of the senses. When subject to such illusions a person believes nothing apart from that which is in agreement with them or to which they lend support, as is the situation if no correspondence exists. Nor does any correspondence exist if that person is not endowed with charity, for charity is the means which brings about union because the good of charity contains life from the Lord. That life arranges truths into order, thereby giving charity an outward form, that is, an image in which it can present itself. This form is manifested visually in the next life and is the angelic form itself. All the angels consequently are forms of charity, the beauty of this charity being received from the truths of faith, and the life within the beauty being received from the good of charity.
[2] From infancy to childhood, and sometimes on into early youth, a person is absorbing forms of goodness and truth received from parents and teachers, for during those years he learns about those forms of goodness and truth and believes them with simplicity – his state of innocence enabling this to happen. It inserts those forms of goodness and truth into his memory; yet it lodges them only on the edge of it since the innocence of infancy and childhood is not an internal innocence which has an influence on the rational, only an external one which has an influence solely on the exterior natural, 2306, 3183, 3494, 4563, 4797. When however the person grows older, when he starts to think for himself and not, as previously, simply in the way his parents or teachers do, he brings back to mind and so to speak chews over what he has learned and believed before, and then he either endorses it, has doubts about it, or refuses to accept it. If he endorses it, this is an indication that he is governed by good, but if he refuses to accept it, that is an indication that he is governed by evil. If however he has doubts about what he has learned and believed before, it is an indication that he will move subsequently either into an affirmative attitude of mind or else into a negative one.
[3] The truths that a person learns and believes in his earliest years when he is a young child but which later on he either endorses, has doubts about, or refuses to accept, are in particular these: There is God, and He is one; He created everything; He rewards those who do what is good and punishes those who do things that are bad; there is life after death, when the bad go to hell and the good go to heaven, and so there is a hell and a heaven; the life after death lasts for ever; also, people ought to pray every day and to do so in a humble way; they ought to keep the sabbath day holy, honour their parents, and not commit adultery, kill, or steal; and many other truths like these. Such truths are learned and absorbed by a person from earliest childhood; but if, when he starts to think for himself and to lead his own life, he endorses them, adding to them further truths of a more interior kind, and leads a life in conformity with them, all is well with him. But if he starts to disobey them, refusing at length to accept them, then even though outwardly he leads a life in conformity with them, because the law and society expect him to do so, he is governed by evil.
[4] This evil is what is meant by ‘theft’, to the extent that thief-like it usurps the position held previously by good. With many people it is thief-like to the extent that it takes away the forms of goodness and truth previously there and uses them to lend support to evils and falsities. So far as is possible with these people the Lord removes the forms of goodness and truth absorbed in early childhood from where these are to a more internal position, where – within the interior natural – He stores them away for future use. These forms of goodness and truth that are stored away within the interior natural are meant in the Word by ‘the remnant’, dealt with in 468, 530, 560, 561, 660, 661, 1050, 1738, 1906, 2284. But if evil steals the forms of goodness and truth there and uses them to lend support to evils and falsities, especially if it does so by the use of deceit, it destroys those remnants; for in this case it mingles evil with good, and falsity with truth, to such an extent that one cannot be separated from the other; and then a person is done for.
[5] The fact that ‘theft’ means the kinds of things mentioned above may be seen from the mere use of that word to refer to what constitutes a person’s spiritual life. For the only riches in that life are cognitions of good and truth, and the only possessions and inheritances are the different forms of happiness in life which are gained from forms of good and from truths deriving from these. The stealing of such things, as stated above, is what ‘theft’ relates to in the spiritual sense, and therefore by the thefts mentioned in the Word nothing else is meant in the internal sense, as in Zechariah,
I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying scroll. Then he said to me, This curse is going out over the face of the whole land, for everyone committing theft from now on, according to it, will be innocent, and everyone swearing falsely, according to it, will be innocent. I have cast it forth, that it may enter the house of the thief, and the house of him swearing falsely by My name, and may pass the night in his house and consume it, both its timbers and its stones. Zech. 5:1-4.
Evil which takes away remnants of good is meant by ‘one committing theft’ and by ‘the house of the thief’, and falsity which takes away remnants of truth by ‘one swearing falsely’ and by ‘the house of him swearing falsely’. ‘The face of the whole land’ stands for the whole Church, which is why the statement is made that the curse will consume the house, both its timbers and its stones – ‘house’ meaning the natural mind or a person so far as that mind is concerned, 3128, 3538, 4973, 5023, ‘timbers’ the forms of good present there, 2784, 2812, 3720, 4943, and ‘stones’ the truths, 643, 1298, 3720.
[6] Profanation and a consequent removal of goodness and truth are meant in the spiritual sense by the action of Achan, who took some of ‘the devoted things’ – a mantle of Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold – and hid them in the earth in the middle of his tent, on account of which he was stoned and everything was burned, as described in Joshua,
Jehovah said to Joshua, Israel has sinned; they have transgressed My covenant which I commanded them, and have taken some of that which was devoted; they have committed theft, have lied, and have put it among their own vessels. Josh. 7:11, 12, 25.
‘The devoted things’ meant falsities and evils, which were not on any account to be mixed with anything holy. ‘A mantle of Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold’ in the spiritual sense are specific types of falsity. ‘Hiding them in the earth in the middle of the tent’ meant a mingling with things that are holy – for ‘a tent’ means that which is holy, see 414, 1102, 1566, 2145, 2152, 3312, 4128, 4391, 4599. Such was the meaning of the declaration that they had committed theft, lied, and put [what was devoted] among their own vessels; for ‘vessels’ means holy truths, 3068, 3079, 3316, 3318.
[7] In Jeremiah,
I will bring the disaster* of Esau upon him, the time I will visit him. If grape-gatherers come to you, will they not leave grape-gleanings? if thieves in the night, will they not destroy a sufficiency? I will strip Esau bare, I will uncover his secret places, and he will not be able to be concealed. His seed has been laid waste, and his brothers, and his neighbours; and he is no more. Jer. 49:8-10.
‘Esau’ stands for the evil of self-love to which falsities have been allied, 3322. The destruction by this evil of the remnants of good and truth is meant by the statements that ‘thieves in the night will destroy a sufficiency’ and that ‘his seed has been laid waste, also his brothers and his neighbours, and he is no more’. ‘Seed’ stands for truths which are those of faith grounded in charity, 1025, 1447, 1610, 1940, 2848, 3038, 3310, 3373; ‘brothers’ for forms of good which are those of charity, 367, 2360, 2508, 2524, 3160, 3303, 3459, 3815, 4121, 4191; ‘neighbours’ for the adjoining and related forms of truth and good which belong to it.
[8] A similar reference to Esau occurs in Obadiah,
If thieves come to you, if those who overturn in the night – how you will have been cut off! – will they not steal that which is enough for themselves? If grape-gatherers come to you, will they not leave some clusters? Obad. verse 5.
‘Grape-gatherers’ stands for falsities which are not a product of evil. These falsities do not destroy the forms of goodness and truth – that is, the remnants – stored away by the Lord in a person’s interior natural. But falsities that are the product of evils do destroy them, for they steal forms of truth and good and also use them, through misapplication of them, to lend support to evils and falsities.
[9] In Joel,
A great and mighty people, like heroes they will run, like men of war they will scale the wall; and they will pass on, every one on his way. They will run about the city, they will run on the wall, they will climb into the houses, they will go in through the windows like a thief. Joel 2:7, 9.
‘A great and mighty people’ stands for falsities fighting against truths, 1259, 1260; and because they fight in a mighty way, by destroying truths, they are spoken of as ‘heroes’ and ‘like men of war’. ‘The city’ through which they are said to run about stands for matters of doctrine regarding truth, 402, 2268, 2449, 2712, 2943, 3216; ‘the houses which they will climb into’ stands for the forms of good which they destroy, 710, 1708, 2048, 2233, 3128, 3652, 3720, 4982; ‘the windows which they will go through’ stands for intellectual concepts and for reasonings derived from these, 655, 658, 3391. This being so, those falsities are compared to a thief because they usurp the position held previously by truths and forms of good.
[10] In David,
Since you hate discipline and cast away My words behind you, if you see a thief you run with him, and your part is with adulterers. You open your mouth towards evil, and with your tongue you frame deceit. Ps. 50:17-19.
This refers to someone wicked, ‘running with a thief’ standing for his use of falsity to alienate truth from himself.
[11] In Revelation,
They did not repent of their murders, or of their enchantments, or of their whoredoms, or of their thefts. Rev. 9:21.
‘Murders’ stands for evils which destroy forms of good, ‘enchantments’ for falsities from these which destroy truths, ‘whoredoms’ for falsified truths, ‘thefts’ for forms of good that have consequently been alienated.
[12] In John,
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the sheepfold but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me he will be saved, and will go in, and will go out, and will find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. John 10:1, 2, 8-10.
‘A thief’ in this instance also stands for the evil of merit-seeking, for anyone who takes away from the Lord that which is His and claims it as his own is called ‘a thief’. This evil closes the path so as to prevent the flow of good and truth from the Lord, for which reason it is referred to as ‘killing and destroying’. Much the same is meant in the Ten Commandments, at Deut. 5:19, by You shall not steal, 4174. From all this one may see what is meant in the spiritual sense by the laws laid down in the Jewish Church regarding thefts, such as those at Exod. 21:16; 22:1-4; Deut. 24:7; for all laws in that Church had their origin in the spiritual world, and they therefore correspond to the laws of order which exist in heaven.
* Reading Exitium (disaster) – which Sw. has in his rough draft, and also in another place where he quotes this verse – for Exitum (departure)
[2] The reason the Church existed there continuously since most ancient times was that the member of the Most Ancient Church, who was celestial, was the kind of person who saw within every single object in the world and on earth something representative of the Lord’s kingdom. Worldly and earthly objects were the means that enabled him to think about heavenly realities. This was where all the representatives and meaningful signs known subsequently in the Ancient Church had their origin, for these had been gathered together by the people meant by ‘Enoch’, and preserved for the use of others descended from them, 519, 521, 2896. This was how it came about that each specific place, and also each specific mountain or river in the land of Canaan, where the most ancient people lived, came to be representative, as did all the surrounding kingdoms. Now because the Word could not be written unless representatives and meaningful signs were used, including those connected with places, those consecutive dispensations of the Church were to that end kept in existence in the land of Canaan. But after the Lord’s Coming the Church was transferred elsewhere because representatives were now done away with. From all this it is evident that the land of Canaan, called the land of the Hebrews here, means the Church.
[3] But see what has been presented already on these matters – in the following places:
The Most Ancient Church, the one before the Flood, existed in the land of Canaan, 567, 3686, 4447, 4454.
Part of the Ancient Church, the Church after the Flood, existed there, 3686, 4447.
The second Ancient Church, called the Hebrew Church, also existed there, 4516, 4517.
Abram was therefore commanded to go there, and the land was given to his descendants, 3686, 4447.
Consequently the land of Canaan represented the Lord’s kingdom, 1607, 3038, 3481, 3705, 4240, 4447.
This explains why in the Word ‘the land’ means the Church, 566, 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1413, 1607, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355, 4447, 4535.
‘And the chief of the bakers saw’ means the discernment of the sensory power subject to the will part of the mind. ‘That he had interpreted what was good’ means what was going to take place. ‘And he said to Joseph’ means the perception of the celestial within the natural. ‘I also was in my dream’ means a foretelling. ‘And behold, three baskets’ means consecutive degrees forming the will. ‘With holes in them were on my head’ means without a termination anywhere at all in the middle. ‘And in the highest basket’ means the inmost degree of the will. ‘There was some of every kind of food for Pharaoh’ means full of celestial good for nourishing the natural. ‘The work of the baker’ means according to every useful purpose served by that power of the senses. ‘And the birds of the air were eating them out of the basket, from upon my head’ means that falsity originating in evil would consume it. ‘And Joseph answered and said’ means revelation resulting from the perception received by the celestial within the natural. ‘This is the interpretation of it’ means what it held within it. ‘The three baskets’ means the consecutive degrees of the will. ‘Are three days’ means even to the final one. ‘In yet three days’ means that within the final one. ‘Pharaoh will lift up your head from upon you’ means a decision based on foresight. ‘And will hang you on wood’ means a casting aside and condemnation. ‘And the birds will eat your flesh from upon you’ means that falsity originating in evil will consume every one of those sensory impressions.
[2] The consecutive or continuous degrees of the understanding were represented by the vine, its three shoots, blossom, clusters, and grapes; and then truth which belongs properly to the understanding was represented by ‘the cup’, 5120. But the consecutive degrees forming the will are represented by the three baskets on the baker’s head, in the highest of which ‘there was some of every kind of food for Pharaoh, the work of the baker’. By consecutive degrees of the will are meant degrees in consecutive order, beginning with the one inmostly present with a person and ending with the outermost degree where sensory awareness resides. Those degrees are like a flight of steps from the inmost parts to the outermost, 5114. Good from the Lord flows into the inmost degree, then through the rational degree into the interior natural, and from there into the exterior natural, or the sensory level. That good passes down a flight of steps so to speak, the nature of it being determined at each distinct and separate level by the way it is received. But more will be said later on about the nature of this influx and those consecutive degrees it passes through.
[3] Elsewhere in the Word ‘baskets’ again means degrees of the will, in that forms of good are contained in these, as in Jeremiah,
Jehovah showed me, when behold, there were two baskets of figs, set before the temple of Jehovah; in one basket extremely good figs, like first-ripe figs, but in the other basket extremely bad figs, which could not be eaten because of their badness. Jer. 24:1-3.
In this case a different word is used in the original language for ‘a basket’,* which is used to describe the natural degree of the will. The figs in the first basket are forms of good in the natural, but those in the second are forms of evil there.
[4] In Moses,
When you have come into the land which Jehovah your God will give you, you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the land, which you shall bring from your land, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place which Jehovah has chosen. Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand, and place it before the altar of Jehovah your God. Deut. 26:1-4.
Here yet another word for ‘a basket’ is used’, which means a new will within the understanding part of the mind. ‘The first of the fruit of the land’ are the forms of good produced from that new will.
[5] In the same author,
To consecrate Aaron and his sons, Moses was to take unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil; he was to make them of fine wheat flour. And he was to put them in one basket, and to bring them near in the basket. Aaron, then his sons, were to eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread in the basket, at the door of the tent of meeting. Exod. 29:2, 3, 32.
In this case the same word is used for ‘a basket’ as here [in the baker’s dream]. It means the will part of the mind, which has within it forms of good that are meant by bread, cakes, oil, wafers, flour, and wheat. The expression ‘the will part of the mind’ describes that which serves as a container; for good from the Lord flows into those interior forms within an, as the proper vessels to contain it. If those forms have been set to receive it they are ‘baskets’ containing such good.
[6] In the same author, when a Nazirite was being inaugurated,
He shall take a basket of unleavened [leaves] of fine flour, cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, together with their minchah and their drink-offerings. He shall also offer a ram as a sacrifice of peace-offerings to Jehovah, in addition to the basket of unleavened things. And the priest shall take the cooked shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake from the basket, and one wafer from the unleavened, and he shall place them on the hand of the Nazirite, and [the priest] shall wave them as a wave-offering before Jehovah. Num. 6:15, 17, 19, 20.
Here also ‘a basket’ stands for the will part of the mind serving as a container. Cakes, wafers, oil, minchah, cooked shoulder of the ram serve to represent forms of celestial good; for a Nazirite represented the celestial man, 3301.
[7] In those times things like these which were used in worship were carried in baskets; even the kid which Gideon brought to the angel under the oak tree was carried in one, Judg. 6:19. The reason for this was that ‘baskets’ represented things serving as containers, while the things in those baskets represented the actual contents.
* Sw. reflects these differences by the use of three different Latin words for basket.
[2] The subject at present is the sensory impressions subject to the will part of the mind, ‘baskets on the head with holes in them’ meaning that interior degrees existed without a termination anywhere at all in the middle. Therefore those sensory impressions, as follows from this, were cast aside and condemned. But some explanation must be given of what is meant by ‘without a termination anywhere at all in the middle’. Interiorly the human being is divided into separate degrees, and each degree has its own termination that serves to separate it from the degree beneath it. This is so with every degree from the inmost one to the outermost. The interior rational constitutes the first degree, the degree in which celestial angels are, that is, where the inmost or third heaven is. The exterior rational makes up the second degree, the one in which spiritual angels are, that is, where the middle or second heaven is. The interior natural makes up the third degree, the one in which good spirits are, that is, where the last and lowest or first heaven is. And the exterior natural, the level of the senses, makes up the fourth degree, in which man is.
[3] These degrees also exist within man, each degree completely distinct and separate. Consequently, if he leads a good life, he is interiorly a miniature heaven; that is, his interiors correspond to the three heavens. Also, if he has led a life of charity and love he can be taken after death all the way up to the third heaven. But if he is to be someone like this, each degree within him must be furnished with its own specific termination that makes it separate from the next one. When those degrees do have those terminations, making them distinct and separate from one another, each degree has a floor on which good flowing in from the Lord can rest and where it is received. Without such terminations acting as floors that good is not received but passes straight through, as if through a sieve or through ‘a basket with holes in it’, down to the sensory level. There, because it has not received any direction on the way, this good is turned into something foul, though it is seen as good by the recipients of it at that lowest level. That is to say, the good is turned into the kind of delight that belongs to a selfish and worldly love, and consequently into the kind of delight that belongs to hatred, revenge, cruelty, adultery, and avarice, or into sheer self-gratification and personal extravagance. This is what happens if the degrees of a person’s will exist without a termination anywhere at all in the middle, that is, if ‘they have holes in them’.
[4] One can also actually know whether these terminations and therefore floors exist; people’s abilities to perceive what is good and true point to the existence of them, as do their consciences. In the case of those who, like celestial angels, have the ability to perceive what is good and true,
terminations exist in every degree, from the first to the last. Unless each degree has its own termination, no perceptive abilities such as these can exist. Regarding these abilities, see 125, 202, 495, 503, 511, 536, 597, 607, 784, 865, 895, 1121, 1383, 1384, 1387, 1919, 1144, 2145, 2171, 2515, 2831. In the case of those who, like spiritual angels, have conscience, terminations likewise exist, but only in the second degree or else in the third down to the last. For them the first degree is closed. One must say in the second degree or else in the third because conscience is twofold – interior and exterior. Interior conscience is one that concerns itself with what is spiritually good and true, exterior conscience one that concerns itself with what is just and fair. Conscience itself is an interior floor which provides inflowing Divine Good with a termination; but those who have no conscience do not have any interior floor to receive that influx. In their case good passes straight through to the exterior natural, or the natural level of the senses, where it is turned, as has been stated, into foul delights. These people sometimes feel pain like that of conscience, but this is not conscience. The pain is caused by the loss of what they delight in, such as the loss of position, gain, reputation, life, pleasures, or the friendship of others who are like themselves. They suffer pain because the terminations which they possess consist in those kinds of delights. From all this one may see what is meant in the spiritual sense by ‘baskets with holes in them’.
[5] Particularly so in the next life one can discern whether or not the degrees of a person’s will have been furnished with terminations. In the case of one who has been furnished with them, a zeal exists for what is spiritually good and true or for what is just and fair. For such persons had done what was good for the sake of what was good or for the sake of what was true, and had practised what was just for the sake of what was just or for the sake of what was fair, not for the sake of gain, position, and the like. All whose interior degrees of the will have been furnished with terminations are raised up to heaven, for the inflowing Divine is able to lead them there. But all whose interior degrees of the will have not been furnished with terminations make their way to hell, for what is Divine passes straight through and is turned into that which is hell-like, as when the heat of the sun falls on foul excrement and a disgusting stench is given off by it. Consequently all who have had conscience are saved, but those who have had none are incapable of being saved.
[6] Degrees of the will are said to have holes in them, or to have no terminations, when there is no affection for goodness and truth, or for justice and equity, and when these virtues are considered to be of little or no value at all compared with anything else, or are esteemed solely for the sake of acquiring gain or position. The affections are what supply terminations and serve to close off, which is also why they are called bonds or restraints – affections for what is good and true being internal bonds, and affections for what is evil and false external ones, 3835. Unless the affections for what is evil and false acted as bonds or restraints the person would be insane, 4217; for insanity is nothing else than the removal of such restraints, so that no terminations are present in such persons. Even so, though these people do not possess any internal restraints and are therefore inwardly insane, so far as their thoughts and affections are concerned, an eruption of these is held back by external restraints, which consist in affections for gain, position, or reputation for their own sake, and consequently in a fear of the law or of loss of life. This was represented in the Jewish Church by the law that in the house of one who had died every open vessel which had no covering [or] cord [to fasten it] was unclean, Num. 19:15.
[7] Much the same is also meant by ‘works full of holes’ in Isaiah,
Those that make linen out of silk [thread], and those that weave works full of holes, will blush. And its foundations will be broken to pieces – all those making pools of the soul* their wages. Isa. 19:9, 10.
And by ‘holes’ in Ezekiel,
The Spirit brought the prophet to the door of the court, where he looked, and behold, a hole in the wall. And He said to him, Son of man, bore a hole through the wall. He therefore bore a hole through the wall, and behold, a door. Then He said to him, Go in and see the abominations that they do here. When he went in and saw, behold, every likeness of creeping thing and of beast, an abomination; and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed on the wall round about, etc. Ezek. 8:7-10.
* What Sw. understands by this literal rendering of the Hebrew is not clear.
[2] Nevertheless no one can have a mental grasp of the relationship of what is interior to what is exterior unless he knows about degrees, regarding which see 3691, 4154, 5114, 5145. Man has no other notion of what is interior and consequently more perfect than the ever increasing purity of something the more one breaks it down. But greater purity and greater grossness can exist simultaneously in one and the same degree, owing not only to the expanding and condensing of it but also to the limitation of it and to the introduction of similar or else dissimilar elements into it. With an idea such as that regarding his interiors man cannot possibly do other than think that exterior things are attached in a continuous manner to interior ones, and so act entirely as one with them. But if a proper idea regarding degrees is formed one may grasp how interior and exterior things are distinct and separate from one another, so distinct that interior things can come into being and remain in being without exterior ones, whereas exterior things can never do so without interior ones. One may also grasp the nature of the correspondence of interior things within exterior ones, as well as the way in which the exterior things can represent interior ones. This explains why, other than hypothetically, the learned are unable to examine the question regarding the interaction of the soul and the body. Indeed it also explains why many of them believe that life belongs intrinsically to the body, and thus that when their body dies their interiors will die too since these are closely attached to the body. But in actual fact only the exterior degree dies; the interior degree survives and goes on living.
[2] As regards the influx of celestial good from the Lord and the reception of it, it should be recognized that the will part of the human mind is the receiver of good and the understanding part is the receiver of truth. The understanding part cannot possibly receive truth so as to make this its own unless at the same time the will part receives good; and vice versa. For one flows as a result into the other and disposes that other to be receptive. All that constitutes the understanding may be compared to forms which are constantly varying, and all that constitutes the will may be compared to the harmonies resulting from those variations. Consequently truths may be compared to variations, and forms of good may be compared to the delights which those variations bring. And this being pre-eminently the case with truths and forms of good it is evident that one cannot exist without the other, as well as that one cannot be brought forth except by means of the other.
[3] The reason ‘food’ means celestial good is that angels’ food consists in nothing else than forms of the good of love and charity, and that these serve to enliven angels and to rejuvenate them. Especially when they are expressed in action or practice do those forms of good cause angels to feel rejuvenated, for they are the desires they have; for it is a well known fact that when a person’s desires are expressed in action he feels rejuvenated and enlivened. Those desires also nourish a person’s spirit when material food supplies nourishment to his body, as may be recognized from the fact that when no delight is taken in food it is not very nutritious, but when delight is taken in it, it is nutritious. The delight taken in food is what opens the meatus or channels which serve to convey it into the blood, whereas the opposite closes them. Among angels those delights are forms of the good of love and charity, and from this one may deduce that these are spiritual kinds of food which correspond to earthly ones. Also, just as forms of good are meant by different kinds of food, so truths are meant by ‘drink’.
[4] In the Word ‘food’ is mentioned in many places, yet someone unacquainted with the internal sense will inevitably suppose that in those places ordinary food is meant. In fact spiritual food is meant, as in Jeremiah,
All the people groan as they search for bread. They have given their desirable things for food to restore the soul. Lam. 1:11.
In Isaiah,
Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he who has no money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Isa. 55:1.
In Joel,
The day of Jehovah is near, and as destruction from the thunderbolt-hurler will it come. [s not the food cut off before our eyes, gladness and joy from the house of our God? The grains have rotted under their clods, the storehouses have been laid waste, the granaries have been destroyed, because the grain has failed. Joel 1:15-17.
In David,
Our storehouses are full, yielding food and still more food; our flocks are thousands, and ten thousands in our streets. There is no outcry in our streets. Blessed are the people for whom it is thus. Ps. 144:13-15.
In the same author,
They all look to You, that You may give them their food in due season. You give to them – they gather it up; You open Your hand – they are satisfied with good. Ps. 104:27, 28.
[5] In these places celestial and spiritual food is meant in the internal sense when material food is referred to in the sense of the letter. From this one may see how the interior features of the Word and its exterior features correspond to one another, that is, how what belongs inwardly to its spirit and what belongs to its letter do so; so that while man understands those things according to the sense of the letter, the angels present with him understand the same things according to the spiritual sense. The Word has been written in such a way that it may serve not only the human race but heaven also, and for this reason all expressions are used to mean heavenly realities, and every matter described there is representative of these realities. This is so with the Word even to the tiniest jot.
[6] Furthermore the Lord Himself explicitly teaches that good is meant in the spiritual sense by ‘food’: In John,
Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. John 6:27.
In the same gospel,
My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink. John 6:55.
‘Flesh’ means Divine Good, 3813, and ‘blood’ Divine Truth, 4735. And in the same gospel,
Jesus said to the disciples, I have food to eat of which you do not know. The disciples said to one another, Has anyone brought Him [anything] to eat? Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. John 4:33-34.
‘Doing the will of the Father and finishing His work’ means Divine Good when expressed in actions or practice, which in the genuine sense is ‘food’, as stated above.
[2] Falsity has two different origins, doctrine and evil. Falsity originating in doctrine does not consume any form of good, for a person can have such falsity in his mind and yet desire what is good, which is why people taught any kind of doctrine, including gentiles, can be saved. But falsity originating in evil is falsity which does consume good. Evil itself is opposed to good; yet it does not by itself consume any good but relies on falsity to do so. For falsity attacks the truths which are the defenders of good, those truths being so to speak the ramparts behind which good resides. Falsity is used to attack those ramparts, and once this has been done, good is given over to destruction.
[3] Anyone unacquainted with the fact that ‘birds’ means intellectual concepts will inevitably suppose that when mentioned in the Word the expression ‘birds’ is either used to mean birds literally or else is used, as in everyday speech, in a figurative sense. Except from the internal sense no one can know that ‘birds’ means things belonging to the understanding, such as thoughts, ideas, reasonings, basic assumptions, and consequently truths or falsities, as in Luke,
The kingdom of God is like a grain of mustard seed, which someone took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a big tree so that the birds of the air dwelt in its branches. Luke 13:19.
‘The birds of the air’ here stands for truths.
[4] In Ezekiel,
It will turn into a noble cedar, and under it will dwell every bird of every sort;* in the shade of its branches they will dwell. Ezek. 17:23.
‘Bird of every sort’ stands for truths of every kind. In the same prophet,
Asshur was a cedar in Lebanon. In its branches all the birds of the air made their nests, and under its branches every beast of the field brought forth, and in its shadow dwelt all great nations. Ezek. 31:3, 6.
‘The birds of the air’ stands in a similar way for truths.
[5] In the same prophet,
Upon its ruin will dwell every bird of the air, and on its branches will be every wild animal of the field. Ezek. 31:13.
‘Bird of the air’ stands for falsities. In Daniel,
Nebuchadnezzar saw in a dream. Behold, a tree in the midst of the earth; under it the beasts of the field had shade, and in its branches dwelt the birds of the air. Dan. 4:10, 12, 14, 21.
Here also ‘the birds of the air’ stands for falsities.
[6] In Jeremiah,
I looked, and behold, there was no man; and every bird of the air had flown away. Jer. 4:25.
‘No man’ stands for no good, 4287, ‘the birds of the air which had flown away’ for the fact that truths had been dispersed. In the same prophet,
From bird of the air even to beast they have flown away, they have gone away. Jer. 9:10.
Here the meaning is the same. In Matthew,
A sower went out to sow; and some fell on the pathway, and the birds came and devoured it. Matt. 13:3, 4.
Here ‘the birds of the air’ stands for reasonings, and also for falsities. The same meaning may be seen in many other places.
* lit. of every wing
[2] The celestial has its origin in Divine Good and the spiritual in Divine Truth – both having their origin in the Lord. When they exist in the rational they are called the celestial and spiritual within the rational, and when they exist in the natural they are called the celestial and spiritual within the natural. The rational and natural are used to mean the person himself insofar as he has been formed to receive the celestial and spiritual; but the rational is used to mean his internal and the natural his external. By reason of what flows into him, and depending on his reception of it, a person is called a celestial man or else a spiritual man – a celestial man if the Lord’s Divine Good is received in the will part of his mind, a spiritual man if it is received in the understanding part.
If a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he has been slain, so that you hang him on wood, his dead body shall not remain all night on the wood, but you must bury him the same day, for the one hanged is the curse of God. For you shall not defile the land which Jehovah your God is giving you for an inheritance. Deut. 21:22, 23.
‘It shall not remain all night on the wood’ meant casting aside for ever. For in the evening a new day began; therefore if those who had been hanged were not cast away before the evening, the failure to cast evil aside and consequently the failure to rid the land of that evil were represented. The land was defiled; hence the addition of the words ‘You shall not defile the land which Jehovah your God is giving you for an inheritance’. They were left hanging until evening, but no later, see Josh. 8:29; 10:16. Among the Jewish nation two chief forms of punishment existed, stoning and hanging. The existence of stoning was due to falsity, that of hanging on wood to evil, for the reason that ‘stone’ means truth, 643, 1298, 3720, and in the contrary sense falsity, while ‘wood’ means good, 2784, 2812, 3720, and in the contrary sense evil. This is why frequent reference is made in the prophetical part of the Word to ‘committing adultery with stone and wood’, meaning the perversion of truth, which is falsity, and the adulteration of good, which is evil.
[2] The significance of all this – that the sensory impressions subject to the understanding part, which are represented by ‘the cupbearer’, were retained, whereas those subject to the will part, which are represented by ‘the baker’, were cast aside – is an arcanum that is completely unintelligible unless it has light shed on it. Let the following serve to shed some such light. By sensory impressions are meant those known facts and those delights which have been introduced through the five external or bodily senses into a person’s memory and into his longings, and which together constitute the exterior natural, by virtue of which a person is called one governed by the senses. The facts are subject to the understanding part of his mind, whereas the delights are subject to the will part. Also, the facts link up with the truths which belong to the understanding, while the delights link up with the forms of good which belong to the will. The former are represented by ‘the cupbearer’ and were retained, but the latter are represented by ‘the baker’ and were cast aside.
[3] The reason those known facts were retained is that in time they were able to accord with ideas in the understanding; but the reason the delights were cast aside is that they were by no means able to accord with what was in the will. For the will within the Lord, who is the subject in the highest internal sense, was from conception Divine and was the Divine Good itself; but the will received through His birth from His mother was evil and therefore had to be cast aside, and a new will had to be acquired in place of it. This new will was to be acquired from the Divine Will through the [Divine] Understanding, that is, from Divine Good through Divine Truth, and so was acquired by His own power. This is the arcanum which is described here in the internal sense.
‘And it happened on the third day’ means in the final phase. ‘Pharaoh’s birthday’ means when the natural was to be regenerated. ‘That he made a feast for all his servants’ means the introduction and joining to the exterior natural. ‘And he lifted up the head’ means according to what was of providence and what was of foresight. ‘Of the chief of the cupbearers, and the head of the chief of the bakers’ means the sensory powers subject to both parts, the understanding part and the will part. ‘In the midst of his servants’ means which were among the things present in the exterior natural. ‘And he restored the chief of the cupbearers to his supervision over [Pharaoh’s] drink’ means that the sensory impressions belonging to the understanding part were accepted and made subordinate. ‘And he put the cup onto Pharaoh’s palm means and subservient to the interior natural. ‘And the chief of the bakers he hanged’ means that the sensory impressions belonging to the will part were cast aside. ‘As Joseph had interpreted to them’ means as foretold by the celestial within the natural. ‘And the chief of the cupbearers did not remember Joseph’ means that a complete joining to the celestial of the natural did not as yet exist. ‘And forgot him’ means removal.
[2] In everyone, whether or not he is being regenerated, changes of state take place, and order is turned around. Yet such changes are different in the case of those who are being regenerated than in the case of those who are not being regenerated. With those who are not being regenerated those changes of state or order are due to physical causes or are attributable to causes associated with life in the community. Physical causes are those impulses which arise at one stage in life and subside at another, in addition to the giving of deliberate thought to physical health and a long life in the world. The causes connected with life in the community are the external, visible curbs a person has to place on his real desire, so that he may earn a reputation for being a wise person and a lover of what is righteous and good, when in fact the acquisition of position and material gain is his real reason for pursuing such. But in the case of people who are being regenerated, such changes of state or order are attributable to spiritual causes which spring from goodness and righteousness themselves; and when a person starts to have an affection for these he is at the end of the previous state and at the beginning of the new one.
[3] But as few are capable of seeing the truth of all this, let an example serve to shed light on the matter. Anyone who does not allow himself to be regenerated loves things of the body for their own sake, not for any other reason; and he loves the world too for its own sake. His love does not reach any higher because at heart he refuses to accept anything higher or more interior. On the other hand one who is being regenerated also loves things of the body, and worldly things likewise. Yet he loves them for higher or more interior reasons. He loves things of the body because he wishes to have a healthy mind inside a healthy body. Also, he loves his own mind and its healthiness for an even more interior reason, namely that he may have a wise discernment of what is good and an intelligent understanding of what is true. He also loves worldly things as much as others do, yet for the reason that the world, worldly wealth, possessions, and positions of importance may serve him as the means to put what is good and true or what is just and fair into effect.
[4] This example enables one to see what each one – the regenerate and the unregenerate – is really like, and to see that outwardly the two are apparently alike but that inwardly they are totally different. From this one may also recognize the identity and the essential nature of the causes which bring about the changes of state and turnings around of order that take place with people who are not being regenerated and those that take place with people who are being regenerated. One may also see that in the case of regenerate persons interior things have dominion over exterior ones, whereas in the case of unregenerate persons exterior ones have dominion over interior. The reasons or the ends that a person has in view are what have dominion, for those ends subordinate everything else in a person and make it subject to themselves. The person’s whole life is conditioned entirely by his end in view, for that end is what he loves all the time.
[2] The servants here in whose midst Pharaoh the king passed judgement on the cupbearer and the baker were chief courtiers and nobles. The reason why these, like other subjects belonging to any other rank of society, are called servants when considered in relation to the king is that, as is the case in any kingdom even today, kingship represents the Lord as regards Divine Truth, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4581, 4966, 5068. Considered in relation to Him all are equally servants, no matter what rank of society they belong to. Indeed in the Lord’s kingdom, that is, in heaven, those who are the greatest there, that is, who are the inmost ones, are pre-eminently servants because their obedience is the greatest of all, and their humility is greater than that of any others. These are the ones who are meant by the least who will be the greatest, and the last who will be the first,
The first will be last, and the last will be first. Matt. 19:30; 20:16; Mark 10:31; Luke 13:30.
He who presents himself as least among you will be great. Luke 9:48.
They are also meant by the great who are ministers, and by the first who are servants,
Whoever would be great among you must be your minister; and anyone who would be first among you must be the servant of all. Mark 10:44; Matt. 20:26, 27.
[3] They are called ‘servants’ in relation to the Divine Truth which originates in the Lord and ‘ministers’ in relation to the Divine Good which originates in Him. The reason ‘the last who are the first’ are servants, and more so than any others, is that they know, acknowledge, and perceive that the whole of their life, and therefore the whole of the power which they possess, originates in the Lord, and none at all in themselves; and those who do not perceive this because their acknowledgement of it is not so great are ‘servants’ too, though more because that acknowledgement is one that is on their lips rather than in their hearts. Those however whose attitude is completely the reverse also call themselves servants in relation to the Divine; yet their real wish is to be masters. For they are annoyed and angry if the Divine does not show them favour or so to speak does not obey them, and at length they set themselves against the Divine, when they take away all power from Him and attribute everything to themselves. Very many like these exist within the Church; they do not accept the Lord, though they do say that they acknowledge a supreme being.
[2] Those sensory impressions are accepted and made subordinate when they minister to and serve interior things as the means both to the realization of these in actions and to the acquisition of insights into them. For within the sensory impressions present in his exterior natural a person can see interior things, in much the same way as he sees people’s affections within their faces and even more interior affections within their eyes. Without an interior face or mirror such as this no one is able, while living in the body, to engage in any thought at all about things that are above the senses; for what he sees within the sensory impressions may be likened to someone’s recognition of other people’s affections and thoughts within their faces, without the payment of any attention by him to their actual faces. Or it may be likened to someone listening to another speaking; he pays no attention to the words the speaker uses, only to the meaning of what is uttered by him. The actual words that are used are a mirror in which the inner meaning can be seen. The same is so with the exterior natural; if this did not serve interior things as a mirror in which they see themselves as if in a looking-glass, a person could not engage in any thought at all. This being so, the mirror is formed first – in earliest childhood onwards. But these are matters about which people have no knowledge because what is going on inside a person is not evident unless one stops to reflect on. what takes place inwardly.
[3] The nature of the exterior natural is plainly evident in the next life, for the faces of spirits and of angels are shaped by and in conformity with it. In the light of heaven interior things, especially intentions and ends in view, shine through those faces. If love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour have formed the interiors, then these cause a brightness to shine in the face, and the face itself is a visual form of love and charity. But if self-love and love of the world, and therefore all kinds of hatred, revenge, cruelty, and the like, have formed the interiors, these cause a devilish appearance to be manifested in the face, and the face itself is a visual form of hatred, revenge, and cruelty. From this one may see what the exterior natural is and the use it serves, also what it is like when made subject to interior things, and what it is like when these are made subject to itself.
[2] This chapter deals in the internal sense with the subordination of the exterior natural, which has to be made subordinate so that it may serve the interior natural as a mirror for it, see 5165. Indeed unless it is made subordinate, interior forms of truth and good, and consequently interior thoughts possessing what is spiritual and celestial within them, do not have any place where they can be represented, for these manifest themselves so to speak in their own face or so to speak in a mirror. Therefore when no such subordination exists a person cannot possess any interior thought, or indeed any faith, since no ability exists, neither a weak nor a strong one, to grasp such matters, and therefore no discernment exists of them either. Only one thing can make the natural subordinate and bring it into a state of correspondence, and this is good that has innocence within it, a good which in the Word is called charity. Sensory impressions and factual knowledge are merely the means into which that good may flow, to present itself in a visual form and make itself available for every useful purpose it can serve. But even if it consisted of actual truths of faith, factual knowledge that has no good within it would be nothing else than scales amid filth, which fall off.
[3] But as regards the way in which good, relying on factual knowledge and the truths of faith as its means, causes exterior things to be restored to order and to be brought into correspondence with interior ones, this at the present day is less able to be understood than it was in former times. There are many reasons why this is so, the main one being that within the Church at the present day no charity exists any longer. For the final period of the Church has arrived and consequently no affection for knowing such things exists. This being so, a kind of aversion is instantly encountered when anything is mentioned which lies inside of or above sensory evidence, and consequently when anything from among such things as constitute angelic wisdom are expressed. Yet because such matters are contained in the internal sense – for what the internal sense contains is wholly suited to angels’ wisdom – and because the internal sense of the Word is now being explained, those matters must be stated, however remote they may seem to be from sensory evidence.
IN THIS SECTION THE CORRESPONDENCE OF THE INTERNAL ORGANS WITH IT
The particular provinces to which angelic communities belong can be ascertained in the next life from the positions they occupy in relation to the human body, as well as from the way they act and flow in. For angelic communities flow into and act upon that organ or member in which they are located. But their flowing in and action can be perceived only by those who are in the next life. It cannot be perceived by man unless his interiors have been opened all the way through to that life, and not even then if the Lord does not impart to him the ability to reflect on the sensations he feels and to do so with perception.
[2] The idea that the refining processes and purifications of the blood, serum, and chyle, and also of the food in the stomach, correspond to such processes in the spiritual world is bound to seem strange to those who presume that natural things hold no more than what is natural within them, and even stranger to those who are quite convinced that this is so and accordingly deny that anything spiritual, active or reactive, does or can lie within natural things. Yet the reality is that every single thing in the natural world and its three kingdoms possesses something acting into it from the spiritual world. If this were not so, nothing whatever in the natural world could accomplish any cause and effect, and therefore nothing would be brought forth. That which natural things hold within them from the spiritual world is described as a force implanted since creation began; but in fact it is an endeavour, and when that endeavour ceases, action or motion ceases. All this demonstrates that the whole visible world is a theatre representative of the spiritual world.
[3] The case is the same with the movement of the muscles and consequent action. Unless the movement of them held within it an endeavour originating in the person’s thought and will, it would instantly cease; for laws well known to the learned world state that when the endeavour ceases so does the movement, and also that the person’s entire direction of mind is present within the endeavour, as well as that nothing real other than the endeavour expresses itself within the movement. The force or endeavour within the action or movement is, it is plain, something spiritual within something natural; for thought and will are spiritual activities, whereas action and movement are natural ones. People whose thought does not extend beyond the natural world have no grasp of this at all; yet they are not able to deny it. Nevertheless what exists in the will, and from there in the thought, is the producer of the action, though it is not similar in form to the action which it produces. For the action merely represents what the mind wills and thinks.
* See 4227:3.
[2] Spirits of this kind undergo severe punishment. Theirs is different from the punishments suffered by other spirits; it involves their being whirled around. They are whirled around from left to right, like an object which is flat at first but swells out as it spins round. Then this tubercle-like swelling seems to be pressed in and made hollow, at which point the speed is increased. Amazingly, this swelling out of them is shaped like and is an imitation of tubercular lumps or apostemes. I noticed that while they were spinning round those spirits tried to draw others, for the most part blameless ones, into their orbit and so path of destruction. Thus they did not care at all whom they dragged into that path of destruction, so long as it seemed to them that those dragged in were being destroyed.
[3] I also noticed that those spirits had very keen sight. They took only an instant to scan everything thoroughly so to speak and so seize upon whatever would serve them as means favouring their own ends. Thus they are more sharp-witted than all others. They may also be called deadly ulcers, wherever these occur within the cavity of the chest, whether in the pleura, or in the pericardium, or in the mediastinum, or in the lungs. I was shown that following punishment spirits of this kind are cast away into a deep place at the rear, where they lie face and belly downwards. There only a little human life is left to them, and the sharp-sightedness which they possessed when they lived like wild animals has been taken away from them. Their hell is situated in a deep place beneath the right foot, a little towards the front.
[2] After this they spoke into my left ear, saying that they were good spirits and that this was their normal manner of speaking. I was told that these spirits arrive on the scene in large numbers, and that it is not known where they come from. I perceived that the sphere of the evil spirits was extremely hostile towards them, for evil spirits are subjected by them to harrying. Their community, which is a wandering one, was represented by a man and a woman in a room, dressed in a garment that was turned into a robe of bright blue. I perceived that they correlated with the Isthmus in the brain, which lies between the cerebrum and the cerebellum and through which fibres pass to spread out in various directions, acting in different ways wherever they go in external parts. In addition I perceived that they correlated with the Ganglia in the body into which nerves pass and from where they are distributed into numerous fibres, some of which go one way, others another, and in the outermost parts act in differing ways; yet they all have the same starting-point. Thus in the outermost parts they are seen to be different from one another; but so far as the end in view is concerned they are all alike. It is also a well known fact that a single force acting within the extremities can be made to vary in all kinds of ways, depending on the form those extremities take. Ends in view are also represented by the starting-points of fibres, like such starting-points in the brain, in which the fibres originate. The thoughts arising out of those ends are represented by the fibres leading from those starting-points, and the consequent actions by the nerves that are made up of the fibres.
GENESIS 41*
1 And it happened at the end of two years of days,** that Pharaoh was dreaming, and behold, he was standing next to the river.
2 And behold, out of the river seven cows were coming up, beautiful in appearance and fat-fleshed; and they fed in the sedge.
3 And behold, seven other cows were coming up after them out of the river, bad in appearance and thin-fleshed, and stood by the [other] cows on the bank of the river.
4 And the cows bad in appearance and thin-fleshed devoured the seven cows beautiful in appearance and fat. And Pharaoh awoke.
5 And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time, and behold, seven heads of grain were coming up on one stalk, fat and good.
6 And behold, seven heads, thin and scorched by an east wind, were sprouting after them.
7 And the thin heads swallowed up the seven fat and full heads. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.
8 And it happened early in the morning, that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called all the magi of Egypt, and all its wise men; and Pharaoh told them his dream, and there was no one to interpret them for Pharaoh.
9 And the chief of the cupbearers spoke to Pharaoh, saying, I remember my sins today.
10 Pharaoh was incensed with his servants, and put me into custody in the house of the chief of the attendants, me and the chief of the bakers.
11 And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each according to the interpretation of his own dream.
12 And a Hebrew boy was there with us, a servant to the chief of the attendants; and we told him, and he interpreted our dreams for us, to each according to his dream he gave the interpretation.
13 And it happened, that as he interpreted to us, so it came about. He restored me to my position, and he hanged him.
14 And Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they hurried him out of the pit; and he clipped [his hair and beard], and changed his clothes, and came to Pharaoh.
15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it; and I have heard about you – it is said that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.
16 And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not mine; God will give an answer of peace, O Pharaoh.
17 And Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, In my dream, behold, I was standing on the bank of the river.
18 And behold, out of the river seven cows were coming up, fat-fleshed and beautiful in form; and they fed in the sedge.
19 And behold, seven other cows were coming up after them, weak and extremely bad in form and lean-fleshed; I have not seen any like them in all the land of Egypt for badness.
20 And the lean and bad cows devoured the first seven fat cows.
21 And they devoured them completely*** and no one would have known that they had devoured them completely;**** and their appearance was malign, as it had been in the beginning. And I awoke.
22 And I saw in my dream, and behold, seven heads of grain were coming up on one stalk, full and good.
23 And behold, seven heads, dried up, thin, and scorched by an east wind, were sprouting after them.
24 And the thin heads swallowed up the seven good heads. And I told it to the magi, and there was no one to point out the meaning to me.
25 And Joseph said to Pharaoh, Pharaoh’s dream, it is one; what God is doing He has pointed out to Pharaoh.
26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; the dream, it is one.
27 And the seven thin and bad cows coming up after them are seven years; and the seven empty heads of grain, scorched by an east wind, will be seven years of famine.
28 This is the word which I have spoken to Pharaoh; what God is doing He has caused Pharaoh to see.
29 Behold, seven years are coming, [in which there will be] a great abundance of corn in all the land of Egypt.
30 And seven years of famine will arise after them, and all the abundance of corn in the land of Egypt will be thrust into oblivion, and the famine will consume the land.
31 And the abundance of corn in the land will not be known because of the famine from then on, for it will be extremely severe.
32 And as for the dream being presented***** to Pharaoh twice, this is because the thing is established by God, and God is hastening to do it.
33 And now let Pharaoh see****** a man with intelligence and wisdom, and set him over the land of Egypt.
34 Let Pharaoh do this, and let him place governors in charge over the land, and let him take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven years of abundance of corn.
35 And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and let them store up grain under the hand of Pharaoh – food in the cities; and let them guard it.
36 And let the food be for a reserve for the land, for the seven years of famine which there will be in the land of Egypt, and the land will not be cut off in the famine.
37 And the thing was good in Pharaoh’s eyes and in the eyes of all his servants.
38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, Shall we find a man like this, in whom is the spirit of God?
39 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, After God has caused you to know all this, no one has wisdom and intelligence like you.
40 You shall be over my house, and all my people shall kiss on your mouth; only in the throne will I be great, more than you.
41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.
42 And Pharaoh took off his ring from upon his hand and put it onto Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in robes of fine linen, and placed a chain of gold onto his neck.
43 And he made him ride in the second chariot that he had; and they cried out before him, Abrek! and he set him over all the land of Egypt.
44 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without you no man shall lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.
45 And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath Paneah, and gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera the priest of On, for a wife; and Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.
46 And Joseph was a son of thirty years when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt; and Joseph came out from before Pharaoh, and went through all the land of Egypt.
47 And in the seven years of abundance of corn the land yielded bunches.
48 And he gathered all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up******* the food in the cities; the food of the field of a city which was round about it he laid up******* in the midst of it.
49 And Joseph stored up grain like the sand of the sea, very much, until he left off numbering, because it was beyond number.
50 And to Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera the priest of On, bore to him.
51 And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh – for God has made me forget all my labour and all my father’s house.
52 And the name of the second he called Ephraim – for God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.
53 And the seven years of abundance of corn ended, which was in the land of Egypt.
54 And the seven years of famine began to come, even as Joseph had said; and the famine was in all lands, and in all the land of Egypt there was bread.
55 And all the land of Egypt suffered famine, and the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread. And Pharaoh said to all Egypt, Go to Joseph; do what he tells you.
56 And the famine was over all the face of the earth; and Joseph opened all the places in which [there was grain] and sold to Egypt. And the famine was becoming great in the land of Egypt.
57 And all the earth came to Egypt to buy [grain], to Joseph; for the famine became great in all the earth.
* Volume Five of the Latin, which begins here, does not have any preliminary sections to chapters.
** i.e. two full years
*** lit. they came to their viscera
**** lit. it was not known that they had come to their viscera
***** lit. repeated
****** i.e. select or look out. See 5286.
******* lit. gave
In this chapter the subject in the internal sense is the second state of the celestial of the spiritual, which is ‘Joseph’; that is to say, the subject is the raising up of this above the things belonging to the natural or external man, and so above all the factual knowledge there, which is ‘Egypt’.
Verses 1-4 And it happened at the end of two years of days,* that Pharaoh was dreaming, and behold, he was standing next to the river. And behold, out of the river seven cows were coming up, beautiful in appearance and fat-fleshed; and they fed in the sedge. And behold, seven other cows were coming up after them out of the river, bad in appearance and thin-fleshed, and stood by the [other] cows on the bank of the river. And the cows bad in appearance and thin-fleshed devoured the seven cows beautiful in appearance and fat. And Pharaoh awoke.
‘And it happened at the end of two years of days’ means after the state when the joining together took place. ‘That Pharaoh was dreaming means provision made for the natural. ‘And behold, he was standing next to the river’ means from boundary to boundary. ‘And behold, out of the river’ means in the boundary. ‘Seven cows were coming up’ means the truths belonging to the natural. ‘Beautiful in appearance means which are expressions of faith. ‘And fat-fleshed’ means which are embodiments of charity. ‘And they fed in the sedge’ means instruction. ‘And behold, seven other cows were coming up after them out of the river’ means falsities belonging to the natural which are also at the boundary. ‘Bad in appearance’ means which are not expressions of faith. ‘And thin-fleshed’ means which are not embodiments of charity. ‘And stood by the [other] cows on the bank of the river’ means at the boundaries where truths were present. ‘And the cows bad in appearance and thin-fleshed devoured…..’ means that falsities which were not expressions of faith and were not embodiments of charity would banish…..’The seven cows beautiful in appearance and fat’ means the truths in the natural which are expressions of faith and embodiments of charity. ‘And Pharaoh awoke’ means a state of enlightenment.
* i.e. two full years
[2] This type of marriage exists in every single thing within the natural order and its three kingdoms; without it nothing whatever can come into existence. For anything to come into existence within the natural order there needs to be heat and light, heat in the natural world corresponding to the good of love in the spiritual world, and light corresponding to the truth of faith. These two – heat and light – must act as one if anything is to be brought forth. If they do not act as one, as is the case in winter-time, nothing at all is brought forth. The same holds true on a spiritual level, as is quite evident with the human being, who has two mental powers – will and understanding. The will has been formed so that it may receive spiritual heat, that is, the good of love and charity, while the understanding has been formed so that it may receive spiritual light, that is, the truth of faith. Unless these two residing with a person make one nothing is brought forth, for the good of love devoid of the truth of faith cannot give definition and particular character to anything, while the truth of faith devoid of the good of love cannot bring anything into effect. So that the heavenly marriage may exist in a person therefore, or rather so that a person may be in the heavenly marriage, those two entities must make one in him. This explains why the ancients likened every single thing in the world, and every single thing within the human being, to a marriage, 54, 55, 568, 718, 747, 917, 1432, 2173, 2516, 2731, 2739, 2758, 3132, 4434, 4875, 5138. From all this one may see why it is that ‘two’ means a joining together.
* Reading provisum (what is provided) for praevisum (what is foreseen) cp 5193, 5211
[2] All beasts without exception that are mentioned in the Word mean affections, evil and useless beasts meaning evil affections, gentle and useful ones meaning good affections, see 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 714, 715, 719, 776, 1823, 2179, 2180, 3218, 3519. The reason why they have such a meaning lies in the representations that occur in the world of spirits, for whenever a discussion about affections is taking place in heaven, beasts corresponding to affections of the kind under discussion are represented in the world of spirits, as I have also been allowed quite often to see. On several occasions I have wondered about the origin of that phenomenon, but have been led to perceive that the lives led by beasts are nothing else than affections; for they respond instinctively, devoid of reason, to their innate affections and are led by these to fulfill their specific functions. No other physical forms are suited to these affections devoid of reason than the kinds in which they are seen on earth. This explains why, when the discussion in heaven is about affections alone, the ultimate forms that those affections take in the world of spirits are the same in appearance as the physical forms of such beasts; for those affections cannot be clothed with any other forms than ones such as correspond to them. I have also seen beasts, the like of which do not appear anywhere at all in the natural world. They were the forms taken by affections that are not known and by affections that are mingled together.
[3] Here then is the reason why in the Word affections are meant by ‘beasts’, though which particular affections are meant cannot be seen from anywhere else than the internal sense. ‘Bulls’ means the good belonging to the natural, as may be seen in the paragraphs listed above; and as for the meaning of ‘cows’ as the truths belonging to the natural, this becomes clear from other places where they are referred to, such as Isaiah 11:7; Hosea 4:16; Amos 4:1, as well as from the reference in Num. 19:2-10 to the water of separation by which they were to be made clean and which was prepared from the red cow burned to ashes outside the camp, with which cedar wood was mixed, hyssop, and twice-dyed scarlet. When the meaning of this procedure is disclosed with the help of the internal sense, it shows that ‘the red cow’, meaning unclean truth within the natural, is made clean by ‘burning’, and also by the kinds of things meant by ‘cedar wood, hyssop, and twice-dyed scarlet’. The water prepared by that process represented the means of purification.
[2] The reason why this is the source of beauty is that heaven in its entirety is the Grand Man and has a correspondence with every single part of the human being. Everyone therefore who has the good of love and for that reason the truth of faith present in him has the form which heaven possesses present within him; and as a consequence of this there is also imparted to him the beauty which heaven possesses, heaven being a place where the Divine going forth from the Lord is the All in all. This also explains why those in hell, being the opposite of what is good and true, are horribly ugly, and in the light of heaven do not look like human beings but like monsters. The reason why spiritual appearance (aspectus) is faith is that in the internal sense ‘looking at (aspicere) and seeing’ means understanding, and in a sense more internal than this having faith is meant, see 897, 2150, 2315, 2807, 3863, 3869, 4403-4421.
[2] The meaning of ‘feeding’ as receiving instruction is evident from those places in the Word where one reads the expression, such as in Isaiah,
Then He will give rain for your seed with which you sow the land, and bread of the produce of the land; and there will be fatness and wealthiness. On that day, they will feed your cattle in a broad grassland. Isa. 30:23.
‘Cattle’ stands for those in whom goodness and truth are present, ‘feeding in a broad grassland’ for receiving abundant instruction.
[3] In the same prophet,
I have given You as a covenant of the people – to restore the land; to share out the devastated inheritances; to say to the bound, Go out; to those who are in darkness, Reveal yourselves. They will feed along the ways, and on all slopes will their pasture be. Isa. 49:8, 9.
This refers to the Lord’s Coming. ‘Feeding along the ways’ stands for receiving instruction in truths, ‘the ways’ being truths, 627, 2333. ‘Pasture’ stands for the actual instruction. In Jeremiah,
Woe to the shepherds destroying and scattering the flock of My pasture! Therefore said Jehovah God of Israel against the shepherds feeding My people….. Jer. 23:1, 2.
‘The shepherds’ stands for those who give instruction, and ‘the flock’ for those who receive it, 347, 3795, so that ‘feeding’ means giving instruction.
[4] It has become customary to refer to those who teach as ‘pastors’ or ‘shepherds’ and to those who learn as ‘the flock’. For this reason the use of the expression ‘feeding’ has become commonly accepted when talking about preaching or about instruction given in doctrine or the Word. But when the expression is used in this way it is only a comparison and not, as when it occurs in the Word, one that holds any spiritual meaning within it. The reason ‘feeding’, when used in the Word, has a spiritual meaning is that when instruction and doctrine based on the Word are being talked about in heaven, that discussion is represented in a visual way in the world of spirits, where spiritual realities make their appearance within natural images. That representation consists of grasslands that are lush with grass, plants, and flowers, and where also there are flocks; and every variation of this scene occurs, as determined by the nature of the discussion that is taking place in heaven regarding instruction and doctrine.
[5] In the same prophet,
I will bring back Israel to his habitation so that he may feed on Carmel and Bashan; and on mount Ephraim and in Gilead his soul will be satisfied. Jer. 50:19.
‘Feeding on Carmel and Bashan’ stands for receiving instruction in forms of the good of faith and charity. In the same prophet,
There has gone out from the daughter of Zion all her majesty; her princes have become like deer, they have not found pasture. Lam. 1:6. In Ezekiel
I will feed them in a good pasture, and their fold will be on the mountains of the loftiness of Israel; and they will lie down in a good fold, and on fat pasture they will feed upon the mountains of Israel. Ezek. 34:14.
[6] In Hosea,
Now Jehovah will feed them like a sheep in a broad place. Hosea 4:16.
‘Feeding in a broad place’ stands for giving instruction in truths, for ‘a broad place’ means truth, see 1613, 3473, 3434, 4482. In Micah,
You, Bethlehem Ephrath, from you will come forth for Me one who will be Ruler in Israel. He will stand and feed [His flock] in the strength of Jehovah. Micah 9:14.
In the same prophet,
Guide* your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance which is dwelling alone. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old. Micah 7:14.
In Zephaniah,
The remnant of Israel will feed and rest, with none making them afraid. Zeph. 3:17.
[7] In David,
Jehovah is my Shepherd; He will make me lie down in green pastures;** He will lead me away to still waters. Ps. 23:1, 2.
In the same author,
He made us and not we ourselves, His people and the flock of His pasture; therefore we are His, His people and the flock of His pasture.*** Ps. 100:3.
In the Book of Revelation,
The Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will feed them and will guide them to living springs of water. Rev. 7:17.
In John,
I am the door. If anyone enters through Me he will be saved, and will go in and out, and find pasture. John 10:9.
In the same gospel,
Jesus said to Peter, Feed My lambs; a second time, Feed My sheep; and a third time, Feed My sheep. John 21:15-17.
* or Feed or Pasture
** lit. pastures of the plant
*** The first and second halves of this sentence are in fact alternative ways of understanding the original Hebrew.
[2] The implications of this, since it forms the subject in what follows, must be stated here. The previous chapter dealt with the exterior natural, with the fact that some impressions were the kind that belonged to the understanding while others were the kind that belonged to the will. The former were accepted, but the latter were cast aside. Impressions such as belonged to the understanding were represented by ‘the cupbearer’, and those such as belonged to the will by ‘the baker’. Also, because the kind belonging to the understanding were accepted, they were also made subordinate to the internal natural. These were the matters that were dealt with in the previous chapter, in which the first stage in the rebirth of the natural is described.
[3] In the present chapter however the subject is the influx of the celestial of the spiritual into the impressions in the natural which were retained, that is to say, the impressions belonging to the understanding part there, which are meant now by ‘the cows beautiful in appearance and fat-fleshed’. But as the natural cannot undergo any rebirth solely so far as ideas belonging to the understanding are concerned, desires belonging to the will must also be involved; for every individual part of the natural, to be anything at all, must include some element belonging to the understanding and at the same time another element belonging to the will. But because the will element that was present previously has been cast aside a new one must therefore enter in to replace it. This new element is received from the celestial of the spiritual which, together with its influx into the natural, is the subject in the present chapter. What the natural is like in this state is described in the internal sense – a state in which the truths there have been banished by falsities, so that the natural has been left exposed to the celestial of the spiritual. These are the considerations that are meant by the devouring of the good cows by the bad cows and the swallowing up of the full heads of grain by the empty ones, and after this by Joseph’s making provision for all the land of Egypt. But in the Lord’s Divine mercy more regarding these matters will be stated in what follows.
[4] They are, what is more, the kind of considerations that scarcely fall within the area of light within the human understanding, for they are the arcana of regeneration which in themselves are countless but about which a person knows barely anything at all. The person with whom good is present is undergoing rebirth every moment, from earliest childhood to the final stage of his life in the world, and after that for ever. This is happening to him not only interiorly but also exteriorly; and this rebirth involves processes that are amazing. They are processes which for the most part constitute angelic wisdom, and that wisdom, as is well known, is indescribable, embracing such things as ear has not heard, nor eye seen, and such as have never entered man’s thought.* The internal sense deals with such matters and so is suited to angelic wisdom; and when this sense passes into the sense of the letter it becomes suited to human wisdom, and in an unseen way it stirs the affections of those who, motivated by good, have the desire to know truths received from the Word.
* This well-known saying occurs in 1 Cor. 2:9.
[2] But as good is joined to the truths, the falsities are put to flight. This is what actually happens in the next life. There the sphere of falsity attaches itself to the truths, depending on how much good passes into the truths. When little good enters in, the sphere of falsity is nearby; when more good enters in, the sphere of falsity moves further away; and when good is wholly linked to the truths the sphere of falsity is completely dispersed. When the sphere of falsity is close by, which is the case initially, as has been stated, the truths are so to speak banished. Actually they are for the time being concealed in a more interior place where they are filled with good and from where they are brought back in consecutive stages. These are the considerations that are meant by seven cows and seven heads of grain, and further on by seven years of abundance of corn and by seven years of famine. But anyone who does not know anything about regeneration or anything about a person’s internal state fails to understand any of this.
[2] A state of agreement between a person’s spiritual and his natural, or between his internal and his external, is effected in this manner. For truths are acquired first, but then they are so to speak banished. They are not in fact banished but are hidden, at which point what is lower has a general light shed upon it from what is higher, or what is without receives that light from what is within; and in that light the truths are restored to their own proper order. As a consequence of this all the truths there become images of the general whole to which they belong, and they then exist in a state of agreement. In every single thing that comes into being not only in the spiritual world but also in the natural world, what is general comes first; then less general aspects are gradually inserted, and at length particular details. Unless this kind of insertion or filling in takes place, nothing holds together at all; for whatever is not part of a general whole and does not depend for its existence on that general whole ceases to be anything, see 917, 3057, 4269, 4325 (end), 4329 (middle), 4345, 4383.
‘And he fell asleep’ means a state of obscurity. ‘And dreamed a second time’ means the provision that had been made. ‘And behold, seven heads of grain were coming up on one stalk’ means facts known to the natural, which facts existed linked together. ‘Fat and good’ means into which facts matters of faith and charity could be instilled. ‘And behold, seven heads, thin’ means facts that are useless. ‘And scorched by an east wind’ means full of evil desires. ‘Were sprouting after them’ means appearing next to them. ‘And the thin heads swallowed up the seven fat and full heads’ means that the facts which were useless banished the facts that were good. ‘And Pharaoh awoke’ means a general state of enlightenment. ‘And behold, it was a dream’ means in that obscurity.
[2] The reason there were two dreams, one about seven cows, the other about seven heads of grain, was that in the internal sense both parts of the natural are dealt with, the interior natural and the exterior natural, the rebirth of the two being the subject in what follows. By ‘the seven cows’ are meant things in the interior natural which have been called the truths belonging to the natural, 5198; by ‘the seven heads of grain’ are meant the truths in the exterior natural, which are called facts.
[3] Interior facts and exterior ones are meant by ‘the tips of the river Euphrates even to the river of Egypt’ in Isaiah,
So it will be on that day, that Jehovah will smite from the tip of the river even to the river of Egypt, and you will be gathered one to another, O children of Israel. So 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. 27:12, 13.
‘Those perishing in the land of Asshur’ stands for interior truths, and ‘the outcasts in the land of Egypt’ for exterior truths, which are facts.
[4] Comparison with the blade, the tip or the ear, and the full grain also implies the rebirth of a person by means of factual knowledge, the truths of faith, and the good deeds of charity, in Mark,
Jesus said, The kingdom of God is like when someone casts seed onto the land. Then he sleeps and rises, by night and by day, but the seed sprouts and grows, he himself knowing not how; for the earth bears fruit of its own accord, first the blade, then the ear, after that the full grain in the ear. Once the fruit has been brought forth, he will immediately put in the sickle, because the harvest is established. Mark 4:26-29.
‘The kingdom of God’, which is compared to the blade, the ear, and the full grain, is heaven existing with a person through regeneration; for one who has been regenerated has the kingdom of God within him and he becomes an image of the kingdom of God, that is, of heaven. ‘The blade’ is factual knowledge, which comes first; ‘the ear’ is knowledge of what is true that develops out of that; and ‘the full grain’ is the good that develops out of this. In addition the laws laid down regarding gleanings, Lev. 19:9; 23:22; regarding the freedom to pluck the ears on a companion’s standing grain, Deut. 23:25; and also regarding the non-eating of bread or of dried ears or of green ones before they had brought a gift to God, Lev. 23:14, represented such things as are meant by ‘ears’.
[2] The facts which are able to have matters of faith and charity instilled into them are very many. They include all facts known to the Church which are meant in the good sense by ‘Egypt’, dealt with in 4749, 4844, 4964, 4965, consequently all facts which are truths about correspondences, representatives, meaningful signs, influx, order, intelligence and wisdom, affections. Indeed they include all truths, both visible and invisible ones, that are descriptive of the interior and the exterior aspects of the natural world, because such truths correspond to spiritual truths.
[2] There are two sources of heat, as there are also two sources of light, the one source of heat being the sun of this world, the other source of heat being the sun of heaven, which is the Lord. It is a well known fact that the sun of this world pours out heat into its own world and onto everything there, but it is a less well known fact that the sun of heaven pours out heat into the whole of heaven. Yet this too may become an equally well known fact if one reflects merely on the heat which exists intrinsically in the human being but which has nothing in common with the heat of the world, that is, if one reflects on what is called vital heat. From this one could know that this heat is of a different nature from the world’s heat. That is to say, the former is a living heat but the latter is not at all a living one; also the former, being a living one, fires a person interiorly, namely his will and understanding, imparting to him desires and loves, and affections too. This also explains why desires, loves and affections are spiritual forms of heat, and are also called such. The fact that they are forms of heat is quite evident, for heat is radiated from all parts of the bodies of live persons, even where it is intensely cold. More than that, when desires and affections, that is, when loves, increase, the body grows correspondingly warmer. This kind of heat is what is meant in the Word by ‘heat’, ‘fire’, and ‘flame’; in the genuine sense celestial and spiritual love is meant, in the contrary sense bodily and earthly love. From this it becomes clear that here ‘being scorched by an east wind’ means being consumed by the fire of evil desires, and that when used in reference to known facts meant by ‘heads’ that are ‘thin’, facts full of evil desires are meant.
[3] ‘The east wind’ means the blasts of evil desires and of derivative false notions, as is clear from places in the Word where that wind is mentioned, for example, in David,
He caused an east wind to blow* in the heavens, and by His power He brought forth the south wind; and He caused flesh to rain onto them like the dust, winged birds like the sand of the sea. Ps. 78:26, 27.
‘The flesh’ which that wind brought meant cravings, and ‘winged birds’ resulting false notions, as is evident in Num. 11:31-35, where it is said that the name of the place where the people were struck down for eating flesh was called ‘the graves of craving, for there they buried the people who had the craving’.
[4] In Ezekiel,
Behold, the vine that was planted, will it thrive? When the east wind strikes it, will it not wither completely? It will wither on the small spaces where it began to grow. Ezek. 17:10.
And in the same prophet,
The vine has been plucked up in anger, it has been cast down onto the ground, and the east wind has dried its fruit. They have been plucked out and have withered, each rod of its strength; fire has consumed each one. For fire has gone out from a rod of its branches and has consumed its fruit, so that there is no rod of strength in it, a sceptre for dominion. Ezek. 19:12, 14.
Here ‘the east wind’ stands for the blasts of evil desires. In Isaiah,
He gave thought to His rough wind, on the day of the east wind. Isa. 17:8.
[5] In Hosea,
An east wind will come, Jehovah’s wind rising up from the desert, and his spring will become dry, and his fountain dried up. It will strip his treasury of every precious vessel. Hosea 13:15.
Here also ‘an east wind’ stands for blasts of evil desires. Similarly in Jeremiah,
Like an east wind I will scatter them before the enemy. Jer. 18:17.
[6] In David,
By means of an east wind You will shatter the ships of Tarshish. Ps. 48:7.
In Isaiah,
You have forsaken Your people, the house of Jacob, because they have been filled from the east wind, and they are diviners like the Philistines. Isa. 2:6.
In Hosea,
Ephraim feeds the wind, and pursues the east wind. All the day long he multiplies lies and devastation. Hosea 11:1.
‘The wind’ here stands for false notions, and ‘the east wind’ for evil desires. Something similar is also meant in the internal sense by ‘an east wind’ by means of which ‘locusts were brought forth’ and by means of which ‘the locusts were cast into the sea’,** Exod. 10:13, 19, and also by means of which ‘the waters of the sea Suph’ were divided, Exod. 14:21.
* lit. set out
** According to Exodus 10:19 a west wind cast the locusts into the sea.
[2] The same applies in the spiritual world. Where falsities are present no truths can remain; and conversely, where truths are present no falsities can remain. The one group banishes the other, since they are complete opposites, for the reason that falsities originate in hell and truths in heaven. Sometimes it does seem as though falsities and truths are present together in the same subject; but the falsities in this case are not complete opposites of the truths there, but ones that are attached to those truths through the ways they are used. A subject in which truths and falsities that are complete opposites exist together is called lukewarm, while a subject in which falsities and truths have become mixed together is called profane.
[2] From all this one may now see what is meant here by obscurity, namely a natural state when facts that are good are banished by those that are useless. Such obscurity is one that can receive a general enlightenment, 5208, 5218. But obscurity caused by falsities can by no means receive any enlightenment, for falsities are so many masses of darkness which blot out the light of heaven and in so doing bring obscurity which cannot be lightened until those falsities have been removed.
‘And it happened early in the morning’ means in that new state. ‘That his spirit was troubled’ means a turmoil. ‘And he sent and called all the magi of Egypt, and its wise men’ means in consulting factual knowledge, interior as well as exterior. ‘And Pharaoh told them the dream’ means regarding things to come. ‘And there was no one to interpret them for Pharaoh’ means that no knowledge existed of what was going to happen.
[2] Unless he does so he cannot begin to know what is meant by receiving a general enlightenment or by receiving a particular enlightenment. He cannot even know what is meant by receiving enlightenment, let alone the idea that within a state of general enlightenment* turmoil exists initially and that there is no respite until truths rooted in good are restored in their proper order. Angels have a clear perception of all this, and so do good spirits, because they live in a spiritual sphere. To know about such matters and to think them over is a source of delight to them. But to someone in a natural sphere, more so to someone in a sphere of sensory-mindedness, and more so still to one who is completely sensory-minded and concerned only with ideas gained from bodily and earthly things, such matters are of no interest.
* The first Latin edition reads within a general state of enlightenment, but Swedenborg’s rough draft reads within a state of general enlightenment.
[2] The reason for this different understanding is that people no longer believe that the interior man is a person’s true self. Rather, they believe that the interior man, which ordinary people call the soul or spirit, is merely the faculty of thought without anything else compatible with and subject to it. Consequently they believe that because that faculty has nothing subject to it in which to reside, it will be dissipated after death in the way something air-like or flame-like is dissipated. This is the kind of meaning spirit possesses at the present day, as when the expression ‘troubled in spirit’, ‘saddened in spirit’, ‘joyful in spirit’, or ‘exultant in spirit’ is used. But in reality it is the actual interior man that is called the spirit and that is troubled, saddened, joyful, or exultant. And this interior man existing within an entirely human form, though this is unseen by the eyes of the body – is where the faculty of thought resides.
[2] The magi in those times had a knowledge of the kinds of things that belong to the spiritual world, and in their teaching about these they employed the correspondences and the representatives known to the Church. For this reason many of those magi also communicated with spirits and learned the arts of illusion which they used to perform miracles that involved magic. But those who were called the wise men had no interest in anything like this. Instead they provided the answers to hard questions and taught about the causes lying behind natural things. It was primarily in arts such as these that the wisdom of those times consisted, and the ability to practise them was called wisdom. This becomes clear from what is recorded about Solomon in the first Book of Kings,
Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the sons of the east, and all the wisdom of the Egyptians, so much so that he was wiser than all people – than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five. In addition he spoke about trees, from the cedars which are in Lebanon even to the hyssop which comes out of the wall. He also spoke about beasts, and about birds, and about creeping things, and about fish. Therefore they came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth who had heard about his wisdom. 1 Kings 4:30-34.
Also there is what is recorded about the queen of Sheba in the same book,
She came to test him with hard questions; and Solomon gave her an explanation for every matter she mentioned.* There was not a matter** hidden from the king for which he could not give her an explanation. 1 Kings 10:1 and following verses.
[3] From this one may see what was described in those times as wisdom and who exactly those people were who were called wise men, not only in Egypt but also elsewhere – in Syria, Arabia, and Babel. But in the internal sense ‘the wisdom of Egypt’ means nothing else than knowledge about natural things, while ‘that of the magi’ means knowledge about spiritual realities, so that exterior factual knowledge is meant by ‘the wise men’, and interior factual knowledge by ‘the magi’, ‘Egypt’ meaning knowledge in general, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 4749, 4964, 4966.
Egypt and its wise men had no other meaning in Isaiah,
The princes of Zoan are foolish, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh has become brutish. How does one say to Pharaoh, I am a son of the wise, a son of the kings of old? Where are your wise men now? Isa. 19:11, 12.
[4] The fact that the term ‘magi’ was applied to those who had a knowledge of spiritual realities, and who also for that reason received revelations, is clear from the magi who came from the east to Jerusalem, asking where the King of the Jews was to be born and saying that they had seen His star in the east and had come to worship Him, Matt. 2:1, 2. The same is also clear from Daniel, who is called the chief of the magi in Dan 4:9. And in another place,
The queen said to King Belshazzar, There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. And in the days of your father, light and intelligence and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him. Therefore King Nebuchadnezzar your father set him up as chief of the magi, diviners, Chaldeans, and determiners. Dan. 5:11.
And in yet another place,
Among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; for when they were to stand before the king, every matter of wisdom [and] understanding which the king asked of them exceeded ten times [that of] all the magi, the diviners who were in his kingdom. Dan. 1:19, 20.
[5] It is well known that in the contrary sense ‘magi’*** is used to mean those who pervert spiritual realities and thereby practise magic, like those mentioned in Exod. 7:9-12; 8:7, 19; 9:11. For magic is nothing else than a perversion, being the perverted use of those kinds of things that constitute true order in the spiritual world, a perverted use that gives rise to magic. But at the present day such magic is called natural, for the reason that no recognition exists any longer of anything above or beyond the natural order. People refuse to accept the existence of anything spiritual unless one means by this an interior dimension of what is natural.
* lit. all her words
** lit. word
*** The same Latin noun magus describes a wise man or philosopher in a good sense, but a magician in a bad sense.
[2] But such states are not known about at the present day, because for one thing few are being regenerated and because for another those who are being regenerated do not stop to reflect on these matters. No one is interested at the present day in what goes on in a person interiorly, because external interests have a complete hold; that is, when external interests are the ends in view in people’s lives, internal interests are of no importance at all to them. Regarding the obscurity referred to here they would say, Of what concern is that to me when there is nothing to be gained from it, and no honour in knowing it? Why give any thought to the state of the soul or state of the internal man, and why ask whether this is in obscurity when truths are banished or in clearness when truths are restored there? What advantage is there in knowing this? I doubt whether any internal man exists or whether any state of the soul exists apart from that of the body. Indeed I even doubt the existence of a soul that lives after death. Has anyone ever returned from the dead to show us? These are the kind of things that the member of the Church says to himself at the present day and the kind of thoughts he has when he hears or reads anything about the state of the internal man. From this one may see how it comes about that the things which go on inside a person are in obscurity and wholly unknown about at the present day.
[3] Such obscurity of understanding never existed among the ancients. Their wisdom consisted in fostering more internal things and so in perfecting both powers of the mind, which are the understanding and the will, and so consisted, because they did this, in seeing to the needs of the soul. The fact that these were the kinds of things the ancients were concerned about is plain from their writings which are extant at the present day, and in addition to this from everyone’s desire to hear Solomon,
Therefore they came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard about his wisdom. 1 Kings 4:34.
This was the reason why the queen of Sheba came to him; and because of the blessing she received from Solomon’s wisdom she said,
Blessed are your men, blessed are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom 1 Kings 10:8.
Would anyone today say that he is blessed on that account?
‘And the chief of the cupbearers spoke to Pharaoh’ means thought formed by the sensory power subject to the understanding part of the mind. ‘Saying’ means the perception resulting from this. ‘I remember my sins today’ means regarding a state of separation. ‘Pharaoh was incensed with his servants’ means when the natural turned away. ‘And put me into custody in the house of the chief of the attendants’ means a casting aside from what exists first and foremost in explanations. ‘Me and the chief of the bakers’ means both kinds of sensory power. ‘And we dreamed a dream in one night’ means that which was foreseen in obscurity. ‘I and he’ means regarding both kinds of sensory power. ‘We dreamed each according to the interpretation of his own dream’ means what was to be the outcome of both. ‘And a Hebrew boy was there with us’ means that owing to temptation the guiltlessness of the Church had been cast away there. ‘A servant of the chief of the attendants’ means in which there was truth that served that which came first and foremost in explanations. ‘And we told him’ means resulting perception. ‘And he interpreted our dreams for us’ means what the things foreseen in obscurity held within them. ‘To each according to his dream he gave the interpretation’ means from [a knowledge of] the truth. ‘And it happened, that as he interpreted to us, so it came about’ means that so was the outcome. ‘He restored me to my position’ means that the sensory power belonging to the understanding part of the mind was accepted. ‘And he hanged him’ means that the sensory power belonging to the will part was cast aside.
[2] The fact that every single thing in the natural world has a connection with those two elements is perfectly plain from the existence of heat and light. Heat has a connection with good and light a connection with truth, and therefore spiritual heat is the good of love, while spiritual light is the truth of faith. Since every single thing in the entire natural creation has a connection with these two – with goodness and truth – and since good is represented in heat, and faith in light, anyone can judge for himself what a person is like if he possesses faith alone without any charity, or what amounts to the same, if he possesses an understanding of truth alone without any desire for good. Does he not resemble the situation in winter, when light shines and yet every single thing is dormant for lack of heat? That is what the state is like of the person who possesses faith alone and no good of love. His state is one of cold and darkness, of cold because he is averse to goodness, of darkness because he is on that account averse to truth. For anyone averse to goodness is also averse to truth, no matter how much it may seem to him that he is not; for the one aversion leads to the other. This is what that person’s state comes to be like after death.
[2] The reason ‘a boy’ [or older ‘child’]* means guiltlessness is that in the internal sense a young child means innocence. References are made in the Word to suckling, young child, and older child, by whom three degrees of innocence are meant, the first degree being meant by ‘suckling’, the second degree by ‘young child’, and the third by ‘older child’. But because an older child is one who is beginning to lose his innocence, he therefore means the kind of innocence that is called guiltlessness. Because three degrees of innocence are meant by ‘suckling’, ‘young child’, and ‘child’, three degrees of love and charity are also meant by them, for the reason that celestial and spiritual love, which is love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour, can have no existence except within innocence. It should be recognized however that the innocence of sucklings, young children, and older ones is purely external and that no internal innocence exists with anyone until he has been born anew, that is, has so to speak become a suckling, young child, and older child once again. These are the states meant in the Word by these three, for the internal sense of the Word has only that which is spiritual as its meaning, and therefore has purely spiritual birth – called rebirth and also regeneration – as its meaning.
[3] The fact that the innocence called guiltlessness is meant by ‘a child’ is clear in Luke,
Jesus said, Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it. Luke 18:17.
‘Receiving the kingdom of God like a child’ means receiving charity and faith because of one’s innocence In Mark,
Jesus took a child, set him in the midst of them and took him up in His arms. He said to them, Whoever takes up one of such children in My name is taking up Me. Mark 9:36, 37; Luke 9:47, 48.
‘A child’ here is a representation of innocence; anyone who takes this up is taking up the Lord because He is the Source from which every trace of innocence is derived. Anyone may see that ‘taking up a child in the Lord’s name’ does not mean taking up a child, so that something heavenly is represented by such an action.
[4] In Matthew,
When the children in the temple cried out, Hosanna to the son of David, [the chief priests and scribes] were indignant. Therefore Jesus said to them, Have you not read that out of the mouth of young children and sucklings You have perfected praise? Matt. 21:15, 16; Ps. 8:2.
The children’s cry ‘Hosanna to the son of David’ was voiced so as to represent the truth that innocence alone acknowledges and accepts the Lord, that is, that those who have innocence within them do so. The words ‘out of the mouth of young children and sucklings You have perfected praise’ mean that there is no other path than innocence along which praise can go to the Lord. Along this path alone can any communication be established, any influx take place, or consequently any approach be made. This is why the Lord says, in the same gospel,
Unless you are converted and become as children you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Matt. 18:3.
[5] In the following places too ‘a boy’ [or ‘a child’] means innocence: In Zechariah,
The streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. Zech. 8:5.
This refers to a new Jerusalem, or the Lord’s kingdom. In David.
Praise Jehovah, Young men and also virgins, old men and children. Ps. 148:12
In the same author,
Jehovah redeems** Your life from the pit. He satisfies your mouth with what is good, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.*** Ps. 103:4, 5.
In Joel,
Over My people they have cast lots, for they have given a boy for a harlot and have sold a girl for wine which they have drunk. Joel 3:3.
In Jeremiah,
I will scatter throughout you man and woman, and I will scatter throughout you old man and boy, and I will scatter throughout you young man and virgin. Jer. 51:12.
In Isaiah,
To us a boy is born, to us a son is given, upon whose shoulder is the government; and He will call His name, Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Hero, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace. Isa. 9:6.
* The Latin word puer used for a boy may also be used to mean simply a child, male or female, as in several places in the remainder of this paragraph.
** The Latin means renews, but the Hebrew means redeems, which Sw. has in another place where he quotes this verse.
*** lit. so that you are renewed like the eagle with your childhood
‘And Pharaoh sent’ means the inclination of the new natural. ‘And called Joseph’ means to accept the celestial of the spiritual. ‘And they hurried him out of the pit’ means a hasty casting aside of such things as, belonging to a state of temptation, were a hindrance, and a consequent change that was made. ‘And he clipped [his hair and beard]’ means a casting aside and the change made so far as the coverings of the exterior natural were concerned. ‘And changed his clothes’ means the change made so far as the coverings of the interior natural were concerned, by the putting on of what was rightly suited to this. ‘And came to ‘Pharaoh’ means a communication in this guise with the new natural.
[2] In comparison with the state that follows it, a state in which temptation takes place is like conditions in a pit or prison – squalid and unclean. For when a person undergoes temptation unclean spirits are near him and round about him. They activate the evils and falsities residing with him; and they also confine him to these, increasing them to the point where he reaches despair. So it is that the person dwells at such times amid uncleanness and squalor; and when a visual presentation of that state is made in the next life (for there they can present visually the nature of any spiritual state) it is seen as a cloud issuing from filthy places. And one also smells the stench emanating from the same source. A sphere such as this is what surrounds someone undergoing temptation and also someone undergoing vastation, that is, one who is in the pit on the lower earth, dealt with in 4728.
[3] But when the state involving temptation comes to an end the cloud is dispersed and the air is made clear. The reason this happens is that temptations are the means by which the evils and falsities residing with a person are exposed and removed, the cloud presenting itself while they are being exposed, the clear air when they are being removed. The change that takes place in that state is also meant by Joseph clipping [his hair and beard] and changing his clothes.
[4] One may also compare the state in which temptation takes place to a person’s condition when he falls among robbers. When he gets away his hair is dishevelled, his face is rough, and his clothes are torn. If he yields in temptation he remains in that state; but if he overcomes in temptation his condition is happy and peaceful once he has attended to his face, combed his hair, and changed his clothes. What is more, there are hellish spirits and genii who, behaving at such times like robbers, surround and attack him, and so subject him to temptations. From all this it is now evident that ‘they hurried him out of the pit’ means a hasty casting aside of such things as, belonging to a state of temptation, were a hindrance, and a consequent change that was made.
[2] From all this one may now see what is meant by ‘clipping’, as in Ezekiel,
The priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, shall put off their garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments, and they shall not sanctify the people in their own garments. And they shall not shave their head and shall not let their hair grow long; they shall surely clip their heads. Ezek. 44:15, 19, 20.
This refers to a new Temple and a new priesthood, that is, to a new Church. ‘Putting on other garments’ means holy truths; ‘not shaving their head, and not letting their hair grow long, but surely clipping their heads’ means not casting aside the natural but taking measures to make it conformable, and so to make it subordinate. Anyone who believes that the Word is indeed holy can see that these and all the other details mentioned by the prophet which describe a new land, a new city, and a new Temple and priesthood must not be taken literally. The statement, for example, that the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, will minister there, at which time they will put off their ministerial garments and put on new ones, and will also clip their heads, is not meant literally; rather, each and all the details given by the prophet have as their meaning such things as are aspects of a new Church.
[3] The following rules were laid down for the high priest, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, in Moses,
The priest who is chief among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been consecrated* to wear the garments, shall not shave his head or rend his garments. Lev. 21:10.
The sons of Aaron shall not introduce any baldness on their head or shave the corner of their beard. They shall be holy to their God, and they shall not profane the name of their God. Lev. 21:5, 6.
You shall purify the Levites like this: Sprinkle over them the water of expiation, and they shall pass a razor over their flesh and wash their garments, and they shall be pure. Num. 8:7.
These rules would never have been given unless they had held holy ideas within them. Can there be anything holy or anything of the Church in the actual rule forbidding the high priest to shave his head or rend his garments, or in the actual rule forbidding the sons of Levi to introduce any baldness on their head or shave the corner of their beard, or in that commanding the Levites to shave their flesh with a razor when they underwent purification? Rather, the possession of an external or natural man made subordinate to the internal or spiritual man, both of which have thereby been made subordinate to the Divine, is the holy idea within those rules; and it is also what angels perceive when man reads about them in the Word.
[4] The same goes for what is said about a Nazirite who was holy to Jehovah. If someone next to him happened to die suddenly and so defile his consecrated head, the Nazirite was required to clip his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he had to clip it. On the day that the days of his Naziriteship were completed he had to clip his consecrated head at the door of the Tent of Meeting and to take the hair from his head and put it on the fire which was under the sacrifice of peace offerings, Num. 6:8, 9, 13, 18. For the meaning of a Nazirite and what aspect of holiness he represented, see 3301. No one can possibly understand why anything holy existed within the Nazirite’s hair unless he knows from correspondence what is meant by ‘the hair’ and from this what aspect of holiness a Nazirite’s hair corresponded to. Nor can anyone likewise understand how the source of Samson’s strength lay in his hair, which he told Delilah about in the following description,
No razor has come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite of God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, my strength will depart from me, and I shall become weak and be like anyone else. And Delilah called a man who shaved off the seven locks of his hair; and his strength departed from him. After that, when the hair on his head began to grow, even as it had been shaved off, his strength returned to him. Judg. 16:17, 19, 22.
Without any knowledge of correspondence who can see that the Lord’s Divine Natural was represented by ‘a Nazirite’, or that ‘Naziriteship’ had no other meaning than this, or that Samson’s strength was due to that representation?
[5] Anyone who does not know, and more so one who does not believe that the Word has an internal sense, and that the sense of the letter serves to represent the real things contained in the internal sense, will recognize scarcely anything holy at all in these matters, when in fact the greatest holiness lies within them. Anyone who does not know, and more so one who does not believe that the Word has an internal sense that is intrinsically holy cannot know what the following texts enfold within them: In Jeremiah,
Truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth. Cut off the hair of your Naziriteship and throw it away. Jer. 7:28, 29.
In Isaiah,
On that day the Lord will shave by means of a razor hired at the crossing-places of the River – by means of the king of Asshur – the head and the hair of the feet; and it will consume the beard also. Isa. 7:20.
In Micah,
Make yourself bald, and shave your head for the children of your delight; extend your baldness like an eagle, for they have departed from you. Micah 1:16.
Nor will anyone know the aspect of holiness contained in the reference to Elijah’s being a man covered with hair, who wore a skin girdle around his loins, 2 Kings 1:8. Nor will he know why the children who called Elisha baldhead were torn apart by the bears out of the forest, 2 Kings 2:23, 24.
[6] Both Elijah and Elisha represented the Lord as to the Word, and so represented the Word itself, specifically the prophetical part, see Preface to Genesis 18, and 2762. Being covered with hair and having a skin girdle meant the literal sense, ‘a man covered with hair’ meaning that sense so far as truths were concerned, ‘wearing a skin girdle around his loins’ so far as forms of good were concerned. For the literal sense is the natural sense of the Word since it employs ideas formed from things that exist in the world, whereas the internal sense is the spiritual sense because it employs ideas formed from things existing in heaven. These two senses are related to each other in the way that the internal and the external are related in the human being. But because the internal can have no existence without the external, the external being the last and lowest degree of order within which the internal is held in being, the calling of Elisha ‘baldhead’ therefore meant the shameful accusation made against the Word that it lacked so to speak an external and so lacked a sense suited to man’s capacity to understand it.
[7] From all this one may see that every particular detail in the Word is holy. However, this holiness within the Word is discerned by no one unless he is acquainted with the internal sense; yet an inkling of it flows from heaven into someone who believes that the Word is holy. The internal sense known to the angels is the channel through which that influx comes; and even if the person has no understanding of that sense it nevertheless stimulates an affection in him, because the affection felt by the angels who know that sense is communicated to him. From this it is also evident that the Word was given to man so that he might have a means of communication with heaven and so that by flowing into him Divine Truth in heaven might stimulate affection in him.
* lit. whose hand has been filled
[2] But the clothes which Joseph changed – that is, cast aside – were those of the pit or prison-clothing, which mean the delusions and false ideas that are stirred up by evil genii and spirits in a state involving temptations. Consequently the expression ‘he changed his clothes’ means a casting aside and a change made in the coverings of the interior natural. And the clothes which he put on were ones such as were properly suitable, so that the putting on of what was rightly suited is meant. See what has been stated and shown already regarding clothes,
Celestial things are unclothed, but not so spiritual and natural ones, 297.
‘Clothes’ are truths, which are of a lower nature when they are compared with what they cover, 1073, 2576.
‘Changing one’s garments’ was representative of the need to put on holy truths, and therefore ‘changes of garments’ had the same meaning, 4545.
‘Rending one’s clothes’ was representative of mourning on account of the loss of truth, 4763.
What is meant by someone entering who was not wearing a wedding garment, 2132.
[2] These are the matters that celestial angels contemplate when such historical details are read by man. To contemplate such matters is also their greatest delight, for they live in the Lord’s Divine sphere and so they are as it were in the Lord. They know the deepest joy when they are thinking about the Lord and about the salvation of the human race, which took place because the Lord made the Human within Himself Divine. Also, to enable angels to go on experiencing that most heavenly joy and at the same time wisdom, a full description of that Divine process has therefore been given in the internal sense of the Word. This sense includes at the same time the process by which man is regenerated, for man’s regeneration is an image of the Lord’s glorification, 3138, 3212, 3296, 3490, 4402. Many will perhaps be wondering what angels talk about to one another and consequently what people after death who become angels talk about. Let those who so wonder know that angels talk about the kinds of matters that are contained in the internal sense of the Word, that is to say, about the Lord’s glorification, His kingdom, the Church, the regeneration of man by means of the good of love and the truth of faith. But when they do so they use profound ideas which for the most part are beyond description.
‘And Pharaoh said to Joseph’ means a perception expressed by the natural but belonging to the celestial of the spiritual. ‘I have dreamed a dream’ means a foretelling. ‘And there is no one who can interpret it’ means ignorance about what it held within it. ‘And I have heard about you means the ability of the celestial of the spiritual. ‘It is said that when you hear a dream you can interpret it’ means to discern what it is that things foreseen hold within them. ‘And Joseph answered Pharaoh’ means awareness. ‘Saying, it is not mine’ means that it does not have a purely human origin. ‘God will give an answer of peace, O Pharaoh’ means that the Divine Human was the origin of it, through its being joined to it.
[2] There are in general three elements which depart from the literal sense of the Word when it becomes the internal sense; these are the temporal, the spatial, and the personal. The reason for this is that neither time nor space exists in the spiritual world. These two elements belong properly to the natural order, which also accounts for its being said that those who die depart from the realm of time, leaving temporal concerns behind them. And the reason why in the spiritual world they do not see anything that has to do specifically with some person is that any focusing, when they speak, on some particular person narrows down and limits the idea they have in mind; such a focusing prevents any broadening or removal of limits to their idea. Their use, when they speak, of broadened and unlimited ideas renders their language universal, a language that includes and enables them to express countless and also wondrous ideas. This is what the language used by angels is like, especially that used by celestial angels, which, compared with that employed by others, knows no limitations. This being so, the whole of their speech reaches into what is infinite and into what is eternal, consequently into the Divine of the Lord.
[2] But those who are gentile converts to Christianity worship the Lord alone in the next life. They do so because they believed that it could have been none else than the supreme Deity who revealed Himself on earth as man and that this supreme Deity is a Divine Man. They also believed that if they did not have that idea of the supreme Deity they could not have any idea at all and so could not have any thought about God, nor consequently have any knowledge of Him, let alone love for Him.
‘And Pharaoh spoke to Joseph’ means thought expressed by the natural but belonging to the celestial of the spiritual. ‘In my dream’ means what has been foreseen in a state of obscurity. ‘Behold, I was standing on the bank of the river’ means from boundary to boundary. ‘And behold, out of the river’ means at the boundary. ‘Seven cows were coming up’ means the truths belonging to the natural. ‘Fat-fleshed’ means which were embodiments of charity. ‘And beautiful in form’ means which were expressions of faith resulting from these. ‘And they fed in the sedge’ means instruction. ‘And behold, seven other cows were coming up after them’ means falsities present in the natural close by them. ‘Weak and extremely bad in form’ means empty and lacking in faith. ‘And lean-fleshed’ means lacking in charity too. I have not seen anything like them in all the land of Egypt for badness’ means which were such that they could not by any means be joined to forms of truth and good. ‘And the lean and bad cows devoured…..’ means that falsities which were not expressions of faith and not embodiments of charity would banish…..’The first seven fat cows’ means truths which were expressions of faith derived from charity. ‘And they devoured them completely’ means an interior banishing. ‘And no one would have known that they had devoured them completely’ means that the truths of good were no longer discernible. ‘And their appearance was malign, as it had been at the beginning’ means that no communication or joining together existed. ‘And I awoke’ means a state of enlightenment. ‘And I saw in my dream’ means still more foreseen in obscurity. ‘And behold, seven heads of grain were coming up on one stalk’ means facts known to the natural, which facts existed linked together. ‘Full and good’ means into which facts matters of faith and charity could be instilled. ‘And behold, seven heads, dried up, thin, and scorched by an east wind’ means facts that are useless and full of evil desires. ‘Were sprouting after them’ means appearing close by them. ‘And the thin heads swallowed up the seven good heads’ means that the facts which were useless banished the facts which were useful. ‘And I told it to the magi’ means a consultation with facts of an interior kind. ‘And there was no one to point out the meaning to me’ means that nothing at all was discerned from these.
* lit. they came to their viscera
** lit. it was not known that they had come to their viscera
[2] Now because the celestial of the spiritual is interior or higher, and the natural is exterior or lower, ‘Pharaoh spoke to Joseph’ therefore means in the internal sense thought expressed by the natural but belonging to the celestial of the spiritual. In short, nothing in a lower position possesses anything self-derived whatsoever. Any ability it possesses comes from what is higher, which being so it plainly follows that the Highest one of all, that is, the Divine, is the source of everything. Consequently the source of a person’s thought proceeding from his understanding and of his activity proceeding from his will is the Highest one or the Divine. If however a person thinks false ideas and acts in evil ways, this is due to the form he has stamped on his own character; but if he thinks right ideas and acts in ways that are good, it is due to the form he has received from the Lord. For it is well known that one and the same power and force produces differing movements which are determined by the ways in which the intermediate and outermost parts are structured, so that in the human being life from the Divine produces differing thoughts and actions, determined by the forms existing there.
‘And Joseph said to Pharaoh’ means a perception which the natural received from the celestial of the spiritual. ‘Pharaoh’s dream, it is one’ means that a similar situation existed in both parts, which was foreseen. ‘What God is doing He has pointed out to Pharaoh’ means that the natural was allowed to discern what was provided. ‘The seven good cows are seven years’ means a state when truth within the interior natural is multiplied. ‘And the seven good heads of grain are seven years’ means a state when truth within the exterior natural is multiplied. ‘The dream, it is one’ means that both will be such through a joining together. ‘And the seven thin and bad cows coming up after them are seven years’ means a state when falsity attacking the interior natural is multiplied. ‘And the seven empty heads of grain, scorched by an east wind’ means a state when falsity attacking the exterior natural is multiplied. ‘Will be seven years of famine’ means a consequent absence and seeming deprivation of truth.
[2] The reason why ‘what God is doing’ means what has been provided is that everything done by God, that is, by the Lord, constitutes His Providence. Every act of Providence is Divine, for it holds what is eternal and infinite within it. It holds what is eternal because its view is not limited by any beginning or end, and it holds what is infinite because its view comprehends simultaneously the entire whole within any specific part, and every specific part within the entire whole. All this is called ‘Providence’; and because every single one of the Lord’s acts holds what is eternal and infinite within it, no other expression than Providence exists to describe it. This truth that every single one of the Lord’s acts holds what is infinite and eternal within it will in the Lord’s Divine mercy be illustrated elsewhere with the help of examples.
[2] ‘Seven’ means things that are holy because of the meanings that numbers have in the world of spirits. Each number there holds some spiritual reality within it. Visual indications of numbers have appeared to me frequently, simple and compound ones, and also on one occasion a long sequence of them, when I have wondered what meanings they possessed. I have been told that they have their origin in conversations held by angels, and that it is customary from time to time to use numbers to express spiritual realities too. These numbers are not seen in heaven but in the world of spirits, where the visual presentation of such things takes place. The most ancients, who were celestial people and who talked to angels, knew all about this, which was why they used numbers to express an evaluation of the Church. The numbers used by them conveyed a general overall idea of matters for which words served to provide a detailed description. The meaning contained within every number did not however continue to be known among the descendants of these people; only the meanings of the simple numbers survived, that is to say, the meanings of two, three, six, seven, eight, twelve, and from these the meanings of twenty-four, seventy-two, and seventy-seven. In particular their descendants knew that ‘seven’ meant that which was most holy – that is to say, that in the highest sense ‘seven’ meant the Divine Himself, and in the representative sense the celestial element of love – and that the state of the celestial man was therefore meant by ‘the seventh day’, 84-87.
[3] It is quite evident from the numbers used plentifully in the Word that numbers mean spiritual realities, such as the following ones in John,
Let him who has intelligence reckon the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, that is, its number is six hundred and sixty-six. Rev. 13:18.
And elsewhere in the same book,
The angel measured the wall of the holy Jerusalem, a hundred and forty-four cubits, which is the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. Rev. 11:17.
The number one hundred and forty-four is twelve squared and twice seventy-two.
[2] Let references to the number seven found solely in the Book of Revelation serve to prove that ‘seven’ is used to mean both holy things and unholy ones. The following are places where holy things are meant,
John to the seven Churches: Grace and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before His throne. Rev. 1:4.
These things says He who has the seven spirits and the seven stars. Rev. 3:1.
From the throne there were coming seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. Rev. 4:5.
I saw on the right hand of Him sitting on the throne a book written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Rev. 5:1.
I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne, a Lamb standing as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Rev. 5:6.
To the seven angels were given seven trumpets. Rev. 8:1.
In the days of the voice of the seventh angel the mystery of God was to be fulfilled. Rev. 10:7.
Out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues, clothed in linen, white and splendid, and girded around their breasts with golden girdles. Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls. Rev. 15:6, 7.
[3] The fact that ‘seven’ in the contrary sense means things that are unholy is evident from the following places, also in the Book of Revelation,
Behold, a great fiery-red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven jewels. Rev. 12:3.
I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, which had seven heads and ten horns, and on its horns ten jewels, but on its heads a blasphemous name. Rev. 13:1.
I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names; and it had seven heads and ten hems. Here is the understanding of this – if anyone has the wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; and they are seven kings. The beast which was, and is not, he is the eighth king, and is of the seven, and is going away into perdition. Rev. 17:3, 7, 9-11.
[2] When a person is being reformed he begins by learning truths from the Word, or from what he is taught, and then storing those truths away in his memory. The person ,ho is unable to be reformed imagines that once he has learned truths and stored them away in his memory there is nothing more to be done. But he is much mistaken. The truths he has taken in need to be introduced and joined to good; but they cannot be so introduced and joined to good as long as the evils of self-love and love of the world remain in the natural man. These two loves served initially in the introduction of such truths, but the latter cannot possibly become joined to them. Therefore so that a joining to good may be effected the truths that have been introduced and held there by those loves must first be banished, though they are not actually banished but are withdrawn to a more interior position, with the result that they do not seem to exist, which is why the expression ‘a seeming deprivation of truth’ is used. Once this has happened the natural receives light from within and the evils of self-love and love of the world give way; and to the extent that they do give way the truths are restored and joined to good. In the Word a state when a person is seemingly deprived of truths is called desolation. It is also compared to the evening in which a person dwells before he moves on into morning, which was why in the representative Church the day began in the evening, 883.
‘This is the word which I have spoken to Pharaoh’ means what the natural was led to think by the celestial of the spiritual. ‘What God is doing’ means regarding what was provided. ‘He has caused Pharaoh to see’ means discernment by the natural. ‘Behold, seven years are coming’ means a state of providence. ‘A great abundance of corn in all the land of Egypt’ means the multiplication of truth in both parts of the natural. ‘And seven years of famine will arise after them’ means subsequent states when there will be an absence of truth. ‘And all the abundance of corn in the land of Egypt will be thrust into oblivion’ means the removal of truth and the seeming deprivation of it in both parts of the natural. ‘And the famine will consume the land’ means even to the point of despair. ‘And the abundance of corn in the land will not be known’ means that no discernment at all regarding the truth present previously will exist there. ‘Because of the famine from then on, for it will be extremely severe’ means on account of such an absence [of truth]. ‘And as for the dream being presented to Pharaoh twice’ means because what was foreseen had regard to both parts of the natural. ‘This is because the thing is established by God’ means that it is Divine. ‘And God is hastening to do it’ means a total fulfillment.
* lit. repeated
[2] This idea that all real things have been brought and are being brought into being by means of Divine Truth going forth from the Lord, thus by means of the Word, is an arcanum which has yet to be disclosed. People’s belief and understanding of this is that all things have been created because God has spoken and issued His command, as a king does in his kingdom. But that is not what is meant by saying that all things have been made and created by the Word. Rather, the meaning is that Divine Truth which goes forth from Divine Good, that is, which goes forth from the Lord, is the originator of all things that have been brought and are being brought into being. Divine Truth going forth from Divine Good is the ultimate reality and the essential being within all creation; and this Divine Truth is what makes and creates all things. But scarcely anyone has any other idea of Divine Truth than this – a word or utterance issuing from a speaker’s mouth and transmitted into the air. This idea about Divine Truth leads to the notion that ‘the Word’ means simply a command, so that all things that have been made exist solely because a command has been delivered, not because of some reality that has come forth from the Lord’s Divine. But as has been stated, the Divine Truth going forth from the Lord is the ultimate reality and essential being from which all things derive their existence. Every form of what is good and true owes its existence to this. But in the Lord’s Divine mercy more will be said later on regarding this arcanum.
[2] It should be recognized that the events which took place at that time and have been recorded in the Word were representative in the highest sense of the Lord Himself and of the glorification of His Human, and in the representative sense of His kingdom, and consequently of the Church at a corporate level and also of the Church at an individual level. They were accordingly representative of a person’s regeneration, for regeneration is the means by which a person becomes a Church at the individual level. The representation of such things by the events happening at that time was primarily for the sake of the Word – so that this could be written and thus be a Word that would contain the kinds of matters that would represent Divine, celestial, and spiritual realities in a continuous line of thought, and so would be of service not only to the member of the Church but also to the angels in heaven. From those representative descriptions angels perceive Divine realities and are thereby filled with holy feelings which are communicated to the person who reads the Word with affection; for he too receives a feeling of holiness. This is the reason why such events took place in the land of Egypt.
[2] The reason forgetting or ‘being thrust into oblivion’ means a removal and seeming deprivation is that something akin to this happens to the memory and to thought that relies on it. The actual matters that a person is thinking about are immediately beneath his attention, while related matters spread out in order around them, extending to unrelated ones furthest away, which at that time are in oblivion. Matters of a contrary nature are separated from these, hanging downwards and revealing themselves underneath, where they serve to counterbalance what is above them. This ordered arrangement is effected by means of good flowing in. Such is the way in which the whole of a person’s thought is ordered. The truth of this can be seen from people’s thoughts in the next life. There in the light of heaven it is quite normal for people’s thoughts to be presented sometimes in a visual manner, at which times the form in which those thoughts are arranged is demonstrated. From this it may be seen that ‘forgetting’ in the internal sense means nothing else than a removal and seeming deprivation.
[2] This verse deals with the final state of desolation, when despair, which comes immediately before regeneration, is experienced; and this being the matter dealt with in this verse, something must be said about the nature of it. Everyone has to be reformed, and to be born anew or regenerated, so that he may enter heaven, No one, unless he is born again, can see the kingdom of God. John 3:3, 5, 6.
The human being is born into sin which has increased as it has come down in a long line of descent from ancestors, grandparents, and parents; it has become hereditary and so has been handed down to offspring. At birth a person is born into so many inherited evils which have gradually increased, as described, that he is nothing but sin; therefore unless he undergoes regeneration he remains wholly immersed in sin. But to be regenerated, he must first undergo reformation, which is effected by means of the truths of faith; for he must learn from the Word, and from teaching drawn from it, what good is. Items of knowledge regarding what is good that have been acquired from the Word – that is, from teaching drawn from there – are called the truths of faith; for all truths of faith well up out of good and flow in the direction of good, good being the end they have in view.
[3] This state comes first and is called the state of reformation. Most people within the Church are introduced into it during the period from young childhood through to adolescence, though few are regenerated because most people within the Church learn the truths of faith – or religious knowledge about what is good – for the sake of reputation and position and for the sake of material gain. Since therefore the truths of faith have been introduced through his love of these things, a person cannot be born anew or be regenerated until that love has been removed. To enable such love to be removed that person is launched into a state of temptation, which takes place in the following way: His love of reputation, position, and material gain is activated by the hellish crew, for that crew’s desire is to live immersed in the love of those things. But at the same time angels activate affections for what is true and good which were implanted in the state of innocence during early childhood and then stored away interiorly and preserved there for this particular purpose. As a result conflict between evil spirits and angels takes place, and this conflict taking place within a person is experienced by him as temptation. And because the action at this time involves truths and forms of good, the actual truths which were instilled initially are so to speak banished by the falsities infused by the evil spirits – so banished that they are not seen – dealt with above in 5268-5270. And as the person allows himself at this time to be regenerated, the Lord introduces through an internal route the light of truth radiated from good in the natural, in which light the truths are restored there in their proper order.
[4] This is what happens to a person who is being regenerated, but few at the present day are permitted to enter that regenerative state. So far as they allow it to happen, all people, it is true, start to be reformed through the instruction they receive in the truths and forms of good that belong to spiritual life; but as soon as they reach adolescent years they allow the world to distract them. So they turn away into those parts where hellish spirits are, who gradually alienate these people from heaven; the spirits alienate them so completely that they scarcely believe any longer in the existence of heaven. Consequently those people cannot be launched into any spiritual temptation; for if they were they would go under instantly, in which case their latter state would be worse than their former one, Matt. 12:45. From all this one may see the nature of what the internal sense contains here, namely the state of reformation and the state of regeneration. This particular verse however describes the final state in temptation, which is a state of despair – this state being dealt with immediately above in 5279.
‘And now let Pharaoh see’ means provision to be made by the natural. ‘A man with intelligence and wisdom’ means with regard to inflowing truth and good. ‘And set him over the land of Egypt’ means which will set in order all that is in the natural mind. ‘Let Pharaoh do this’ means a further provision. ‘And let him place governors in charge over the land’ means the ordering of general wholes within the natural. ‘And let him take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt’ means which are to be preserved and then stored away. ‘In the seven years of abundance of corn’ means which are instilled during the times when truths along with forms of good have been multiplied. ‘And let them gather all the food’ means all things that have a useful purpose. ‘Of these good years that are coming’ means which are to be taken in during those times. ‘And let them store up grain’ means at the same time every good of truth. ‘Under the hand of Pharaoh’ means for when there is need and the consequent power of disposal in the natural. ‘Food in the cities’ means such things present in the interior parts of the natural mind. ‘And let them guard it’ means to be stored away there. ‘And let the food be for a reserve for the land’ means that it should be kept there for every useful purpose served by the natural. ‘For the seven years of famine’ means as need arises when there is an absence [of truth]. ‘Which there will be in the land of Egypt’ means which will exist in the natural. ‘And the land will not be cut off in the famine’ means lest the person perishes.
* i.e. select or look out
[2] One may see the truth of this quite clearly in the way a person thinks. Insofar as his thought fixes its attention on the actual words a speaker uses, its attention is not fixed on their remaining. Also, insofar as his attention is fixed on particular ideas imprinted in his memory and remains concentrated on these, he has no perception of the essential nature of things. More than this, insofar as self-regard is present in everything he thinks he cramps his thought and denies himself an overall picture of anything. This explains why, insofar as anyone loves himself more than others, he is lacking in wisdom. From all this one may now see why in the internal sense matters which have no reference to actual persons are meant by those descriptions which in the sense of the letter do limit themselves to such persons. See also 5225.
Various places in the Word draw a distinction between wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge. Wisdom is used to mean that which that which springs from good, intelligence to mean that which springs from truth, and knowledge to mean to both of these as they exist in a person’s natural, as in Moses,
I have filled Bezalel with the spirit of God, so far as wisdom, and intelligence, and knowledge, and all workmanship are concerned. Exod. 31:2, 3; 35:30, 31.
And in the same author,
Choose* wise, and intelligent, and knowledgeable men, according to your tribes, and I will make them your heads. Deut. 1:13.
* lit. Give yourselves
[2] The person who does not know about the nature of the human power of thought, or who does not know about the human ability to look at things, see what they are, analyse them, form conclusions regarding them, and finally transmit them to the will and through the will into action, will see nothing wondrous in any of this. Such a person imagines that all this happens naturally he is totally unaware of the fact that every single thought flows in from the Lord by way of heaven, and that but for that inflow from the Lord a person cannot have any thought at all, and also that as that inflow is diminished, so is his thought. Nor therefore does that person know that good flowing in from the Lord by way of heaven sets all things in order, shaping them into an image of heaven, so far as the person allows this to happen. Nor consequently does he know that such inflowing thought possesses the heavenly form. The heavenly form is the form in which the communities of heaven exist set in their proper order, a form that accords with the one which good and truth going forth from the Lord produce.
[2] As regards the number five specifically, this has a dual meaning. First, it means that which is little and consequently something; second, it means remnants. It receives its meaning of that which is little from its relationship with other numbers meaning that which is much, namely a thousand and a hundred, and therefore ten also. For ‘a thousand’ and ‘a hundred’ mean that which is much, see 2575, 2636, and so therefore does ‘ten’, 3107, 4638, as a consequence of which ‘five’ means that which is little, and also something, 649, 4638. But ‘five’ means remnants when it has a connection with ten, ‘ten’ in this case meaning remnants, as stated above. For all numbers used in the Word have spiritual realities as their meaning, see 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 4670, 5265.
[3] Anyone who does not know that the Word has an internal sense which is not visible in the letter will be utterly astonished by the idea that spiritual realities too are meant by the numbers used in the Word. The specific reason for his astonishment is his inability to use numbers to give shape to any spiritual idea, when yet the spiritual ideas known to angels present themselves as numbers, see 5265. The identity of those ideas or spiritual realities to which numbers correspond can, it is true, be known; but the origin of such correspondence remains hidden, such as the origin of the correspondence of ‘twelve’ to all aspects of faith, the correspondence of ‘seven’ to things that are holy, as well as that of ‘ten’ and also ‘five’ to forms of good and truth stored up by the Lord within the interior man, and so on. Even so, it is enough if people know simply that such a correspondence does exist and that by virtue of that correspondence each number used in the Word denotes something present in the spiritual world, consequently that what is Divine has been inspired into them and so lies concealed within them.
[4] Examples of this are seen in the following places where ‘five’ is mentioned, such as the Lord’s parable in Matt. 25:14 and following verses about the man who, before going away to a foreign country, placed his resources in the hands of his servants. To the first he gave five talents, to the second two, and to the third one. The servant who received five talents traded with them and earned five talents more. In a similar way the one who received two earned two more; but the servant who received one hid his master’s money* in the earth. The person whose thought does not extend beyond the literal sense knows no other than this, that the numbers five, two, and one have been adopted merely to make up the story told in the parable and that they entail nothing more, when in fact those actual numbers hold some arcanum within them. The servant who received the five talents means those people who have accepted forms of good and truth from the Lord and so have received remnants. The one who received the two talents means those who at a more advanced stage in life have linked charity to faith, while the servant who received the one means someone who receives faith alone devoid of charity. Regarding this servant it is said that he hid his master’s money* in the earth – the reason for this description being that the money* he is said to have received means in the internal sense truth which is the truth of faith, 1551, 2954; but faith that is devoid of charity cannot earn any interest, that is, it cannot be fruitful. These are the kinds of matters that numbers hold within them.
[5] Much the same is contained in other parables, such as the parable in Luke 19:12 and following verses regarding someone who journeyed to a far country to receive a kingdom. He gave his servants ten minas and told them to trade with these until he came back. When he returned the first said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten minas’. He said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you have been faithful over a very little, be over ten cities’. The second said, ‘Sir, your mina has made five minas’, and to him too he said, ‘You also, be over five cities’. The third had kept his mina stored away in a handkerchief. But the master said, ‘Take the mina from him and give it to him who has ten minas’. Here in a similar way ‘ten’ and ‘five’ mean remnants, ‘ten’ rather more, ‘five’ somewhat less. The one who kept his mina stored away in a handkerchief describes those who acquire the truths of faith but do not join them to the good deeds of charity, so that these truths do not gain interest or become fruitful at all.
[6] The same meaning exists in other places where the Lord uses these numbers, such as the place where He refers to what one of those invited to a supper said,
I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going away to test them. Luke 14:19.
Also in the place where He refers to what the rich man said to Abraham,
I have five brothers; send [Lazarus] to speak to them, lest they come into this place of torment. Luke 16:28.
And in the place where He talks about ten virgins, five of whom were wise and five were foolish, Matt. 25:1-13. The following words spoken by the Lord in a similar way contain such numbers,
Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division; for from now on there will be in one house five divided; three against two, and two against three. Luke 12:51, 52.
And the following details given in the historical narrative also contain such numbers – the Lord fed five thousand people with five leaves and two fishes; He commanded them to sit down in groups of a hundred and groups of fifty; and after they had eaten they collected twelve baskets of broken pieces, Matt. 14:15-21; Mark 6:38 and following verses; Luke 9:12-17; John 6:5-13.
[7] It is hardly credible that the numbers included in such details, since these belong to a historical narrative, have a spiritual meaning. That is, five thousand, the number of people, has a spiritual meaning; so does five, the number of leaves, as well as two, the number of fishes. A hundred, and likewise fifty, the numbers of people sitting down together, each have a spiritual meaning; and so lastly does twelve, the number of baskets containing broken pieces. Though it may seem incredible, every detail holds some arcanum. Every single thing occurred providentially, to the end that Divine realities might be represented by them.
[8] In the following places too ‘five’ means things of a similar nature in the spiritual world, and it corresponds to such in both senses, the genuine sense and the contrary one: In Isaiah,
Gleanings will be left in it, as in the shaking of an olive tree,** two or three berries on the top of the [highest] branch, four or five on the branches of a fruitful tree. Isa. 17:6, 7.
In the same prophet,
On that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt which speak in the lips of Canaan and swear to Jehovah Zebaoth. Isa. 19:18.
In the same prophet,
One thousand at the rebuke of one, at the rebuke of five you are fleeing, until you remain like a flagstaff on top of a mountain, like a signal upon a hill. Isa. 30:17.
In John,
The fifth angel sounded, at which point I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key of the pit of the abyss. It was given the locusts which were coming out from there, that they should not kill the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads, but that they should torment them five months. Rev. 9:1, 3, 5, 10.
In the same book,
Here is intelligence, if anyone has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits; and there are seven kings. Five have fallen; and one is, the other has not yet come. And when he comes he must remain a short time. Rev. 17:9, 10.
[9] The number five holds a similar representative meaning in the following places,
The valuation for a man or for a woman was determined by their ages – between one month and five years, and between five years and twenty years. Lev. 27:1-9.
If a field was redeemed, one-fifth was to be added. Lev. 27:19.
If tithes were redeemed, again one fifth was to be added. Lev. 27:31.
The firstborn who were in excess [of the Levites] were to be redeemed for five shekels [each]. Num. 3:46-end.
The firstborn of an unclean beast was to be redeemed with the addition of one-fifth. Lev. 27:27.
In the case of any wrongs that were done one-fifth was to be added as a penalty. Lev. 22:14; 17:13, 15; Num. 5:6-8.
Anyone who stole an ox or one of the flock, and who slaughtered it or sold it, had to restore five oxen for an ox, and four of the flock for one of the flock. Exod. 11:1.
[10] The fact that the number five contains some heavenly arcanum, as does ten also, is evident from the cherubs referred to in the first Book of Kings,
In the sanctuary Solomon made two cherubs of olive wood, each ten cubits high. The wing of one cherub was five cubits, and the wing of the other cherub five cubits; ten cubits from the tips of the wings of one to the tips of the wings of the other. Thus a cherub was ten cubits; both cherubs were the same size and same shape. 1 Kings 6:23-25.
The same fact is evident from the lavers around the temple, and also from the lampstands, described in the same book,
Five bases for the lavers were placed on the right side of the house,*** and five on the left side of the house.*** Also, five lampstands were placed on the right, and five on the left in front of the sanctuary. 1 Kings 7:39, 49.
The bronze sea was ten cubits from one brim to the other, and five cubits high, and thirty cubits in circumference. 1 Kings 7:13.
All this was prescribed so that holy things might be meant spiritually not only by the numbers ten and five but also by thirty, for although geometrically this number giving the circumference is not right for the stated diameter, it nevertheless implies spiritually what is meant by the rim of a vessel.
[11] All numbers mentioned in the Word mean things existing in the spiritual world, as is clearly evident from the numbers used in Ezekiel, where a new land, a new city, a new temple, and a detailed measuring of these by the angel are described; see Chapters 40-43, 45-49. Numbers are used in these chapters to describe practically every sacred object, and therefore anyone unacquainted with what those numbers hold within them can know scarcely anything about the arcana present there. The number ten and the number five occur there in Ezek. 40:7, 11, 48; 41:2, 9, 11, 12; 42:4; 45:11, 14, in addition to the multiplications of such numbers, namely twenty-five, fifty, five hundred, and five thousand. As regards the new land, the new city, and the new temple mentioned in those chapters, these mean the Lord’s kingdom in heaven, and therefore His Church on earth, as is clear from every detail mentioned there.
[12] All the references above to ‘five’ have been gathered together for the reason that here and in what follows the subject is the land of Egypt, where, in the seven years of abundance, a fifth part of the corn was to be gathered and preserved for use in the succeeding years of famine. This demonstrates that ‘the fifth part’ means the forms of good and truth which a person has received from the Lord, who has stored them away and preserved them in that person for future use when there is a famine, that is, when there is an absence and deprivation of goodness and truth. For unless the Lord stored away in a person such forms of good and truth, there would be nothing to raise him up in a state of temptation and vastation and consequently to make it possible for him to be regenerated, so that he would be left without any means of salvation in the next life.
* or silver
** The Latin means fig tree, but the Hebrew means olive tree, which Sw. has in other places where he quotes this verse.
*** lit. beside the shoulder of the house towards the right/left
[2] The reason ‘food’ in the spiritual sense means everything that has a useful purpose is that a person’s entire knowledge, his entire understanding and wisdom, and so his entire will must have a useful purpose as its end in view. Consequently as is the nature of the purpose he has in view, so is the nature of his life. The truth that ‘food’ in the spiritual sense means everything with a useful purpose is evident from the following words spoken by the Lord,
Jesus said to the disciples, I have food to eat of which you do not know. The disciples said to one another, Has anyone brought Him anything to eat? Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work. John 4:32-34.
And elsewhere,
Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On Him the Father – God – has set His seal. John 6:27.
[2] The interior parts of the natural mind are meant by ‘cities’ in Isaiah,
On that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt which speak in the lips of Canaan and swear to Jehovah Zebaoth. Isa. 19:18.
Both forms of good and of truth present in the interior parts are meant by ‘cities’ in the Lord’s parable in Luke,
He said to the one who used his mina to earn ten minas, Well done, good servant; because you have been faithful over a little, be over ten cities. And he said to the second who earned five minas, You also, be over five cities. Luke 19:11 and following verses.
The recommendation here therefore that they should store up food in cities and should guard it means that truths joined to good were to be stored away in the interior parts of the natural mind. When these truths and forms of good have been stored away there they are called remnants. These remnants are where a person’s actual spiritual life resides, and they are what a person is nourished by spiritually whenever need and desire, that is, whenever spiritual famine, arises.
[2] This is what distinguishes a human being from animals. Not merely his human appearance, or his ability to speak, or his ability to think make him a human being; for if he thinks what is false and wills what is evil, that makes him not only like but worse than an animal. For he then uses those abilities to destroy what is human within himself and to make a wild animal of himself. This is particularly evident from people of this kind in the next life, for when they are seen in the light of heaven, and also when angels see them, they look at that moment like monsters, and some of them like wild animals. The deceitful look like snakes, and others like something different again. But when they are taken away from the light of heaven and are returned to their own inferior light which they have in hell, they look to one another like human beings. But the implications of all this – of the fact that a person will perish in times when truth is absent if he has no forms of good and truth stored away by the Lord in the interior parts of his mind, meant by ‘food kept as a reserve for the land, for the seven years of famine, so that the land is not cut off in the famine’ – will be stated in the sections that follow next in the present chapter.
‘And the thing was good in Pharaoh’s eyes’ means that the natural was well-pleased. ‘And in the eyes of all his servants’ means that everything in the natural was well-pleased. ‘And Pharaoh said to his servants’ means the perception of the natural and of everything in it. ‘Shall we find a man like this, in whom is the spirit of God?’ means regarding an influx of truth containing good received from within, and so containing the celestial of the spiritual. ‘And Pharaoh said to Joseph’ means a perception present in the natural but received from the celestial of the spiritual. ‘After God has caused you to know all this’ means for the reason that Foresight and Providence belong to that celestial of the spiritual. ‘No one has intelligence and wisdom like you’ means that this alone is the source of truth and good. ‘You shall be over my house’ means that the natural mind shall be made subordinate and submissive to it. ‘And all my people shall kiss you on the mouth’ means that everything there shall obey it. ‘Only in the throne will I be great, more than you’ means that the natural will be seen as sovereign, because the celestial of the spiritual acts through the natural.
[2] Within the Church it is well known that in a spiritual sense ‘Joseph’ is the Lord, which also explains why the Lord is called the heavenly Joseph. But no one knows which aspect of the Lord is represented by ‘Joseph’. For the Lord is represented by Abraham, also by Isaac, and by Jacob too. He is represented as well by Moses and Elijah, by Aaron, and also by David, in addition to many others in the Word. But each one nevertheless represents Him in a different way from any other. The aspect that Abraham represents is the Divine itself, ‘Isaac’ the Divine Rational, ‘Jacob’ the Divine Natural, ‘Moses’ the Law or historical part of the Word, ‘Elijah’ the prophetical part, ‘Aaron’ His priesthood, and ‘David’ His kingship. But what aspect is represented by ‘Joseph’ may be seen in 3969, 4286, 4585, 4592, 4594, 4669, 4723, 4727, 4963, 5249 – that aspect which ‘Joseph’ represents being the celestial of the spiritual deriving from the rational. No other description than this can be used, for the celestial is good received from the Divine, the spiritual is truth received from that good, making it the truth of good received from His Divine Human. This was what the Lord was when He lived in the world. But once He had glorified Himself, He rose up above it; even His Human was made absolute Divine Good, or Jehovah.
[3] Nothing more specific can be stated regarding this arcanum than the following: Joseph came to Egypt, where first of all he served in the house of Potiphar, the chief of the attendants, then was held in custody, and after that was made the governor over Egypt, so that the way might be represented in which the Lord by progressive stages made the Human within Himself Divine, and so that all this might be written about in a Word that would contain matters of a Divine nature in its internal sense. This sense was intended to serve angels primarily, whose wisdom – which is beyond understanding or description when compared with human wisdom – is concerned with such Divine matters. It was intended at the same time to serve men who prefer historical to any other descriptions, in which, as men turn such descriptions over in their minds, angels can perceive – through an influx from the Lord – the matters of a Divine nature.
[2] ‘Throne’ is used frequently in the Word when reference is made to Divine Truth and judgement based on this. In these places ‘throne’ means in the internal sense that which is the essence of Divine kingship, and ‘the one seated on it’ is the Lord Himself acting as King or Judge. But the exact meaning of ‘the throne’, as with the meaning of quite a number of other things, is determined by the context. When the Lord’s essential Divine Being and His Divine Human are meant by ‘the one seated on the throne’, Divine Truth going forth from Him is meant by ‘the throne’. When however Divine Truth going forth from the Lord is meant by ‘the one seated on the throne’, the whole of heaven, which Divine Truth suffuses, is meant by ‘the throne’. And when the Lord present with Divine Truth in the higher heavens is meant by ‘the one seated on the throne’, Divine Truth as this exists in the lowest heaven, and also as it exists in the Church, is meant by ‘the throne’. Thus the context decides whatever specific meaning ‘the throne’ may have. The reason ‘the throne’ means that which belongs to Divine Truth is that in the Word ‘king’ means truth, and so too does ‘kingdom’. For the meaning of ‘king’, see 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068; and for that of ‘kingdom’, 1672, 2547, 4691.
[3] The specific meaning that ‘throne’ has at any point in the Word is evident from the train of thought in which it occurs, as in Matthew,
I say to you, You shall not swear at all, neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne, nor by the earth, for it is His footstool, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Matt. 5:34, 35.
And elsewhere in the same gospel,
He who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by Him who sits on it. Matt. 23:22.
Here it is explicitly stated that heaven is ‘God’s throne’. ‘The earth’, which is called ‘a footstool’, means that which is beneath heaven, and so means the Church – the Church being meant by ‘the earth’, see 566, 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1413, 1607, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 2928, 3355, 4447, 4535. A similar usage is seen in Isaiah,
Thus said Jehovah, The heavens are My throne and the earth My footstool. Isa. 66:1.
And in David,
Jehovah has established His throne in the heavens. Ps. 103:19.
In Matthew,
When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. Matt. 25:31.
This refers to a last judgement, ‘the one seated on the throne’ being called ‘the King’, in verses 34, 40 In the internal sense here ‘the throne of glory’ is the Divine Truth that flows from Divine Good in heaven, ‘the one seated on the throne’ being the Lord, who – inasmuch as He is a judge by virtue of Divine Truth – is called ‘the King’.
[4] In Luke,
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High; and the Lord will give Him the throne of David His father. Luke 1:32.
These words were spoken by the angel to Mary. It is clear to anyone that here ‘the throne of David’ is not the kingdom which David possessed; for it is not a kingdom on earth but one in heaven. Nor therefore is David meant by ‘David’ but the Lord’s Divine kingship, while ‘the throne’ means Divine Truth that goes forth and constitutes His kingdom. In John,
I was in the spirit, and behold, a throne set in heaven, and one seated upon the throne. And the one seated was in appearance like a jasper stone and a sardis. There was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting. From the throne were coming forth lightnings and thunders and voices, and likewise seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. In addition, before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. Then in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind. Whenever the four living creatures gave glory and honour and thanks to the one seated on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders would fall down before the one seated on the throne and would worship the one who lives for ever and ever, and would cast their crowns before the throne. Rev. 4:2-end.
[5] This description of the throne of the Lord’s glory is used to depict Divine Truth which goes forth from Him. Representatives are used, but if someone has no knowledge of what is meant by these he will hardly be able to know anything at all about what the details of this prophecy hold within them and will suppose that all such details are devoid of any deeper Divine content. The person who knows no better cannot do other than conceive of the heavenly kingdom as one that is similar to a kingdom in the world. But in fact ‘a throne set in heaven’ means Divine Truth there, and so heaven as regards Divine Truth. ‘One seated upon a throne’ is used to mean the Lord; and the reason why in appearance He looked like ‘a jasper stone and a sardis’ is that those stones, like all precious stones in the Word, mean Divine Truth, 114, 3858, 3862, while stones in general mean the truths of faith, 643, 1298, 3720, 3769, 3771, 3773, 3789, 3798.
[6] ‘A rainbow around the throne’ means truths made translucent by good, for in the next life colours are products of the light of heaven, and the light of heaven is Divine Truth. Regarding rainbows in the next life. see 1042, 1043, 1053, 1623-1625; and regarding colours there, 1053, 1624, 3993, 4530, 4922, 4677, 4741, 4742. By ‘the thrones of the twenty-four elders around the throne’ are meant all aspects of truth in their entirety, like the things meant by ‘twelve’; for ‘twelve’ means all aspects of truth in their entirety, see 577, 2089, 2129, 2130, 3272, 3858, 3913. ‘The lightnings, thunders, and voices which were coming forth from the throne’ means the feelings of terror which Divine Truth produces in those who are not governed by good. ‘The seven lamps of fire burning’ are affections for truth which is rooted in good, which likewise usher in harmful consequences for those who are not governed by good and which are therefore called ‘the seven spirits of God’, who, as is evident from what comes later on,* did usher in harmful consequences.
[7] ‘The sea of glass before the throne’ is every truth within the natural, thus the cognitions and the factual knowledge present there; for these are meant by ‘the sea’, see 28, 2850.’The four living creatures which were in the midst of the throne and around the throne, and which were full of eyes in front and behind’ are ideas in the understanding which are received from the Divine in heaven. ‘Four’ means the joining of those ideas to desires present in the will; for truths belong to the understanding part and forms of good to the will part of the human mind. This explains why it is said that ‘they were full of eyes in front and behind’, for ‘the eyes’ means ideas in the understanding and therefore in a higher sense matters of belief, 2701, 3820, 4403-4421, 4523-4534. ‘Four’ means a joining together, as likewise does ‘two’, 1686, 3519, 5194. The holiness of Divine Truth going forth from the Lord is described in what follows at this point [in the Book of Revelation].
[8] Because ‘the twenty-four thrones’ and ‘the twenty-four elders’ mean all aspects of truth, or all aspects of faith, in their entirety, and ‘twelve’ has a similar meaning, as has just been stated, one may consequently see what ‘the twelve thrones on which the twelve apostles were seated’ is used to mean in the internal sense, namely all aspects of truth, the grounds upon which, and the standard by which judgement takes place. Their thrones are referred to in Matthew as follows,
Jesus said to the disciples, Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in there generation, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Matt. 19:28.
And in Luke,
I bestow on you, just as My Father bestowed on Me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Luke 22:29, 30.
‘The twelve apostles’ means all aspects of truth, see 2129, 2553, 3354, 3488, 3858, as do ‘the twelve sons of Jacob’ and therefore ‘the twelve tribes of Israel’, 3858, 3921, 3926, 3939, 4060, 4603. The apostles have no power to judge anyone at all, 2129, 2557.
[9] Similarly in John,
I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgement was given to them. Rev. 20:4.
Here also ‘thrones’ means all aspects of truth, which are the grounds upon which, and the standard by which judgement takes place. Much the same is also meant by ‘the angels’ with whom the Lord will come to the judgement, in Matt. 25.31. When ‘angels’ are mentioned in the Word some attribute of the Lord is meant, see 1705, 1925, 2320, 2821, 3039, 4085, in this case truths received from the Divine, which truths are called ‘judgements’ in the Word, 2235.
[10] There are very many more places in which Jehovah or the Lord has a throne attributed to Him because thrones embody within themselves that which is representative of the kingdom. When in a higher heaven they are talking about Divine Truth and judgement, a throne is seen in the lowest heaven. This is the reason why a throne is, as has been stated, representative and therefore why a throne is mentioned so many times in the prophetical part of the Word. It is also the reason why in most ancient times a throne became the sign to distinguish the king and why as such a sign it now denotes the office of a monarch. Further examples of the attribution of a throne to the Lord occur in the following places: In Moses,
Moses built an altar, and called its name Jehovah Nissi. Moreover he said, Because the hand is upon the throne of Jah, Jehovah will have war against Amalek from generation to generation. Exod. 17:15, 16.
No one can know what is meant by ‘the hand upon the throne of Jah’ or by ‘Jehovah having war against Amalek from generation to generation except from the internal sense, and so unless he knows what is meant by ‘the throne’ and by ‘Amalek’. In the Word ‘Amalek’ means falsities which assail truths, 1679, and ‘the throne’ the Divine Truth that is assailed.
[11] In David,
O Jehovah, You have maintained my judgement and my cause; You sat upon the throne, a Judge of righteousness. Jehovah will remain there for ever; He has prepared His throne for judgement. Ps. 9:4, 7.
In the same author,
Your throne, O God, will be for ever and ever (in saeculum et aeternum); a sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of Your kingdom. Ps. 45:6.
In the same author,
Cloud and thick darkness are round Him, righteousness and judgement are the foundation of His throne. Ps. 97:2.
In Jeremiah,
At that time they will call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah, and all the nations will be gathered to it. Jer. 3:17.
[12] ‘Jerusalem” stands for the Lord’s spiritual kingdom. This kingdom is again meant by the new Jerusalem in Ezekiel, and also by ‘the holy Jerusalem coming down from heaven’ in the Book of Revelation. The Lord’s spiritual kingdom exists where that which is pre-eminent is Divine Truth holding Divine Good within it, whereas the Lord’s celestial kingdom exists where that which is pre-eminent is Divine Good from which Divine Truth flows. From this one may see why Jerusalem is called ‘the throne of Jehovah’. And in David,
In Jerusalem they sit – the thrones for judgement. Ps. 122:5.
But Zion is called ‘the throne of Jehovah’s glory’ in Jeremiah,
Have you utterly rejected Judah, has your soul loathed Zion? Do not spurn [us], for Your name’s sake; do not dishonour the throne of your glory. Jer. 14:19, 21.
‘Zion’ is used to mean the Lord’s celestial kingdom.
[13] The way in which the Lord when executing judgement is represented in heaven, where visual scenes like those described in various places in the Prophets come before people’s eyes, may be seen in Daniel,
I saw, until thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days was seated. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was a flame of fire, its wheels burning fire. A river of fire issued and came forth before Him, a thousand thousands served Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The judgement sat down, and the books were opened. Dan. 7:9, 10.
Sights like this occur constantly in heaven; all are representatives. They have their origin in what angels are discussing in the higher heavens, which discussion comes down from there and manifests itself in visual scenes. The angelic spirits to whom the Lord imparts perception know what is meant by such scenes. They know what is meant by ‘the Ancient of Days’, ‘clothing white as snow’, ‘hair of the head like pure wool’, ‘a throne like a flame of fire’, ‘wheels that are a burning fire’, and ‘a river of fire going forth from Him’. ‘A flame of fire’ and ‘a river of fire’ in this case represent the Good of Divine Love, 974, 4906, 5071, 5215.
[14] It is similar with what is said in Ezekiel,
Above the expanse that was above the heads of the cherubim, in appearance like a sapphire stone, there was the likeness of a throne, and above the likeness of a throne there was a likeness as the appearance of a man upon it. Ezek. 1:26; 10:1.
Likewise with what is said in the first Book of Kings,
I saw – the prophet Micah said – Jehovah sitting on His throne, and the entire host of heaven standing beside Him, on His right hand and on His left. 1 Kings 22:19.
Anyone who does not know what these particular descriptions represent, or what their consequent spiritual meanings are, cannot help supposing that the Lord has a throne in the way kings on earth do, and that things actually do exist as they are described by the prophets. But no such phenomena occur in the [higher] heavens; rather they are sights presented to those in the lowest heaven, within which – as within images – they see Divine arcana.
[15] The Lord’s kingship, by which one means the Divine Truth that goes forth from Him, was also represented by the throne that Solomon built, described in the first Book of Kings as follows,
Solomon made a large throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. There were six steps to the throne, and a rounded top to the throne at the back of it; there were armrests** on either side at the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests,** and twelve lions standing there, above the six steps on either side. 1 Kings 10:18-20.
It was a throne of glory that was represented by all this. ‘Lions’ are Divine Truths engaged in conflict and overcoming, ‘twelve lions’ being all those Truths in their entirety.
[16] Since almost everything in the Word has a contrary meaning, ‘a throne’ has such too. Its contrary meaning is a kingdom of falsity, as in John,
To the angel of the Church which is in Pergamum, I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Rev. 1:12, 13.
In the same book,
The dragon gave the beast coming up out of the sea his power, and his throne, and great authority. Rev. 13:2.
In the same book,
The fifth angel poured out his bowl onto the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened. Rev. 16:10.
In Isaiah,
You said in your heart, I will go up into the heavens, above the stars of God I will raise my throne. Isa. 14:13.
This refers to Babel.
* i.e. in Chapter 8 of the Book of Revelation
** lit. hands
‘And Pharaoh said to Joseph’ means a further perception present in the natural but received from the celestial of the spiritual. ‘See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt’ means dominion over both parts of the natural. ‘And Pharaoh took off his ring from upon his hand’ means a confirmation regarding the power which belonged at first to the natural. ‘And put it onto Joseph’s hand’ means that it yielded all that power to the celestial of the spiritual. ‘And clothed him in robes of fine linen’ means an outward sign denoting the celestial of the spiritual, ‘robes of fine linen’ being truths going forth from the Divine. ‘And placed a chain of gold onto his neck’ means an outward sign denoting the joining of interior things to exterior ones, good being that which effects that joining together. ‘And he made him ride in the second chariot’ means an outward sign that the celestial of the spiritual was the source of all the teaching about goodness and truth. ‘That he had’ means which is imparted through the natural. ‘And they cried out before him, Abrek!’ means acknowledgement coming through faith, and homage. ‘And he set him over all the land of Egypt’ means that its authority was as described. ‘And Pharaoh said to Joseph’ means further perception still. ‘I am Pharaoh’ means that this made the natural what it was. ‘And without you shall no man lift up his hand’ means that all power in the spiritual was received from the celestial of the spiritual. ‘Or his foot’ means all power in the natural. ‘In all the land of Egypt’ means in both parts of the natural.
Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring upon his hand and shoes on his feet. Luke 15:22.
Here also, as before, ‘a ring’ means a confirmation regarding power in the house, such as a son possesses. The same meaning is evident even from the customs which have come down to us from ancient times, such as the customs followed at betrothals and weddings, also at inaugurations, when rings are placed upon the hand. By these rings too a confirmation regarding power is meant. In addition to this, signets, which were likewise worn on the hand, Jer. 22:24, mean consent and confirmation, see 4874.
[2] There are other places too in the Word where truth going forth from the Divine is meant by ‘fine linen’ and ‘robes of fine linen’, as in Ezekiel,
I clothed you with embroidered cloth, and shed you with badger, and swathed you in fine linen, and covered you in silk. Thus were you adorned with gold and silver, and your robes were fine linen, and silk, and embroidered cloth. Ezek. 16:10, 13.
This refers to Jerusalem, which is used in these verses to mean the Ancient Church. The truths of this Church are described by robes made of embroidered cloth, fine linen, and silk, and by being adorned with gold and silver. ‘Embroidered cloth’ means truths existing as facts, ‘fine linen’ natural truths, and ‘silk’ spiritual truths.
[3] In the same prophet,
Fine linen with embroidered work from Egypt was your sail, that it might be to you an ensign; violet and purple from the islands of Elishah was your covering. Ezek. 27:7.
This refers to Tyre, which too is used to mean the Ancient Church, but so far as cognitions of good and truth are concerned. ‘Fine linen with embroidered work from Egypt, which was its sail’ means truth obtained from factual knowledge, which was the outward sign of that Church.
[4] In John,
The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over Babylon, since no one buys their wares any more, wares of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every vessel made of most precious wood, and bronze, and iron, and marble. Rev. 18:11, 12.
All the specific commodities mentioned here mean the kinds of things that have to do with the Church and so truth and goodness. Here however they are used in the contrary sense because they are spoken of in reference to Babylon. Anyone may see that such commodities would never have been listed in the Word which has come down from heaven unless each one held something heavenly within it. What other reason can there be for a list of worldly wares when Babylon, meaning an unholy Church, is the subject? Similarly in the same book,
Woe, woe, the great city, you that were clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, covered* with gold, and precious stones, and pearls. Rev. 18:16.
[5] The fact that each commodity means something Divine and heavenly is quite evident in the same book where it states what fine linen is, namely the righteous acts of the saints,
The time of the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. At that time she was given fine linen, clean and shining, to wear; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Rev. 19:7, 8.
‘Fine linen’ is ‘the righteous acts of the saints’ for the reason that all those with whom truth received from the Divine exists are clothed with the Lord’s righteousness. For their robes which are bright and shining are products of the light which flows from the Lord. Therefore in heaven truth itself is represented by ‘brightness’, 3301, 3997, 4007; and people who are being raised to heaven from a state of vastation are seen to be clothed with brightness because they are at this point casting off the robe of their own righteousness and putting on that of the Lord’s righteousness.
[6] So that truth from the Divine might be represented in the Jewish Church, they were commanded to use cotton or fine linen in Aaron’s vestments, and also in the curtains around the Ark, referred to in Moses as follows,
You shall make in chequered pattern for Aaron a tunic of cotton, and you shall make a turban of cotton. Exod. 28:39.
They made tunics of cotton, the work of a weaver, for Aaron and his sons. Exod. 39:27.
You shall make the Dwelling-place, ten curtains – fine-twined cotton, violet and purple and twice-dyed scarlet. Exod. 26:1; 36:8.
You shall make the court of the Dwelling-place. The hangings for the court shall be of fine-twined cotton. Exod. 27:9, 18; 38:9.
The screen for the gate of the court, the work of an embroiderer, violet and purple, and twice-dyed scarlet, and fine-twined cotton. Exod. 38:18.
Cotton is fine linen, which they were commanded to use because each object in the Ark and around the Ark, also every detail of Aaron’s vestments, were representative of spiritual and celestial realities. From this one may see that a person has only a meagre understanding of the Word if he does not know what such things represent, and scarcely any understanding at all if he thinks that the Word possesses no holiness other than that which presents itself in the letter.
[7] When angels with whom truth from the Divine is present are seen by anyone they are clothed so to speak in fine linen, that is, in shining brightness, as is evident in John where ‘a white horse’ is referred to,
The One seated on a white horse was clothed in a garment dyed with blood, and His name is called the Word. His armies in heaven were following Him on white horses; they were clothed in fine linen, white and clean. Rev. 19:11, 13, 14.
These words show quite plainly that ‘fine linen’ is an outward sign denoting truth from the Divine, for ‘the One seated on a white horse’ is the Lord as to the Word; indeed those words state quite explicitly that He is the Word. The Word is truth itself received from the Divine, and ‘a white horse’ is the internal sense of the Word, see 2760-2762. Consequently truths received from the Divine are meant by ‘white horses’, for such truths constitute the whole of the internal sense of the Word. This was why His armies were seen ‘on white horses’ and why ‘they were clothed in fine linen, white and clean’.
* lit. gilded
I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets onto your hands and a chain onto your neck. Ezek. 16:11.
You shall be over my house, and all my people shall kiss you on the mouth; only in the throne will I be great, more than you.
The reason why teaching that has reference to goodness and truth is meant by ‘Joseph’ is that ‘Joseph’ represents the Lord’s Divine Spiritual, 3971, 4669, and so Divine Truth going forth from the Lord’s Divine Human, 4723, 4717, the celestial of the spiritual being an extension of that Divine Truth. The reason why all the teaching about goodness and truth is derived from the celestial of the spiritual is that in a real sense the Lord is that teaching since every detail of it comes forth from Him and every detail of it has reference to Him. For all that teaching has reference to the good of love and the truth of faith; and since the Lord is the source of these, He is not merely present within them but in a real sense is both of them. From this it is clear that teaching which has reference to goodness and truth has reference to the Lord alone, and that such goes forth from His Divine Human.
[2] No doctrine at all can possibly go forth from the Divine itself except through the Divine Human, that is, through the Word, which in the highest sense is Divine Truth coming from the Lord’s Divine Human. That which goes forth directly from the Divine itself cannot be understood even by angels in the inmost heaven. The reason for this is that it is infinite and so surpasses all understanding, even that of angels. But that which goes forth from the Lord’s Divine Human is capable of being understood, for such truth refers to God as Divine Man, of whom some idea can be formed from His Human. No matter what kind of idea has been formed about that Human, it is an acceptable one if only the good of innocence has been inspired into it and the good of charity is present within it. This is the meaning of the Lord’s words in John,
Nobody has ever seen God; the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known. John 1:18.
In the same gospel,
You have never heard the Father’s voice nor seen His shape. John 5:37.
And in Matthew,
No one knows the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son wishes to reveal Him. Matt. 11:27.
[3] Chariots are mentioned in very many places in the Word, yet scarcely anyone knows that matters of doctrine concerning goodness and truth, and also factual knowledge attached to those matters of doctrine, are meant by ‘chariots’. The reason for such lack of knowledge is that nothing spiritual, only what is natural and historical, enters their thinking when ‘a chariot’ is mentioned, or similarly when the horses in front of a chariot are mentioned. But in the Word the powers of the understanding are meant by ‘horses’, 2760-2762, 3117, and therefore ‘a chariot’ means matters of doctrine and associated factual knowledge.
[4] It has become clear to me from the chariots which I have seen so many times in the next life that ‘chariots’ means the matters of doctrine and also the factual knowledge which the Church possesses. There is also a place over on the right, around the lower earth, where chariots and horses, together with rows of stables, appear. In that place people who in the world were considered learned, and who thought that life was the end in view of learning, stroll and converse with one another. The origin of such chariots and horses seen by them lies with the angels in higher heavens; when these angels’ conversation turns to intellectual concepts, and to matters of doctrine and to known facts, those chariots and horses are seen by the spirits around the lower earth.
[5] The fact that such things are meant by ‘chariots and horses’ is perfectly plain from the occasion when Elijah was seen riding into heaven in a chariot of fire with horses of fire, and from what both he and Elisha were called – ‘the chariot of Israel and its horsemen’. The two of them are spoken of in the second Book of Kings as follows,
Behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire came between them, and Elijah went up in a whirlwind into heaven; Elisha saw this and cried out, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen. 2 Kings 2:11, 12.
And in a reference to Elisha in the same book,
When Elisha was sick with the illness from which he died, Joash the king of Israel came down to him and wept before his face and said, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen. 2 Kings 13:14.
The reason they were called this is that both of them – Elijah and Elisha – represented the Lord as to the Word, see Preface to Genesis 18, and 2762, 5247 (end). The Word itself is primarily doctrinal teaching about what is good and true, for the Word is the source of all doctrinal teaching. It was for the same reason that Elisha’s servant, whose eyes had been opened by Jehovah, saw around Elisha,
A mountain full of horses and chariots of fire. 2 Kings 6:17.
[6] The fact that ‘chariot’ means matters of doctrine and ‘horse’ intellectual concepts is also clear from other places in the Word, as in Ezekiel,
You will be filled at My table with horse and chariot, with mighty man and every man of war. Thus will I bring My glory to the nations. Ezek. 39:20, 11; Rev. 19:18.
This refers to the Lord’s Coming. Anyone can see that here ‘horse and chariot’ does not mean horse and chariot, for people are not going to be filled with these at the Lord’s table but with such things as are meant spiritually by ‘horse and chariot’, which are intellectual concepts and matters of doctrine regarding what is good and true.
[7] Much the same is meant by ‘horses’ and ‘chariots’ in the following places: In David,
The chariots of God are myriad on myriad,* thousands of peacemakers; the Lord is within them, Sinai is within the sanctuary. Ps. 68:17.
In the same author,
Jehovah covers Himself with light as with a garment; He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, laying the beams for His upper chambers** on the waters; He makes the clouds His chariots; He walks on the wings of the wind. Ps 104:2, 3.
In Isaiah,
The prophecy of the wilderness of the sea. Thus said the Lord to me, Set a watchman; let him announce what he sees. He therefore saw a chariot, a pair of horsemen, a chariot of asses, a chariot of camels, and he listened diligently, with great care. For a lion cried out on the watchtower, O Lord, I am standing continually during the daytime, and at my post I have been set every night. Now behold, a chariot of men, a pair of horsemen. And he said, Fallen, fallen has Babylon. Isa. 21:1, 6-9.
[8] In the same prophet,
At that time they will bring all your brothers in all nations as an offering to Jehovah, on horses, and in chariots, and in covered waggons, and on mules, and on fast runners, to My holy mountain, Jerusalem. Isa. 66:20.
In the same prophet,
Behold, Jehovah will come in fire, and His chariots will be like a whirlwind. Isa. 66:15.
In Habakkuk,
Has Jehovah been displeased with the rivers? Has Your anger turned against the rivers, has Your wrath turned against the sea, that You ride on Your horses, Your chariots being salvation? Hab. 3:8.
In Zechariah,
I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, four chariots coming out from between two mountains; but the mountains were mountains of bronze. The horses coupled to the first chariot were reddish, the horses coupled to the second chariot were black, the horses coupled to the third chariot were white, and the horses coupled to the fourth chariot were mottled. Zech. 6:1-3.
[9] And 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; 12:4.
‘The city that will be inhabited for ever’ is not Jerusalem but the Lord’s Church meant by ‘Jerusalem’, 402, 2117, 3654. The kings who will enter through the gates of that city are not kings but truths known to the Church, 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068. Thus ‘princes’ are not princes but the first and foremost aspects of truth, 1482, 2089, 5044. Those ‘seated on the throne of David’ are Divine Truths which go forth from the Lord, 5313; and those ‘riding in chariots and on horses’ are consequently intellectual concepts and matters of doctrine. Chariots are also mentioned many times in historical descriptions in the Word; and since historical events are representative of, and the words used to describe them mean, the kinds of things that exist in the Lord’s kingdom and in the Church, ‘chariots’ have a similar meaning there also.
[10] Since most things in the Word also have a contrary meaning, so too does ‘chariots’. In that contrary sense matters of doctrine maintaining what is evil and false, also factual knowledge used to lend support to these, are meant by ‘chariots’, as in the following places: In Isaiah,
Woe to those who go down into Egypt for help and rely on horses and trust in chariots because they are many, and on horsemen because they are extremely strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel. Isa. 31:1.
In the same prophet,
By the hand of your*** servants you have spoken ill of the Lord and have said, By the multitude of my chariots I have gone up [to] the height of the mountains, the sides of Lebanon, where I will cut down the tallness of its cedars, the choice of its fir trees. Isa. 37:24.
This is a prophecy delivered in response to the haughty words spoken by the Rabshakeh, a leader serving the king of Assyria. In Jeremiah,
Behold, waters rising out of the north which will become a deluging stream, and they will deluge the land and all that fills it, the city and those who dwell in it. And every inhabitant of the land will wail at the sound of the beat of the hoofs of the horses his mighty ones, at the noise of his chariot, the rumble of its wheels. Jer. 47:2, 3.
[11] In Ezekiel,
By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust will cover you; by reason of the noise of horsemen, and wheels, and chariots, your walls will be shaken, when he comes into your gates, like the entry into a city that has been breached. By means of the hoofs of his horses he will trample all your streets. Ezek. 26:10, 11.
In Haggai,
I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations. I will also overthrow the chariots and those riding in them; the horses and their riders will come down. Hagg. 2:22.
In Zechariah,
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, I will cut off the battle bow. On the other hand He will speak peace to the nations. Zech. 9:10.
In Jeremiah,
Egypt comes up like the river, like the rivers his waters are tossed about. For he said, I will go up, I will cover the earth, I will destroy the city and those who dwell in it. Go up, O horses; rage, O chariots. Jer. 46:8, 9.
[12] The horses and chariots with which the Egyptians pursued the children of Israel and with which Pharaoh entered the Sea Suph, when the wheels of the chariots were made to come off, and much else regarding the horses and chariots which forms the major part of the description – Exod. 14:6, 7, 9, 17, 23, 25, 26 and 15:4, 19 – mean intellectual concepts, matters of doctrine, and known facts which maintain what is false. They also mean therefore reasonings which pervert and destroy the truths known to the Church. The destruction and death of such reasonings is described there.
* lit. two myriads
** lit. His couches
*** The Latin means my, but the Hebrew means your.
[2] In former times people bent their knees before kings when they rode by in a chariot. They bent them because kings represented the Lord’s Divine Truth, while ‘a chariot’ meant His Word. This customary act of homage came into being when people knew what was represented by it, at which time kings did not think that such homage was paid to themselves but to their kingly authority, which was distinct from yet invested in their own persons. That authority invested in them was the law, and because this law had its origin in Divine Truth, it was the law invested in the person of the king, inasmuch as he was the guardian of the law, to which homage had to be paid. Thus a king did not attribute any royal authority to himself other than guardianship of the law. Insofar as he relinquished that guardianship he relinquished his royal authority; for he knew that homage arising from any other source than the law, that is, any other homage than that paid to the law itself, was idolatry. By royal authority is meant Divine Truth – see 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068 – and therefore that authority is the law, which essentially is truth reigning in that kingdom, in accordance with which its inhabitants conduct their lives. From all this it may be seen that ‘Abrek!’ or ‘bend your knees’ means homage.
[3] Since ‘a cry’ is in a similar way an action which corresponds to a living confession or an acknowledgement that is a product of faith, crying out was also the custom followed by the ancients when an outward sign of such confession or acknowledgement needed to be made. The expression ‘crying out’ is therefore used in various places in the Word when confession and acknowledgement that are the product of faith are referred to, as in the description involving John the Baptist in John,
He bore witness to Jesus and he cried out, saying, This was He of whom I spoke, He who, though coming after me, was before me, for He was before me. I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord. John 1:15, 23.
In the same gospel,
They took branches of palm trees, and went to meet Jesus, and cried, Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel! John 12:13.
In Luke,
Jesus said to the Pharisees that if [the disciples] kept silent, the stones would cry out. Luke 19:40.
Because ‘crying out’ meant an acknowledgement that was the product of faith and consequently acceptance rising out of the acknowledgement, one therefore reads several times of the Lord’s crying out, as in John 7:28, 37; 12:44, 45. Also in Isaiah,
Jehovah will go forth as a Mighty Man, as a Man of Wars He will arouse zeal; He will shout aloud, and also will cry out. Isa. 42:13.
In the contrary sense ‘crying out’ means lack of acknowledgement and so aversion, see 5016, 5018, 5027. This usage has reference to falsity, 2240.
[2] But in the case of someone who is being regenerated everything is made spiritual. The spiritual not only determines the thoughts and desires of the natural but also constitutes the natural in exactly the same way as a cause constitutes its effect; for nothing else acts within any effect except its cause. Thus the natural becomes like the spiritual, for the contents of the natural – such as any knowledge or cognition which springs from something in the natural world – do not act by themselves; they serve merely to support the spiritual so that it can act within and through the natural, and so act on the level of the natural. The same is so within an effect. An effect holds more things within itself than its cause does; yet the only purpose such things serve is to enable the cause to achieve the actual effect within the effect and to present itself in actual fact on the level of effect. From these few comments one may see what the natural is like in the case of a person who has been created anew, that is, regenerated – that regeneration, which made the natural what it was, being meant by ‘I am Pharaoh’.
[2] Whenever the whole of heaven is displayed visually as one human being, the inmost or third heaven presents itself as the head, the middle or second heaven presents itself as the body, and the lowest or first as the feet. The reason the inmost or third heaven presents itself as the head is that it is celestial; the reason the middle or second heaven presents itself as the body is that it is spiritual; and the reason the lowest or first presents itself as the feet is that it is natural. By ‘the neck’ therefore, since this is an intermediate part, is meant the inflow and communication of celestial things with spiritual ones; and by ‘the knees’, since these are likewise intermediate, is meant the inflow and communication of spiritual things with natural ones. From this it is evident that ‘lifting up the hand’ means power within the spiritual, while ‘lifting up the foot’ means power within the natural, and therefore that the power meant by ‘the hand’ has regard to the spiritual, namely to truth grounded in good, 3091, 3567, 4932. By the spiritual is meant that within the natural which belongs to the light of heaven, and by the natural that within the natural which belongs to the light of the world; for everything belonging to the light of heaven is called spiritual, and everything belonging to the light of the world is called natural.
Pharaoh took off his ring from upon his hand and put it onto Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in robes of fine linen, and placed a chain of gold onto his neck. And he made him ride in the second chariot that he had; and they cried out before him, Abrek! and he set him over all the land of Egypt.
[2] For angels cannot have any perception at all of actual historical details since these are the kind of things that belong to the world and not to heaven; things that belong to the world are not seen by them. Yet because everything in the world has a correspondence with something in heaven angels therefore have a perception of heavenly things when man’s perception is of worldly ones. If this were not so no angel from heaven could ever be present with man; but so that an angel can be present with him the Word has been provided, in which angels perceive a Divine holiness that they can communicate to the person with whom they are present.
‘And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath Faneah’ means the essential nature of the celestial of the spiritual at this point. ‘And gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera the priest of On, for a wife’ means the essential nature of the marriage of truth to good, and of good to truth. ‘And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt’ means when both parts of the natural were His.
‘And Joseph was a son of thirty years’ means a state when the quantity of remnants was complete. ‘When he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt’ means the presence of the celestial of the spiritual in the natural. ‘And Joseph came out from before Pharaoh’ means when the natural in general belonged to it. ‘And went through all the land of Egypt’ means when it made each thing there subordinate and submissive. ‘And in the seven years of abundance of corn the land yielded bunches’ means initial states when series of truths were multiplied. ‘And he gathered all the food of the seven years’ means the preservation of truth linked to good, multiplied in the initial phases. ‘Which were in the land of Egypt’ means within the natural. ‘And laid up food in the cities’ means that it stored them in the interior parts. ‘The food of the field of a city’ means that these were proper to and suitable for those interior parts. ‘Which was round about it he laid up in the midst of it’ means what existed first in the exterior natural was stored away by it in the interior parts of the interior natural. ‘And Joseph stored up grain like the sand of the sea, very much’ means a multiplication of truth derived from good. ‘Until he left off numbering, because it was beyond number’ means such as holds the celestial from the Divine within it.
* lit. gave
[2] A completed number of remnants is likewise meant by ‘thirty’ – as it is also by ‘sixty’, and by ‘a hundred’ too – in Mark,
The seed which fell into good ground yielded fruit growing up and increasing. One bore thirty-fold, and another sixty, and another a hundred. Mark 4:8, 10.
Each of these numbers, being a multiple of ten, means a completed number of remnants. Also, because no one can be regenerated – that is, permitted to enter into spiritual temptations, by means of which regeneration is effected – until he has received a completed number of remnants, it was therefore laid down that no Levite should carry out any work in the tent of meeting until he was fully thirty years old. Their work or function is also called ‘military service’, being referred to in Moses as follows,
Take a census of the sons of Kohath from the midst of the sons of Levi – from sons thirty years of age and over, up to sons fifty years of age, everyone coming to perform military service, to do the work in the tent of meeting. Num. 4:2, 3.
Much the same is said regarding the sons of Gershon, and much the same regarding the sons of Merari, in verses 22, 23, 29, 30, and then in verses 35, 39, 43. Of that same chapter in Moses. And something similar is implied where it says that David began to reign when he was a son thirty years of age, 2 Sam. 5:4.
[3] From all this one may now see why the Lord did not make Himself known until He was thirty years of age, Luke 3:23. At that age a completed number of remnants existed with Him, though these remnants which the Lord possessed were ones that He Himself had acquired for Himself. They were also Divine ones and the means by which He united His Human Essence to His Divine Essence and made that Human Essence Divine, 1906. In Him therefore lies the reason why ‘thirty years’ means a state when the quantity of remnants is complete and why the priests the Levites began to perform their specific functions when they were thirty years old. And because he was to represent the Lord’s kingship, David did not begin to reign until he was that same age. For every representative is derived from the Lord, and therefore every representative has reference to Him.
Jesus said regarding Himself, From God I came out and now come. John 8:42.
The Father loves you because you have loved Me and have believed that I came out from God. I came out from the Father and have come into the world; again I am leaving the world and going to the Father. The disciples said, We believe that You came out from God. John 16:27, 28, 30.
They have received and know in truth that I came out from You.* John 17:8.
[2] To show what is meant by ‘coming out’ or going forth let some examples be used. Truth is said to come out or go forth from good when truth is the form that good possesses, that is, when truth is good existing in a form intelligible to the understanding. The understanding too may be said to come out or go forth from the will when the understanding is the form that the will possesses, that is, when the will exists in a form discernible to a person’s inner sight. Thought which is the activity of the understanding may in a similar way be said to come out or go forth when it is transformed into speech, and so may the will when this is transformed into action. Thought takes on a different form when it is transferred into speech; yet it is still thought which comes out or goes forth within such speech, for the words and sounds which are chosen are no more than adjuncts to thought which serve to present it in such a way that it can be discerned. The will in a similar way takes on a different form when it is transferred into action; yet it is still the will which is present in that different form. The gestures and movements which it adopts are no more than adjuncts to the will which serve to reveal this in a suitable way that enables it to be known. The external man may likewise be said to come out or go forth from the internal man, and to do so as that which manifests the substance, for the external man is nothing else than the form given to the internal man [or the substance], enabling it to function in a proper way in the world in which it exists. From all these examples one may see what is meant in the spiritual sense by ‘coming out’ or going forth, namely that when used in reference to the Lord, ‘coming out’ or going forth means the Divine existing within a human form, thus in a form suited to believers’ perception. For these two [the Divine and the human form] exist as one.
* The Latin means God but the Greek means You, which Sw. has in another place where he quotes this verse.
The role which the series meant by ‘bunches’ play is this: With a person who is undergoing reformation general truths are introduced first, then the particular aspects of those general truths, and after that the specific details of these particular aspects. Particular aspects are ranged in order beneath general truths, and specific details beneath particular aspects, 2384, 3057, 4269, 4325 (end), 4329 (middle), 4345, 4383, 5208.
[2] These arrays or ordered arrangements of truths are meant in the Word by bundles, which at this point are called handfuls or ‘bunches’. They are nothing else than truths which have been multiplied and are then arrayed in or arranged into series. With people who are regenerate these series follow the same ordered patterns as those in which the communities in heaven exist; but in the case of those who are not regenerate and are incapable of becoming such they follow the patterns in which the communities in hell exist. Consequently a person who is governed by evil, and by falsity rooted in evil, is a miniature hell, whereas one who is governed by good, and by truth rooted in good, is a miniature heaven. But more, in the Lord’s Divine mercy, will be stated elsewhere about these series.
[2] The expression ‘the preservation of truth linked to good’ is used, but because few are aware of what truth linked to good is, let alone of how and when truth becomes linked to good, let something therefore be said about this. Truth comes to be joined to good when a person finds joy in doing good to his neighbour for truth and goodness’ own sake, and not for any selfish or worldly reason. When that affection moves a person the truths he hears or reads or thinks about become joined to good; and this can usually be seen in an affection for truth which has that end in view.
[2] The arcanum is this: During the time from earliest infancy through to early childhood a person is led by the Lord into heaven; indeed he is placed among celestial angels who serve to keep him in a state of innocence. This state which infants pass through until early childhood is a well-known one. At the beginning of childhood a gradual shedding of that state of innocence takes place; but even so, the person is kept in a state of charity through the charitable affection which he and his companions feel for one another. During this state, which with many people lasts through to adolescence, he is among spiritual angels. Because he begins at this time to think from what is within himself and to act in accordance with this, he cannot be kept any longer in charity, as he was previously; for now he calls on hereditary evils and allows them to lead him. Once this state has arrived the forms of the good of charity and innocence adopted by him previously are banished, to the extent that forms of evil are present in his thinking and are reinforced by his actions. Actually those forms of good are not banished but are withdrawn by the Lord to interior parts where they are stored away.
[3] But because he does not as yet know any truths, those forms of the good of innocence and charity which he has adopted during those two states do not possess any qualities as yet; for truths give good its qualities, while good gives truths their essence. From this time of life onwards therefore he is being equipped with truths by means of the teaching he receives, and especially by means of his own thoughts about and consequent verification of those truths. Insofar as he is moved at this time by an affection for good, the Lord joins truths to good in him, 5340, and stores them away for [future] use. This is the state that is meant by the seven years of abundance of corn. These truths linked to good are the ones which in a proper sense are called remnants. In the measure therefore that a person allows himself to be regenerated, the remnants serve a useful purpose; for the Lord draws in the same measure on that store of remnants and returns them to the natural. As a result a correspondence of exterior things with interior ones, or natural things with spiritual ones, is brought about; and this happens in the state that is meant by ‘the seven years of famine’. This is the arcanum.
[4] At the present day the member of the Church thinks that no matter what anyone’s life is like he can nevertheless by an act of mercy be accepted into heaven and enjoy eternal blessedness there; for the member of the Church imagines that it is simply a matter of being let in. But he is much mistaken, because no one can be let into heaven and find acceptance there unless he has acquired spiritual life, and no one can acquire spiritual life unless he is being regenerated, and no one can undergo regeneration except by means of goodness of life coupled to truth taught by doctrine. This is the way spiritual life is acquired by him. The fact that no one can enter heaven unless he has acquired spiritual life through regeneration is stated plainly by the Lord in John,
Truly, truly I say to you, Unless anyone is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 9:9.
And just after this,
Truly, truly I say to you, Unless a person has been born from water and the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. John 3:5.
‘Water’ is the truth taught by doctrine, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, and ‘the spirit’ is goodness of life. No one enters the kingdom simply through being baptized; rather, baptism is the sign denoting regeneration which the member of the Church should call to mind.
[2] The actual series too are positioned in relation to one another in a similar kind of way. But such positionings vary in keeping with the changes of state that take place. It is quite normal in the next life for such arrangements of truths joined to good to present themselves in a visual manner; for in the light of heaven, which holds intelligence and wisdom within it, visual images can be used to present such things. The same cannot be done in the light of the world, nor can it be done in the light of heaven if a person’s interior parts have not been opened, though he still has the ability to recognize them through rational insights and so see them by the use of reason in the light of heaven. These ordered arrangements of truths owe their origin to the ordered arrangements of the angelic communities in heaven; for in whatever way the angelic communities are arranged, so also with regenerate persons are the series of truths joined to good arranged, because these series of truths correspond to those angelic communities.
[2] Those spiritual parts there are what correspond to the angelic communities in the second heaven, and a person is in communication with this heaven through his remnants. This heaven is the one that is opened when a person is being regenerated, and it is the one that is shut when a person does not allow himself to be regenerated. For remnants – that is, truths and forms of good stored away in interior parts – are nothing else than correspondences with the communities belonging to that heaven.
‘And to Joseph were born two sons’ means the good and truth born from this.’8efore the year of famine came’ means which were born through the natural. ‘Whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera the priest of On, bore to him’ means which were born from the marriage. ‘And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh’ means a new area of will within the natural, and the essential nature of it. ‘For God has made me forget all my labour’ means a removal after temptations have finished. ‘And all my father’s house’ means the removal of hereditary evils. ‘And the name of the second he called Ephraim’ means a new area of understanding within the natural, and the essential nature of it. ‘For God has made me fruitful’ means leading to a multiplication of truth from good. ‘In the land of my affliction’ means where the temptations were undergone.
[2] The reason why the firstborn who was given the name Manasseh means spiritual good within the natural, or a new area of will there, is that good is in actual fact the firstborn in the Church. That is, with someone who is in the process of becoming a Church, truth is not the firstborn, though it appears to be so, see 352, 367, 2435, 3325, 3494, 4925, 4926, 4928, 4930. The same may also be recognized from the consideration that a person’s will takes precedence over his understanding; for the desires in a person’s will are the primary constituents of his life, while the ideas in his understanding are secondary to them; and he acts in accordance with the desires of his will. What goes forth from the will is called good in the case of those who through regeneration have received from the Lord a new will; but it is called evil in the case of those who have had no wish to receive such. What goes forth from the understanding however is called truth in the case of the regenerate but falsity in the case of the unregenerate. But because no knowledge of a person’s will is possible except through his understanding – for the understanding is the outward form that the will possesses or the outward form taken by the will which enables it to be known – people therefore imagine that truth which goes forth from the understanding is the firstborn. But this is nothing else than the appearance, for the reason that has been stated.
[3] This explains the controversy that existed in former times over whether the truth which is the essence of faith was the firstborn of the Church or whether good which is the essence of charity was such. Those who based their conclusions on the appearance said that truth was the firstborn, whereas those who did not base theirs on the appearance acknowledged that good was. This also explains why at the present day people make faith the primary and absolutely essential constituent of the Church, but charity the secondary and non-essential element. But by supposing that faith alone is what saves a person they have sunk into far deeper error than the ancients. (In the Church faith is used to mean all the truth of doctrine, while charity is used to mean all the good of life.) They do, it is true, call charity and the works of charity the fruits of faith. Yet does anyone believe that those fruits make any contribution to salvation when the belief exists that someone can be saved by faith in the final hour of his life, no matter what kind of life he led before then? More than this, does anyone believe that those fruits contribute in any way to salvation when people use doctrine to set faith apart from works that are the product of charity, saying that faith alone saves without good works, or that works which are matters of life contribute nothing to salvation? Dear, dear! What kind of faith is that, and what kind of Church is it when people cherish faith that is dead and reject faith that is living? For faith without charity is like a body without a soul. But a body without a soul is removed from sight and put away because it stinks, as everyone knows; and in the next life faith without charity is just like this. All who possessed faith so-called which was devoid of charity are in hell; but all who had charity are in heaven. For everyone’s life remains with him, whereas doctrine does so only insofar as it draws on that life.
[4] It is less easy to show from other places in the Word that ‘Manasseh’ means a new area of will within the natural – or what amounts to the same, spiritual good there – than it is to show that ‘Ephraim’ means a new area of understanding within the natural, or spiritual truth there. Even so, inferences can be drawn regarding the meaning of ‘Manasseh’ from what is said about ‘Ephraim’, because in the Word when two are mentioned together in the way these are, one means good, the other truth. Therefore Manasseh’s meaning – spiritual good within the natural, which is the essence of the new will there – will be seen in what follows shortly where Ephraim is the subject.
[2] But with no one can this good have its origin in the person himself, for it is something utterly heavenly flowing into him from the Lord. This heavenly good is flowing in constantly, but evils and falsities stand in the way and prevent the reception of it. So that it may be received therefore it is necessary for the person to remove the evils and, so far as he possibly can do so, the falsities too, and thereby bring himself into a condition to receive that good flowing in. When, after evils have been removed, he accepts the inflow of good he acquires a new will and a new understanding. The new will enables him to feel a sense of delight in doing good to his neighbour without any selfish end in view, and the new understanding enables him to take delight in learning what goodness and truth are for their own sakes and for the sake of the life he should lead. Because this new understanding and new will are brought into being by what flows in from the Lord, the person who has been regenerated therefore acknowledges and believes that the goodness and truth for which he feels an affection do not originate in himself but in the Lord, and also that what does originate in himself or is properly his own is nothing but evil.
[3] From all this one may see what is meant by being born again, and also what is meant by a new will and a new understanding. But regeneration, which brings the new will and the new understanding into being, does not take place in a single instant. Rather, it is taking place from earliest childhood through to the final phase of life, and after that for ever in the next life; and it is accomplished by Divine means that are countless and beyond description. In himself the human being is nothing but evil which is constantly radiating from him as if from a furnace and is constantly trying to smother good while it is still being born. The removal of that kind of evil and the firm implantation of good in its place cannot be effected except through the whole course of a person’s life; nor can it be effected except by Divine means which are countless and beyond description. At the present time scarcely anything is known about these means, for the reason that people do not allow themselves to be regenerated. Nor do they believe that regeneration is anything, because they do not believe in a life after death. The process by which regeneration takes place, a process involving things beyond description, constitutes the major part of angelic wisdom; and that process is of such a nature that no angel can ever completely exhaust all there is to know about it. This is the reason why in the internal sense of the Word it is the chief matter that is dealt with.
[4] It is evident from very many places in the Word that ‘Ephraim’ means a new understanding within the natural, above all in the prophet Hosea, who makes many references to Ephraim, the following among them,
I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me, that you have altogether committed whoredom, O Ephraim; Israel has been defiled. Israel and Ephraim will collapse through their iniquity; Judah also will collapse with them. Ephraim will become a lonely place on the day of reproach.* And I will be like a moth to Ephraim, and like a worm to the house of Joseph. And Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound; and Ephraim went to Assyria and sent to King Jareb, and he could not cure you. Hosea 9:3, 5, 9, 11-13.
After this in the same prophet,
When I healed Israel the iniquity of Ephraim was revealed, and the evils of Samaria; for they practised a lie, and a thief came, a band spread itself outside. And Ephraim was like a silly dove with no heart; they called on Egypt, they went away to Assyria. When they go I will stretch My net over them. Hosea 7:1, 11, 12 and following verses.
[5] And further on in the same prophet,
Israel has been swallowed up, now they are going to be among the gentiles, like a vessel in which there is no desire. When they went up to Assyria [they were like] a wild ass alone by himself; Ephraim procures lovers** with a prostitute’s hire. Hosea 8:8, 9.
Israel will not dwell in Jehovah’s land, but Ephraim will return to Egypt, and in Assyria they will eat what is unclean. Hosea 9:3.
Ephraim has encompassed Me with a lie, and the house of Israel with deceit; and Judah will have dominion still with God and with the saints of the Faithful One.*** Ephraim feeds the wind, and pursues the east wind. All the day long he multiplies lies and devastation and they make a covenant with the Assyrian, and oil is carried down into Egypt. Hosea 11:11; 12:1.
[6] Ephraim is referred to by this prophet in many other places besides these, such as Hosea 4:16-18; 5:3, 5, 9, 11-13; 7:8, 9; 9:8, 11, 13, 16; 10:6, 11; 11:3, 8, 9; 12:8, 14; 13:1, 12; 14:8. In all these places ‘Ephraim’ is used to mean the area of understanding within the Church, Israel’ the spiritual area within it, and ‘Judah’ the celestial area. Also, since the area of understanding within the Church is meant by ‘Ephraim’, frequent reference is therefore made to Ephraim going away into Egypt or into Assyria. This is because ‘Egypt’ means factual knowledge and ‘Assyria’ reasonings based on this; and factual knowledge and reasonings are things associated with the understanding. For the meaning of Egypt’ as factual knowledge, see 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 2588, 3325, 4749, 4964, 4966; and for that of ‘Asshur’ or ‘Assyria’ as reason or reasoning, 119, 1186.
[7] The understanding area of the Church is meant in a similar way by ‘Ephraim’ in the following places: In Zechariah,
Exult greatly, O daughter of Zion! Make a noise, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king comes to you. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and I will cut off the battle bow; on the other hand he will speak peace to the nations. And his dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. I will bend Judah for Me, I will fill Ephraim with the bow; and I will rouse your sons, O Zion, together with your sons, O Javan. Zech. 9:9, 10, 13.
This refers to the Lord’s Coming, also to the Church among the gentiles. ‘Cutting off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem’ stands for the entire understanding which the Church possesses. ‘Filling Ephraim with the bow’ stands for imparting a new understanding. For ‘the chariot’ means doctrinal teaching, see 5321; ‘the horse’ means the power of understanding, 2760-2762, 3217, 5321; and ‘the bow’ too means doctrinal teaching, 2685, 2686, 2709. Doctrinal teaching is dependent on the power of understanding, for to the extent that a person understands it, he believes it; his understanding of doctrinal teaching determines what his faith is like.
[8] For this reason the children of Ephraim are called ‘archers’ in David,
The children of Ephraim who were armed (they were archers) turned back on the day of battle. Ps. 78:9.
In Ezekiel,
Son of man, take a stick and write on it, For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions. Then take another stick and write on it, Joseph’s – the stick of Ephraim and of the whole house of Israel, his companions. After that join them together, one to the other into one stick for you, that both may be one in your**** hand. Behold, I am about to take the stick of Joseph which is in the hands of Ephraim and of the tribes of Israel his companions, and I will add them who are on it to the stick of Judah, and will make them into one stick, that they may be one stick in My hand. Ezek. 37:16, 17, 19.
Here also ‘Judah’ is used to mean the celestial area within the Church, ‘Israel’ the spiritual area within it, and ‘Ephraim’ the understanding area. The idea that these will be made one through the good of charity is meant by the promise that one stick will be made out of two. For ‘a stick’ means good which is the good of charity and of works motivated by charity, see 1110, 2784, 2812, 3720, 4943.
[9] In Jeremiah,
It is a day [when] the watchmen will cry from mount Ephraim, Arise, let us go up to Zion, to Jehovah our God. I will be a father to Israel, and Ephraim will be My firstborn. Jer. 31:6, 9.
In the same prophet,
I have surely heard Ephraim bewailing, You have chastised me and I was chastised, like an unruly calf. Direct me, that I may be directed. Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me? Is he not a delightful child? For after I have spoken against him I will surely remember him again. Jer. 31:18, 20.
In the same prophet,
I will bring back Israel to his own habitation so that he may feed on Carmel and Bashan; and on mount Ephraim and in Gilead his soul will be satisfied. Jer. 50:19
In Isaiah,
Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, to the falling flower and the glory of its beauty, which is on the head of a valley of fat ones confused by wine. Isa. 28:1.
[10] In all these places too ‘Ephraim’ means the area of understanding within the Church. The area of understanding within the Church is that understanding which members of the Church have about truth and goodness, that is, about matters of doctrine regarding faith and charity. Thus it is the notions, conceptions, or ideas which they possess about these matters. Truth forms the spiritual area of the Church, and good the celestial area. But one member’s understanding of truth and goodness is different from another’s, and therefore the nature of each member’s understanding of truth determines the kind of truth known to him. And the same is so with each person’s understanding of goodness.
[11] What the Church’s area of will, meant by ‘Manasseh’, is exactly can be recognized from the area of understanding, which is ‘Ephraim’. The nature of the Church’s will is similar to that of its understanding in that it varies from one member to another. ‘Manasseh’ means that area of will in Isaiah,
Through the wrath of Jehovah Zebaoth the earth has been darkened, and the people have become as fuel for the fire; a man will not spare his brother. A man will eat the flesh of his own arm; Manasseh [will consume] Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh, and together they are against Judah.
‘A man will eat the flesh of his own arm, Manasseh [will consume] Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh’ stands for the member of the Church when his will acts in opposition to the activity of his understanding, and his understanding acts in opposition to the activity of his will.
[12] In David,
God has spoken by means of His holiness, I will exalt, I will divide up Shechem and portion out the valley of Succoth. Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine; and Ephraim is the strength of My head. Ps. 60:6, 7.
In the same author,
Turn Your ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You who lead***** Joseph like a flock; You who are seated upon the cherubim, shine forth. Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up Your power. Ps. 80:1, 2.
Here also ‘Ephraim’ stands for the area of understanding within the Church and ‘Manasseh’ for the area of will there. The same meaning is also evident from the blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh by Jacob before he died, and in addition from the fact that Jacob accepted Ephraim in place of Reuben, and Manasseh in place of Simeon, Gen. 48:3, 5. For Reuben had represented the Church’s area of understanding, which is faith in the understanding, or doctrine, 3861, 3866. Also, Simeon had represented faith in action – or obedience and the will to put truth into practice – from which charity springs and through which charity expresses itself; thus he represented truth realized in action, which is good belonging to the new will, 3869-3872.
[13] The reason why Jacob, who by then was Israel, blessed Ephraim more fully than Manasseh, by placing his right hand on the former and his left on the latter, Gen. 48:13-20, was the same as the one involved in Jacob’s procurement for himself of Esau’s birthright. It was also the same as what was involved in the birth of Perez and Zerah, Judah’s sons by Tamar; though he was the firstborn, Zerah nevertheless came out after Perez, Gen. 38:18-30. The reason this happened was that the truth of faith, which belongs to the understanding, seems to occupy the first place while a person is being regenerated, and the good of charity, which belongs to the will, seems to occupy the second. But in actual fact good occupies the first place, as is plain to see once the person has been regenerated. On this subject, see 3314, 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3603, 3701, 4243, 4244, 4247, 4337, 4925, 4926.
* Reading correptionis (reproach), which Sw. has in another place, for correctionis (correction)
** lit. loves
*** The Latin means Israel, but the Hebrew means the Faithful One.
**** The Latin means My, but the Hebrew means your.
***** The Latin means He who leads, but the Hebrew means You who lead.
[2] In the measure therefore that good multiplies truth it reproduces itself; and if it is the good of genuine charity it reproduces itself endlessly within truth and through truth. For there is no limit either to good or to truth; the Infinite is present within every single form of truth or good because each one has its origin in the Infinite. Yet that endless quality cannot ever match up to the Infinite itself, for what is limited or finite cannot be compared with the Infinite. In the Church at the present day scarcely any multiplication of truth takes place. The reason for this is that at the present day the good of genuine charity is non-existent. The Church believes that it is enough if a person knows simply the tenets of the Church within which he is born and in various ways firmly assents to these. But one with whom the good of genuine charity exists and who consequently feels an affection for truth is not content with that but wishes to clarify from the Word what the truth is and to see it before firmly assenting to it. Also, it is good that enables him to see it, for the discernment of truth originates in good, the Lord being within that good and imparting such discernment. When the person receives truth from Him he increases it to an unlimited extent. This may be likened to a tiny seed which grows into a tree and produces more tiny seeds, which then grow into a garden, and so on beyond that.
[2] Another thing temptations do is to provide a person with the kind of discernment he has about what is good and true; they provide it through the opposites that evil spirits introduce at such times. From his discernment of those opposites a person can make comparisons which enable him to see what the whole is like. For no one can know what good is unless he also knows what is not good; and he does not know what truth is unless he knows what is not true. Also, temptations serve to strengthen goods and truths; for in temptations a person battles against evils and falsities, and through being victorious in such he goes on to hold on more firmly to those goods and truths. In addition to this temptations also serve to subdue evils and falsities so completely that they do not dare to rise up again. Thus temptations serve to cast evils and falsities away to the fringes, where they hang downwards, in a limp condition. But forms of good together with truths are in the centre, and in the measure that the zeal of genuine affection is present they are raised upwards – up to heaven, towards the Lord who does the raising up.
‘And the seven years of abundance of corn ended’ means those states during which truth was multiplied. ‘Which was in the land of Egypt’ means, within the natural. ‘And the seven years of famine began to come’ means the subsequent states of desolation. ‘Even as Joseph had said’ means as was foreseen by the celestial of the spiritual. ‘And the famine was in all lands’ means a desolation everywhere in the natural. ‘And in all the land of Egypt there was bread’ means the remnants of the truths from good that have been multiplied. ‘And all the land of Egypt suffered famine’ means desolation in both parts of the natural. ‘And the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread’ means the need of good which was felt by truth. ‘And Pharaoh said to all Egypt’ means a discernment. ‘Go to Joseph’ means that the celestial of the spiritual is the supplier of it. ‘Do what he tells you’ means provided that obedience exists. ‘And the famine was over all the face of the earth’ means when there was desolation even to the point of despair. ‘And Joseph opened all the places in which [there was grain]’ means a communication of remnants. ‘And sold to Egypt’ means a making over to. ‘And the famine was becoming great in the land of Egypt’ means an increasing severity. ‘And all the earth came to Egypt’ means that forms of truth and good were gathered into the facts known to the Church. ‘To buy [grain]’ means a making one’s own. ‘To Joseph’ means where the celestial of the spiritual was. ‘For the famine became great in all the earth’ means that, apart from there, desolation existed everywhere in the natural.
[2] Such desolation and vastation are spoken about in many places in the Word, where they are described as a desolation of the earth, kingdoms, cities, nations, or peoples. The same condition is also referred to as an emptying out, a cutting off, a bringing to a close, a wilderness, or a void, while the actual state is called the great day of Jehovah, the day of His wrath and vengeance, the day of darkness and thick darkness, of cloud and obscurity, the day of visitation, also the day when the earth will be destroyed, and so the last day or judgement day. But because people have not understood the internal sense of the Word they have imagined up to now that this is a day when the earth will be destroyed, at which point the resurrection and the judgement will begin to take place. Such people do not know that ‘day’ in this case means a state, and ‘the earth’ the Church, so that ‘the day when the earth will be destroyed’ means a state when the Church will pass away. In the Word therefore, when this passing away is referred to, a new earth is also mentioned, by which a new Church is meant, regarding which new earth together with a new heaven, see 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355 (end), 4535. That final state of a Church which comes before the state of a new Church is meant and described in the Word, strictly speaking, by vastation and desolation. But desolation and vastation are also used to describe the state which comes before a person’s regeneration; and that is the state meant here by ‘the seven years of famine’.
[2] What is implied by the need of good which was felt by truth must be stated. Truth has a need of good, and good has a need of truth; also, when truth has a need of good, truth is joined to good, and when good has a need of truth, good is joined to truth. The reciprocal joining together of good and truth – that is to say, the joining of truth to good, and of good to truth – is the heavenly marriage. During the initial phases when a person is being regenerated truth is multiplied, but good less so. And because at these times truth has no good to which it is joined, truth is therefore drawn into and deposited within the interior parts of the natural, so that it may be called forth from there in the measure that good is increased. In this state truth stands in need of good, and in the measure that good enters the natural a joining of truth to good is effected. Even so, this joining together does not lead to any fruitfulness. But once the person has been regenerated good increases, and as it does so it stands in need of truth and also acquires truth to itself and becomes joined to it. This is a joining of good to truth, and when this takes place truth is made fruitful by good, and good by truth.
[3] This process is one about which people in the world are totally ignorant, whereas those in heaven have a very good knowledge of it. If people in the world however knew, and not only knew but also had a perception of what celestial love or love to the Lord was, and what spiritual love or charity towards the neighbour was, they would also know what good was; for all good is the object of those loves. Above all they would know that good had a desire for truth, and truth had a desire for good, and that this desire and the essential nature of it determine the extent to which the two are joined together. Such would be evident to them from the fact that whenever they are thinking about truth, good presents itself linked together with that truth; and when good is stimulated, truth presents itself linked together with that good. And whenever both present themselves together they are accompanied by affection, desire, delight. or sacred yearning, from which they would then know what the joining together was essentially like. But because no knowledge is acquired by them as a result of an inner awareness or perception of what good is, such matters do not begin to be recognized by them. For what people know nothing about is unintelligible to them even if it happens to them.
[4] Also, because people are ignorant of what spiritual good is – that it is charity towards the neighbour – controversy therefore exists in the world, especially among the learned, over what the highest good may be. Scarcely anyone says* it is the feeling of delight, bliss, blessedness, and happiness which flows from mutual love that does not have any selfish or worldly end in view attached to it and which constitutes heaven itself. From this it is also evident that the world at the present day knows nothing at all about what spiritual good is. Still less does it know that good and truth form themselves into a marriage, or that heaven consists in this marriage, or that those in whom the marriage exists possess wisdom and intelligence, or that they enjoy feelings of bliss and happiness in endless, indescribable variety. The world knows nothing about even a single one of those variations; consequently it neither acknowledges nor believes that any such thing exists, when in fact it is heaven itself or heavenly joy itself, about which the Church has so much to say.
* Reading dicit (says), which Sw. has in his rough draft, for dixit (has said)
[2] Yet within him there is an internal man that ought to command and an external man that ought to obey. The latter is obedient when it does not have the world but heaven, not self but the neighbour, as its end in view, consequently when bodily and worldly matters are thought of as means and not as an end. Such are thought of as means and not an end when that person loves his neighbour more than himself, and the things of heaven more than those of the world. When this is so the natural is obedient, the natural being the same as the external man.
[2] As regards the phrase ‘all the earth came to Egypt’ meaning that forms of good and truth were gathered into the facts known to the Church, this is clear from the meaning of ‘Egypt’ in its proper sense as knowledge, and then as known facts, see 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462; and the facts meant by ‘Egypt’ in the good sense are the facts that are known to the Church, 4749, 4964, 4966. It is indeed evident from the meaning of the expressions that are used – from the meaning of ‘the earth’ or ‘the land’ when this is used not for simply the land of Egypt, and also from the meaning of ‘Egypt’ in its proper sense – that such is the internal meaning of ‘all the earth came to Egypt’. And it is also evident from the fact that the verb ‘came’ in this phrase is plural. But in addition to this it is evident from the actual sequence of ideas present in the internal sense. For there now follows in that sequence of ideas the thought that the forms of truth and good constituting the remnants are gathered into known facts.
[3] For the situation is this: When a person’s natural is being regenerated every single form of good and truth is gathered into the known facts there. Any that are not present within these facts are not in the natural. This is because that part of the natural mind which is subject to the understanding part is made up solely of factual knowledge; and this knowledge present in the natural is the last and lowest degree of order. To come forth and manifest themselves in that sphere things that are prior must exist within ones that are last and lowest. More than this, prior things all extend into their last and lowest forms which serve them as their boundaries or final limits. Prior things come into being simultaneously on that lowest level, in the same way as causes do within their effects, or as higher objects do within lower ones that serve as vessels to contain them. The known facts present in the natural are such last and lowest things. This being so, the final limit that holds the spiritual world within it is man’s natural, in which things existing in the spiritual world reveal themselves in the form of representations. If spiritual things did not reveal themselves within the natural in the form of representations, thus with the help of such things as exist in the world, no one could have any awareness of them at all. From these considerations one may see that when the natural is being regenerated every form of interior truth and good which has its origin in the spiritual world is gathered into known facts to enable it to manifest itself.
Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he who has no money, come, buy, and eat! And come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Isa. 55:1
Also in Jeremiah 13:1, 2, 11. In Matthew,
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man (homo) finds and hides, and in his joy he goes and sells whatever he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a trader seeking fine pearls, who, having found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Matt. 13:44-46.
And in the same gospel,
The wise virgins said to the foolish ones, Go to those who sell and buy oil for yourselves. While they were going to buy, the Bridegroom came. Matt. 25:9, 10.
[2] Because ‘buying’ meant a making one’s own, a clear distinction is made in the Word between things bought with silver and those acquired in some other way. Slaves bought with silver were so to speak the buyer’s own, and were like ‘those born in the house, but in a lower degree. This also explains why the two are mentioned together in various places, as in the command in Gen. 17:3, ‘He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your silver must be circumcised’, or as in Lev. 22:11, ‘If a priest buys a person* – a buying with silver – [this person] and one who is born in his house shall eat of his bread’. From this one may see what is meant in the Word by ‘the redeemed of Jehovah’,** namely those who have acquired good and truth, thus those to whom things that are the Lord’s have been made over as their own.
* lit. soul
** lit. the bought back ones of Jehovah
[2] With those who are being regenerated, that is, those who, as the Lord foresees, will allow themselves to be regenerated, those truths are multiplied exceedingly; for these people have an affection for knowing truths. But as they draw nearer to the point when their regeneration is actually carried out they are seemingly deprived of those truths. For those truths are withdrawn to a more interior position, and when this happens the person seems to experience desolation. Nevertheless those truths are returned in consecutive stages to the natural, where they are joined to good while the person is being regenerated. With those who are not being regenerated however, that is, those who, as the Lord foresees, will not allow themselves to be regenerated, truths are indeed usually multiplied, since these people possess an affection for knowing such truths for the sake of their own reputation, position, and gain. But as they advance in years and come to look at those truths for themselves, they either do not believe them, refuse to accept them, or else turn them into falsities. Thus in their case truths are not withdrawn to a more interior position but are cast away outside, though they remain in the memory to serve worldly ends, devoid of all life. In the Word this state is called desolation or vastation, though it differs from the state described first, in that the desolation belonging to that first state is only apparent, whereas the desolation belonging to the second state is total. For in the state described first the person is not deprived of truths, whereas in this latter state he is deprived of them altogether. The desolation belonging to the state described first is the subject in the internal sense of the present chapter and is again the subject in the next one; and that desolation is meant by a famine lasting for seven years.
[3] This kind of desolation is referred to many times elsewhere in the Word, as in Isaiah,
Stir, stir, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of Jehovah the cup of His anger. Two things have come upon you; who condoles with you? Vastation and ruination, famine and sword, who is there that I may comfort you? Your sons fainted, they lay at the head of every street. Therefore listen, do this, O afflicted one, and drunk though not from wine. Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of trepidation, the dregs of the cup of My wrath; you shall no longer drink it. But I will put it in the hand of those who oppress you. Isa. 51:17-end.
This is a description of the state of desolation experienced by a member of the Church who is becoming a Church, that is, who is being regenerated. That desolation is called ‘vastation, ruination, famine, and sword’, also ‘the cup of Jehovah’s anger and wrath’, and ‘the cup of trepidation’. The truths that a person is deprived of at such times are ‘the sons who faint and lie at the head of every street’. For ‘sons’ are truths, see 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 2803, 2813, 3373, ‘street’ the place where the truths are, 2336; consequently ‘lying at the head of every street’ means that truths appear to exist in a dispersed condition. One can see that the desolation is only an apparent one and that regeneration is effected by means of it, as it also is by means of temptations; for it says that [Jerusalem] will no longer drink the cup but that [Jehovah] will put it in the hand of those who oppress her.
[4] In Ezekiel,
Thus said the Lord Jehovih, Because they devastated you and swallowed you up from all around, so that you are an inheritance for the rest of the nations, therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Jehovih. Thus said the Lord Jehovih to the mountains and hills, the streams and valleys, and the desolate wastes, and the deserted cities, which became plunder and a derision to the rest of the nations all around: I have spoken in My zeal and in My wrath, because you have endured the shame of the nations. Surely the nations that are around you will bear their own shame. But you, O mountains of Israel, will shoot forth* your branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel. For behold, I am with you, and will turn to you, so that you are tilled and sown. Also I will multiply man (homo) upon you, the entire house of Israel; and the cities will be inhabited, and the waste places will be built. I will resettle you** to be as you were in former times and I will do more good than in your early days. Ezek. 36:3-11.
This too refers to the desolation that comes just before regeneration. That desolation is meant by ‘the desolate wastes and the deserted cities, which became plunder and a derision’, while such regeneration is meant by ‘shooting forth a branch and yielding fruit’, ‘turning to them, so that they are tilled and sown’, ‘so that man is multiplied, cities inhabited, and waste places built’, and ‘resettling them to be as they were in former times, and doing more good to them than in their early days’.
[5] What desolation is like is evident from those experiencing it in the next life. Those who experience desolation there are harried by evil spirits and genii; for these pour in evil desires and false ideas which are so strong that those people are almost submerged in them. As a consequence truths are not visible; but then as the time of desolation comes to an end those truths are lit up by light received from heaven, and the evil spirits and genii are driven away, each to his own hell, where they undergo punishments. Those punishments are what is meant by ‘cities which became plunder and a derision to the rest of the nations all around’ and by ‘the nations that are around will bear their own shame’. Such punishments are also meant by ‘the cup will be put in the hand of those who oppress you’, in the passage quoted above from Isaiah, as well as in another place in the same prophet, where it says that ‘the one who lays waste will be laid waste’, Isa. 33:1. And in Jeremiah,
I will visit those who lay waste, and I will consign them to everlasting desolations. Jer. 25:12.
In Isaiah,
Your destroyers will hasten your sons, and those who lay you waste will go away from you. Lift up your eyes round about and see; they all gather together, they come to you. Because of your waste places and your desolate places, and the land of your destruction, you will be too restricted for the inhabitants; those who swallow you up will have gone far away. Isa. 49:17-19.
[6] These verses too, indeed that whole chapter in Isaiah, refer to the desolation suffered by those who are being regenerated, and to the regeneration and fruitfulness that follow desolation, verse 26 referring at length to the punishment of those who have been the oppressors. In the same prophet,
Woe to you who lay waste, though you have not been laid waste; when you finish laying waste, you will be laid waste. Isa. 33:1.
This refers to the punishment of those who lay waste, as above. In the same prophet,
Let My outcasts dwell together in you; O Moab, be a refuge to them in the presence of the one who lays waste. For the oppressor has ceased, vastation has come to an end. Isa. 16:4.
In the same prophet,
The day of Jehovah is near; like vastation from Shaddai it will come. Isa. 13:6.
‘Vastation from Shaddai’ stands for vastation in temptations. For in ancient times God, when involved in temptations, was called Shaddai, see 1992, 3667, 4572.
[7] In the same prophet,
At that time they will not thirst; in the waste places He will lead them; He will make water flow for them from the rock, and He will cleave the rock so that water flows out. Isa. 48:11.
This has to do with the state that follows desolation. In the same prophet,
Jehovah will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places, so much so that He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of Jehovah. Gladness and joy will be found in her, confession and the voice of song. Isa. 51:3.
Here the meaning is similar, for as stated above, desolation occurs to the end that a person may be regenerated, that is, to the end that evils and falsities may first be separated from him and then truths may be joined to forms of good, and forms of good to truths. The regenerate person so far as good is concerned is the one who is being compared to Eden, and so far as truth is concerned to the garden of Jehovah. In David,
Jehovah caused me to come up out of the pit of devastation, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock. Ps. 40:2.
[8] The vastation and desolation suffered by a member of the Church, or by the Church residing with him, was represented by the captivity of the Jewish people in Babel, while the resurgence of the Church was represented by their return from that captivity, dealt with in various places in Jeremiah, especially in Chapter 32:37-end. Desolation is a captivity, for at that time a person is held so to speak in bonds, for which reason also ‘the bound’, ‘those in prison’, or ‘those in the pit’ mean those experiencing desolation, see 4728, 4744, 5037, 5038, 5085, 5096.
[9] Reference to a state of desolation and vastation among those who are not being regenerated is also made in various places in the Word. It is a state passed through by those who utterly deny truths or else turn them into falsities; it is the state which the Church passes through around the time of its end, when there is no faith and no charity any longer. In Isaiah,
I will cause you to know what I am about to do to My vineyard, by taking away its hedge, so that it is destroyed,*** and by breaking down its wall, so that it is trodden down. I will after that make it a desolation; it will not be pruned or heed, so that bramble and shrub will come up there; indeed I will command the clouds to rain no rain on it. Isa. 5:5-7.
In the same prophet,
Say to this people, Hearing, hear – but do not understand; and seeing, see – but do not comprehend. 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, and they turn again and be healed. Then I said, How long, O Lord? And He said, Until cities will have been devastated, so that they are without inhabitant, and houses, so that there is no one in them, and the land is reduced to a lonely place; He will remove man. And the wilderness will be multiplied in the midst of the land. Scarcely any longer will there be a tenth part in it; it will be however an uprooting. Isa. 6:9-end.
[10] In the same prophet,
A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the God of power. For the close has been determined, overflowing with righteousness; for the Lord Jehovih Zebaoth is bringing the whole earth to its close and to its determined end. Isa. 10:21-23.
In the same prophet,
Jehovah is emptying the earth and making it void, and He will overturn the face of it. The earth will be utterly emptied. The inhabited earth will mourn, it will be turned upside down. The world will languish and will be turned upside down. A curse will devour the earth. The new wine will mourn, the vine will languish. What is left in the city will be a waste; the gate will be smashed to devastation. The earth has been utterly broken, the earth has been utterly split open, the earth has been made to quake violently; the earth staggers altogether like a drunken man. Isa. 24:4-end.
In the same prophet,
The highways have been devastated, the wayfarer has ceased. The earth mourns, it languishes. Lebanon has become ashamed, it has withered away; Sharon has become like a wilderness. Isa. 33:8, 9.
In the same prophet,
I will desolate and at the same time swallow up; I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up every plant on them. Isa. 42:14, 15.
[11] In Jeremiah,
I will utterly destroy all the nations round about, and make them into a desolation, and a derision and everlasting wastes. And I will cast away from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the mills, and the light of the lamp, so that the whole land will be a desolation and devastation. It will happen when seventy years have been fulfilled, that I will visit the king of Babei and this nation for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and I will make it everlasting desolations. Jer. 25:9-12 and following verses.
In the same prophet,
A desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse will Bozrah be; and all its cities will be everlasting wastes. Edom will be a desolation, all who pass by it will be astonished and will hiss at all its plagues. Jer. 49:13-18.
In Ezekiel,
Thus said the Lord to the inhabitants of Jerusalem upon the land of Israel, They will eat their bread with anxiety, and drink their waters with astonishment, that her land may be devastated of the fullness that is in it, on account of the violence of all who dwell in it. The inhabited cities will be devastated, and the land desolated. Ezek. 12:19, 20.
[12] In the same prophet,
When I make you a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited, when I shall cause the deep to come up against you, and many waters have covered you, I will cause you to go down with those going down to the pit, to the people of old, and I will cause you to dwell in the land of the lower ones, in the desolations**** from eternity, with those going down to the pit. Ezek. 26:18-21.
This refers to Tyre. In Joel,
A day of darkness and thick darkness, a day of cloud and gloom. Fire devours before him, and behind him a flame burns; like the garden of Eden is the land before him, but behind him there is a desert waste. Joel 2:2, 3.
In Zephaniah,
The day of Jehovah is near. A day of wrath is that day, a day of anguish and repression, a day of vastation and devastation, a day of darkness and thick darkness, a day of cloud and clouding over. By the fire of Jehovah’s zeal the whole land will be devoured, for He***** will bring to a close, indeed to a hasty one, all the inhabitants of the earth. Zeph. 1:14-end.
In Matthew,
When you see the abomination of desolation, foretold by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place, then let those who are in Judea flee into the mountains. Matt. 14:15, 16; Mark 13:14; Dan 9:27; 11:10-12.
From all these quotations it is clear that ‘a desolation apparent deprivation of truth in the case of those who are being regenerated, but a total deprivation in the case of those who are not being regenerated means
* lit. give
** lit. I will cause you to inhabit
*** lit. depastured
**** Reading in desolationibus for in desolationem
***** The Latin means I, but the Hebrew means He, which Sw. has in another place where he quotes this verse.
IN THIS SECTION TOO THE CORRESPONDENCE OF THE INTERNAL ORGANS WITH IT
The subject at the end of the previous chapter was the correspondence of certain internal organs of the body with the Grand Man, that is to say, the correspondence of the liver, pancreas, stomach, and certain other organs with it. In this present section the same subject moves on to the correspondence of the peritoneum, kidneys, ureters, bladder, and also the intestines with it. Whatever exists in the human being, both in the external man and in the internal man, has a correspondence with the Grand Man. Without that correspondence with the Grand Man – that is, with heaven, or what amounts to the same, with the spiritual world – nothing can ever come into being and remain in being. This is because it does not have a connection with anything prior to itself or consequently with Him who is the First, that is, with the Lord. Nothing that lacks such a connection, thus that is independent, can remain in being for even a single instant. For everything that remains in being does so entirely by virtue of its connection with and dependence on what brings it into being; for remaining in being consists in a constant coming into being.
[2] From this it follows that not only all the individual parts of the human being correspond to the Grand Man but also every single thing in the universe. The sun has a correspondence, and so does the moon; for in heaven the Lord is the Sun, and the Moon too. The fire and heat of the sun, as well as its light, have a correspondence, for it is the Lord’s love towards the whole human race that its fire and heat correspond to, and His Divine truth that its light corresponds to. The stars too have a correspondence, the communities of heaven and their dwelling-places being what the stars correspond to. Not that the heavenly communities dwell in the stars, but that they have been set in order in the same kind of way as the stars. Everything under the sun has a correspondence – every single thing beneath it in the animal kingdom and every single thing beneath it in the vegetable kingdom. And unless the spiritual world were flowing into them all, every one, they would instantly break down and fall to pieces.
[3] Considerable experience too has made me aware of all this, for I have been shown what very many things in the animal kingdom, and still more in the vegetable kingdom, correspond to in the spiritual world, as well as the fact that without the inflow of the spiritual world into them they cannot by any means at all remain in being. For once what is prior has been taken away what is posterior of necessity perishes, and likewise once what is prior has been severed from what is posterior. Since correspondence is primarily the correspondence of the human being with heaven, and through heaven with the Lord, the specific nature of each person’s correspondence therefore determines what he looks like in the next life in the light of heaven. This explains why angels have an indescribably bright and beautiful appearance, whereas those in hell have an unspeakably dark and ugly one.
[2] Angels told me that those modest spirits who so enlarged themselves are spirits who correlate with the Peritoneum. The peritoneum is a general membrane which envelops and holds within it all the internal organs of the abdomen, in the way that the pleura does all the internal organs in the chest. And because this membrane is so extensive and is a large one compared with other membranes, and is capable of swelling out as well, the spirits connected with the peritoneum are therefore allowed, when troubled by others, to display themselves visually as that enlarged man and at the same time to strike terror, especially into those who constitute the province of the kidneys, ureters, and bladder. For these interior organs or vessels lie within the folds of the peritoneum and are held in place by it. The wooden footwear represented the lowest natural substances such as are absorbed and carried away by the kidneys, ureters, and bladder; for by ‘shoes’ are meant the lowest natural things, see 259, 4938-4952. The declaration made by those spirits that nothing done by them was their own idea but was inspired by others also correlated them with the peritoneum, for something similar is true of the peritoneum.
Jehovah testing the kidneys and the heart. Jer. 11:20.
In the same prophet,
Jehovah testing the righteous, seeing the kidneys and the heart. Jer. 20:12.
In David,
You test the heart and the kidneys, a righteous God. Ps. 7:9.
In the same author,
O Jehovah, explore my kidneys and my heart. Ps. 26:2.
In the same author,
O Jehovah, You possess my kidneys. Ps. 139:19.
In John,
I am He who has examined closely the kidneys and the heart. Rev. 2:23.
Here ‘the kidneys’ means spiritual areas and ‘the heart’ celestial ones; that is, ‘the kidneys’ means areas of truth, while ‘the heart’ means areas of good. The reason for this is that the kidneys purify fluid whereas the heart purifies actual blood, and therefore ‘testing, exploring, and examining closely the kidneys’ means testing, exploring, and examining closely the amount and the essential nature of truth, that is, the amount and the essential nature of the faith present with a person. This meaning is also evident in Jeremiah,
Jehovah, You are near in their mouth but far away from their kidneys.
And in David,
Jehovah, behold, You desire truth in the kidneys. Ps. 51:6.
The fact that in addition the ability to correct is attributed to the kidneys is also plain in David,
In the night seasons my kidneys correct me. Ps. 16:7.
[2] This spirit varied his position, appearing at one point on the right, at another on the left. I perceived that he did this because of a fear that people would know who he was and that he would be compelled to make some kind of confession. Other spirits told me that those like this
one are utterly afraid if there is the slightest danger; but when no danger at all exists they are full of courage. They also told me that such spirits are opposed to those to whom the function of expelling urine corresponds. They strive in whatever way they can to impair that function; and to remove any doubts I may have had, this was demonstrated to me by experience. When those who corresponded to the function of expelling urine departed only a little way off and that pirate was still present, the passing of urine was brought to a complete halt and was also filled with danger. But once they were called back the passing of urine was resumed, directed by their presence.
[3] After this that spirit did confess that he had been a pirate. He said he had the ability to conceal himself skillfully, and by being cunning and painstaking to mislead his pursuers. Now, he added, he loved foul urinous places, much more than clean waters, and that the disgusting stench of urine gave him the greatest pleasure, so much so that he wanted a dwelling-place among pools, even among casks of stinking urine. I was also shown the kind of face he had. Really he had no face at all, but instead of a face something black and bearded.
[4] After this some other pirates who were less painstaking than this one were summoned. These too hardly said a word, but – which was amazing – were gnashing their teeth. They likewise said they liked urine more than any other fluids, and foul waters more than any other kind. These however did not have for a face something bearded, like the first pirate, but a dreadful array of teeth, looking like a crate. For the beard and the teeth mean the lowest natural things. The absence of a face means that no rational life at all is present, for when no face is visible this is a sign that no correspondence exists of interior things with the Grand Man. In the next life correspondence determines what anyone looks like in the light of heaven, and therefore those in hell have horribly ugly appearances.
[2] Angels have been horrified that the human race is like this. For as soon as men see lines of troops strewn and streams of blood flowing over the whole field, their hearts are full of joy and their spirits are elated; yet they feel no joy that their country has been set free, only that they are hailed as mighty ones and heroes. Yet such men call themselves Christians and even believe that they will go to heaven, where however nothing but peace, pity, and charity dwell. Such are in the hell of the colon and rectum. Those however in whom some humanity is present are seen in a frontal direction on the left side, in the line that curves, yet on the inside of a kind of wall. But even within these people much self-love is present. Some do have a concern for what is good, which is sometimes represented by tiny stars that are almost fiery yet not bright. Once a wall appeared before me that seemed to be made of plaster and to have carved figures. This wall, which was near my left elbow, became more extensive and at the same time taller, the colour of the upper part verging on blue. I was told that this was representative of some of the better ones among this kind of spirits.
* In this paragraph Sw. appears to mean the colon descendens.
Angelic choirs were present in the middle of them, while the actual crowd of spirits in all their disorder were on the outside. That angelic stream of sound lasted for a long time, and I was told that it served to represent the way in which the Lord regulates confused and disordered outward elements from a peaceful centre within them; He brings order into the disordered most outlying elements by withholding each one from the error peculiar to it.
42
GENESIS 42
1 And Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt; and Jacob said to his sons, Why do you look at one another?
2 And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt; go down there, and buy for us from there, and let us live and not die.
3 And Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.
4 And Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob did not send with his brothers, for he said, Perhaps harm may come to him.
5 And the sons of Israel came to buy in the midst of others who came; for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
6 And Joseph, he was the governor over the land, he was selling to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down to him, faces to the earth.
7 And Joseph saw his brothers, and recognized them; and he acted as a stranger to them, and spoke hard words to them, and said to them, Where have you come from? And they said, From the land of Canaan, to buy food.
8 And Joseph recognized his brothers, and they did not recognize him.
9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed involving them; and he said to them, You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land.
10 And they said to him, No, my lord; and your servants come to buy food.
11 All we, the sons of one man are we. We are upright men; your servants are not spies.
12 And he said to them, No, but the nakedness of the land you have come to see.
13 And they said, Twelve are your servants, brothers are we, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is with our father today, and one is not.
14 And Joseph said to them, It is as I spoke to you, saying, You are spies.
15 In this manner you will be tested: As sure as Pharaoh lives,* you shall not go out of here unless your youngest brother comes here.
16 Send one of you and let him fetch your brother; and you will be in bonds, and your words will be tested, whether the truth is with you.
And if not, as sure as Pharaoh lives,* you are spies.
17 And he shut them up in custody for three days.
18 And Joseph said to them on the third day, Do this and you will live, [for] I fear God:
19 If you are upright men, let one brother among you be in bonds in the house of your custody, and you, go, take corn for the famine of your houses.
20 And bring your youngest brother to me, and your words will be verified, and you will not die. And they did so.
21 And they said, a man to his brother, Assuredly we are guilty concerning our brother, whose anguish of soul we saw when he pleaded with us and we did not hear; therefore this anguish has come to us.
22 And Reuben answered them, saying, Did I not say to you, saying, Do not sin against the boy – and you did not listen? And also, his blood; behold, it is required.
23 And they did not know that Joseph was hearing, because the interpreter was between them.
24 And he turned away from them and wept; and he came back to them and spoke to them; and he took Simeon from them, and bound him before their eyes.
25 And Joseph gave the command to fill** their vessels with grain, and to restore their silver, each man’s in his sack, and to give them provision for the way; and thus he did for them.
26 And they loaded their corn onto their asses, and went from there.
27 And one opened his sack to give fodder to his ass, in a lodging-place, and he saw his silver, and behold, it was in the mouth of his pouch.
28 And he said to his brothers, My silver has been restored, and also behold, it is in my pouch. And their heart went out of them, and they trembled [turning] a man to his brother, saying, What is this that God has done to us?
29 And they came to Jacob their father, to the land of Canaan; and they pointed out to him all that was happening to them, saying,
30 The man, the lord of the land, spoke hard words to us, and took us for
men spying out the land.
31 And we said to him, We are upright men; we are not spies.
32 Twelve are we, brothers, the sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is today with our father in the land of Canaan.
37 And the man, the lord of the land, said to us, By this I shall know that you are upright men: Cause one brother among you to remain with me, and take [food for] the famine of your houses, and go.
34 And bring your youngest brother to me, and I shall know that you are not spies, that you are upright men; I will give you your brother, and you will wander through the land, trading.
35 And so it was, as they were emptying their sacks, that behold, each man’s bundle of silver was in his sack; and they saw their bundles of silver, they and their father, and they were afraid.
36 And Jacob their father said to them, You have bereaved me [of my children]; Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and you take Benjamin. All these things will be upon me.
37 And Reuben said to his father – he said, Make my two sons die if I do not bring him back to you; give him into my hand, and I will bring him back to you.
38 And he said, My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he, he alone, is left. And should harm happen to him on the road on which you go, you will cause my grey hair to go down in sorrow to the grave.
* lit. May Pharaoh live!
** lit. And Joseph commanded, and they [his servants?] filled
CONTENTS
5396[a] The subject at the end of the previous chapter was the influx of the celestial of the spiritual into the known facts present in the natural and the joining of it to these. Now the subject is the influx of the celestial of the spiritual into the truths of faith there which are known to the Church and the joining of it to those truths.
This chapter and the ones that follow it concerning Jacob’s sons and Joseph deal in the internal sense with the regeneration of the natural so far as the truths and goods of the Church are concerned – such regeneration being effected not by means of factual knowledge but by an influx from the Divine. Those who belong to the Church at the present day know so little about regeneration as to know virtually nothing at all about it. They do not even know that regeneration is a process that takes place throughout the whole course of the life of someone who is being regenerated and continues in the next life. Nor do they know that the arcana of regeneration are so countless that hardly the smallest fraction can be known even by angels, or that those which angels do know are what constitute the intelligence and wisdom they possess. Those belonging to the Church at the present day know so little about regeneration because they talk so much about the forgiveness of sins and justification, believing that sins can be forgiven instantaneously. Some believe that sins are washed away like dirt from the body by the use of water, and that a person is justified or made righteous by means of faith alone, that is, by means of trust of only a moment’s duration. The reason people within the Church believe the way they do is that they do not know what sin or evil is. If they did possess such knowledge they would know that no one’s sins can by any means at all be washed away, but that these are separated or cast away to the sides to prevent them from rising up, when the Lord maintains the presence of good within that person. They would also know that this cannot be accomplished unless evil is being cast out all the time, which is done by means that are numerically without limit and for the most part beyond description.
[2] In the next life people who have brought with them the notion that a person is made righteous by faith in an instant and completely cleansed from sins are dumbfounded when they learn that regeneration is effected by means that are numerically without limit and beyond description. They laugh at their own ignorance, which they also call madness, that is, at the ideas they held to in the world regarding instantaneous forgiveness of sins and justification. Sometimes they are told that the Lord forgives the sins of everyone who in his heart desires forgiveness; but this does not mean that they are separated from the devil’s crew, to whom they are bound through the evils which go along with the life which they bring with them in its entirety. After this they learn from experience that being separated from the hells is being separated from one’s sins, and that this cannot possibly be accomplished except by thousands of ways known to the Lord alone, a process which, if you can believe it, continues for ever one stage after another. For the human being is so full of evil that he cannot ever be released from even one sin. But solely by the Lord’s mercy, if he will accept that mercy, he is withheld from sin and maintained in good.
[3] The way therefore in which a person receives new life and is regenerated is contained in the sanctuary of the Word, that is, in its internal sense. The primary reason why the internal sense contains that information is that when the Word is being read by man, it causes the angels to be aware of the bliss that wisdom brings them and at the same time to take delight in serving as means. The subject in the highest sense of this chapter and those that follow it, where the narrative concerns Joseph’s brothers, is the glorification of the Lord’s natural, and in the representative sense the regeneration by the Lord of man’s natural, in this chapter so far as the truths of the Church are concerned.
‘And [Jacob] saw’ means the things that constitute faith. ‘Jacob’ means the natural so far as truth known to the Church is concerned. ‘That there was corn in Egypt’ means the intention to acquire truths to itself through factual knowledge, which is ‘Egypt’. ‘And Jacob said to his sons’ means perception regarding truths as a general whole. ‘Why do You look at one another?’ means, Why did they fix their attention on these? ‘And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt’ means that truths can be acquired through factual knowledge. ‘Go down there, and buy for us from there’ means making them its own through that knowledge. ‘And let us live and not die’ means spiritual life received from this. ‘And Joseph’s ten brothers] went down’ means an aim and endeavour. ‘Joseph’s ten brothers’ means such truths known to the Church as were in agreement with one another. ‘To buy grain from Egypt’ means to make the good of truth its own through factual knowledge. ‘And Benjamin, Joseph’s brother’ means the spiritual of the celestial, which is the intermediary. ‘Jacob did not send with his brothers’ means without that intermediary. ‘For he said, Perhaps harm may come to him’ means that without the celestial of the spiritual, which is ‘Joseph’, that intermediary will perish. ‘And the sons of Israel came to buy in the midst of others who came’ means the wish to acquire spiritual truths, like all other truths, through factual knowledge. ‘For the famine was in the land of Canaan’ means that desolation existed so far as things of the Church in the natural were concerned.
[2] The light of heaven which enables one to see there is Divine Truth received from the Lord. This appears before angels’ eyes as light a thousand times brighter than the light at midday in the world; and because it holds life within it, that light therefore brings sight to angels’ understanding at the same time as it does so to their eyes, imparting a discernment of truth to them which is regulated by the amount and the nature of good present within them. Because this chapter deals in the internal sense with those things that constitute faith, that is, with the truths known to the Church, the verb ‘saw’ is used at the very beginning of the chapter, ‘saw’ meaning the things that constitute faith.
[2] There are two ways of acquiring the truths of faith, one way being through religious teaching, the other through the Word. When religious teaching alone is the way by which a person acquires them, he pins his faith on those who have deduced such truths from the Word, and assures himself that they are indeed truths because others have said that they are. Thus he does not believe those truths on account of any faith of his own but on account of that possessed by others. When however he gathers those truths for himself from the Word and assures himself for that reason that they are truths, he believes them on account of their Divine origin and so on account of a faith received from the Divine. Initially everyone within the Church acquires the truths that constitute faith from religious teaching; indeed this is how he ought to acquire them because he is not as yet equipped with judgement of his own that will enable him to see those truths from the Word. At this time those truths are for him no different from factual knowledge. But once he does possess the judgement to see them on his own, and if he does not consult the Word to the end that he may see from there whether they are indeed truths, they remain with him as factual knowledge. If however he does consult the Word with an affection for and an intention to know truths, and having found them there acquires them from their own true source, he receives the truths of faith from the Divine and makes them his own. These and other matters like them are what the internal sense is dealing with here; for ‘Egypt’ is that factual knowledge, while ‘Joseph’ is truth received from the Divine and so truth obtained from the Word.
[2] From this it is evident that the breaking of bread was a sign that meant mutual love. Because this had become an accepted and customary practice in the Ancient Church, the common availability of corn was therefore meant by such a breaking. ‘Bread’ means the good of love, see
276, 680, 1798, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976; and this explains why, when the Lord gave bread, He broke it, as in Matthew,
Jesus taking the five leaves and the two fish, looking up to heaven, said a blessing, and breaking it gave the bread to the disciples. Matt. 14:19; Mark 6:41; Luke 9:16.
In the same gospel,
Taking the seven leaves and the fish, giving thanks, Jesus broke and gave them to His disciples, and the disciples to the crowd. Matt. 15:36; Mark 8:6.
In the same gospel,
Taking bread, saying a blessing, Jesus broke and gave to the disciples and said, Take, eat, this is My body. Matt. 26:26; Mark 14:22; Luke 22:19.
In Luke,
It happened, when the Lord was at table with them, that taking bread He said a blessing, and breaking it gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized Him. The disciples told how the Lord was known to them in the breaking of bread. Luke 24:30, 31, 35.
In Isaiah,
This is the fast that I choose, to break your bread for the hungry. Isa. 58:6, 7.
The king will say to them, Truly I say to you, Insofar as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers you did it to Me. Matt. 25:40.
And elsewhere,
Jesus answered them, saying, Who is My mother, or My brothers? And looking round about He said, Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God is My brother, and My sister, and My mother. Mark 3:33-35; Matt. 12:49; Luke 8:21.
[2] But the essential nature of this intermediary represented by ‘Benjamin’ and called the spiritual of the celestial defies any description that is intelligible. For not even any rough ideas exist about the celestial of the spiritual, which is ‘Joseph’, or about the truths of the Church existing merely as known facts, which are ‘the sons of Jacob’, and therefore no rough ideas exist either about the spiritual of the celestial, which is ‘Benjamin’. But in the light of heaven the nature of this intermediary is seen as if in broad daylight. Its essential nature is revealed by the use of indescribable representatives seen in the light of heaven, which light at the same time holds perception within it. For the light of heaven is essentially intelligence flowing from the Divine which enables every single thing represented in the light of heaven to be perceived. The same is not so with the light of the world, for that light does not hold any intelligence at all within it; yet the understanding is formed by means of it – by means of the inflowing light of heaven into it, and at the same time by means of the inflowing of the power of perception which the light of heaven contains within itself. This being so, a person dwells in the light of heaven insofar as intelligence exists with him, while intelligence exists with him insofar as the truths of faith do so, and the truths of faith exist with him insofar as the good of love does so. Consequently a person dwells in the light of heaven insofar as the good of love exists with him.
‘And Joseph, he was the governor over the land’ means that the celestial of the spiritual, or truth from the Divine, reigned in the natural where factual knowledge resided. ‘He was selling to all the people of the land’ means that this was what effected every making over. ‘And Joseph’s brothers came’ means general truths known to the Church which were without any intermediary. ‘And bowed down to him, faces to the earth’ means an expression of humility. ‘And Joseph saw his brothers, and recognized them’ means perception and recognition by the celestial of the spiritual. ‘And he acted as a stranger to them’ means that in the absence of the intermediary no joining together took place. ‘And spoke hard words to them’ means no agreement therefore existed either. ‘And said to them, Where have you come from?’ means an investigation. ‘And they said, From the land of Canaan’ means from the Church. ‘To buy food’ means to make the truth of good their own. ‘And Joseph recognized his brothers’ means that the truths of the Church were visible to the celestial of the spiritual in the light that this possessed. ‘And they did not recognize him’ means that truth from the Divine was not seen in natural light that was not yet brightened with heavenly light.
[2] Something similar is the case with internal truths. Looked at from the point of view of external truths that are not joined to them through an intermediary, those internal truths appear totally alien to them; indeed they are sometimes seen to be set in opposition to them. But there is no opposition on the part of the internal truths; rather it exists with the external ones. For when these have no intermediary to join them to internal truths they inevitably view the internal ones by the light of the world separated from the light of heaven, and consequently see them as strangers alienated from them. But more will be said about this further on.
[2] It is also the case that the angels of a higher heaven can see everything that is happening in the heaven beneath them, but the reverse is not so unless an intermediary exists. Intermediary spirits also serve as the means by which communication forward and back takes place. When therefore those who are in a lower position and have no intermediary, and more particularly those who are not in agreement with the ones above them, look at the light of heaven, they see absolutely nothing at all; everything there appears to them to dwell in total obscurity. But in fact those in the place where they look dwell in the brightest light. This may be illustrated by the following unique experience: A large city once appeared in front of me, where there were thousands of different, delightful and beautiful sights. I saw these because an intermediary had been provided; yet the spirits present with me could not see a single thing because they had no intermediary. I was told that even though they are present in that place those who are not in agreement with the ones above them discern nothing whatever of the things existing there.
[3] The same is similarly true of a person’s interior man or spirit, which is also called his soul. The interior man can see every single thing present and taking place in the exterior man; but the reverse is not possible unless the two are in agreement and an intermediary is present. To the exterior man therefore, when it is not in agreement with the interior man, the interior man does not appear to have any existence. It appears to be so completely non-existent that when anything is said about the interior man, it seems to the exterior man either to be so obscure that it is unwilling even to contemplate it or to be nothing it can believe in. But when agreement between the two does exist, the exterior man sees, with the help of the intermediary, what is going on in the interior man. For then the light which the interior man possesses enters into the light which the exterior or natural man possesses; that is, heavenly light passes into natural light and brightens it, and in this brighter light what is happening to the interior man is made visible. This is the origin of the intelligence and wisdom which the exterior man possesses. But if no intermediary is present, and especially if no agreement exists, the interior man sees and perceives what is going on in the exterior man and also to some extent guides it; the reverse however does not happen. More than that, if contrariety exists – that is to say, if the exterior man completely perverts or snuffs out what comes in by way of the interior man – the interior man is deprived of the light it receives from heaven, heaven is inaccessible to it, and a communication from hell with the exterior man is opened up. You may see more about these matters in what now follows below.
[2] Take angelic power as another example. Consider those who, when they think about angelic power, in particular that of the archangels who are mentioned in the Word, do so in natural light that has not been brightened with heavenly light because no intermediary is present, especially if because no agreement exists. Such people’s idea of that power cannot be anything different from the idea they have of the power wielded by powerful rulers in the world. That is to say, they think that angels have thousands upon thousands of subordinates over whom they rule, and that high positions in heaven involve that kind of domination. One may tell these people that angelic power does indeed surpass all power wielded by powerful rulers in the world and is so great that just one of the subordinate angels can drive away millions of hellish spirits and send them down into their own hells, which is why in the Word angels are called ‘powers’ and ‘dominions’. One may also tell those people that the least of the angels is the greatest; that is, the one who believes, wishes, and perceives that all power originates entirely within the Lord and never at all within himself is a very highly powerful ruler. And therefore those who are ‘powers’ in heaven utterly detest any power that derives from themselves. But neither is any of this recognized when beheld in natural light devoid of the intermediary, and more so if no agreement exists.
[3] Take yet another example. Consider a person who looks at freedom from a natural idea devoid of an intermediary linking it to a spiritual one, and especially if no agreement exists between the two. He cannot see freedom as anything else than thinking and willing from what is within himself and being able to carry out without restriction whatever he so thinks and wills. More than that, to the end that he can have whatever he thinks and wills the natural man wishes to become very rich; and to the end that he can carry out whatever he thinks and wills he wishes to become very powerful. Once he has attained this he imagines that he is in perfect freedom and consequently possesses real happiness. If however one tells people like this that true freedom, called heavenly freedom, is not at all like that, but that it involves no willing from what is within oneself, only from the Lord, and does not involve any thinking from what is within oneself, only from heaven, and that feelings of pain and sorrow ensue if one is allowed to think from what is within oneself and to will from what is in oneself, nothing of this is recognized.
These examples may serve to some extent to show what is implied by truth from the Divine not being seen in natural light that has not yet been brightened with heavenly light, meant by Joseph’s brothers not recognizing him.
‘And Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed involving them’ means that the celestial of the spiritual foresaw what was to happen to the general truths known to the Church in the natural. ‘And he said to them’ means the consequent perception. ‘You are spies’ means that they existed solely for the sake of gain. ‘You have come to see the nakedness of the land’ means that nothing would please them more than to know for themselves that they are not truths. ‘And they said to him, No, sir, we are upright men’** means that truths are indeed present within them. ‘And your servants come to buy food’ means that they are present to enable the natural to make them its own by means of good. ‘All we, the sons of one man are we’ means that those truths all have the same origin. ‘We are upright men’ means that truths are accordingly present within them. ‘Your servants are not spies’ means that thus they are not there for the sake of gain. ‘And he said to them, No, but the nakedness of the land you have come to see’ means that they do not care whether they are truths. ‘And they said, Twelve are your servants, brothers are we’ means that all aspects of faith exist joined together in this manner. ‘The sons of one man’ means that they have the same origin. ‘In the land of Canaan’ means in the Church. ‘And behold, the youngest is with our father today’ means that they are also joined to spiritual good. ‘And one is not’ means that the Divine spiritual from which [the joining together begins] is not apparent. ‘And Joseph said to them’ means perception regarding that matter. ‘It is as I spoke to you’ means that the truth of the matter is as I thought. ‘Saying, You are spies’ means that they are interested in the truths known to the Church for the sake of gain. ‘In this manner you will be tested’ means it will be seen whether this is so. ‘As sure as Pharaoh lives’ means a certainty. ‘You shall not go out of here unless your youngest brother comes here’ means that truths with you cannot help being such unless these have been joined to spiritual good. ‘Send one of you and let him fetch your brother’ means provided that some kind of joining to that good exists. ‘And you will be in bonds’ means if all else is still separated. ‘And your words will be tested, whether the truth is with you’ means that in this way the fact of the matter will be established. ‘And if not, as sure as Pharaoh lives, you are spies’ means otherwise it is certain that truths exist with you solely for the sake of gain.
* lit. May Pharaoh live!
** Here and in 5434 Sw. has Non domine, recti nos (No sir, we are upright men) instead of Non domine mi (No, my lord).
[2] People who have reached adult years, and especially those who have arrived at old age, but have not used their own ability to look at the truths known to the Church, called its doctrinal teachings, to see for themselves whether these really are truths, or to form any subsequent wish to live in conformity with them, inevitably retain them in exactly the same way as they do all other factual knowledge. Those truths remain solely in their natural memory, and from there in their mouth. When they speak truths they do so not from their interior man or heart, only from their exterior man or mouth. When this is a person’s state he cannot possibly believe that the truths known to the Church are truths, no matter how much it might seem to him that he does believe that they are. The reason why it seems to him that he does believe they are truths is that he trusts other people and their ideas and firmly embraces them. To embrace firmly other people’s ideas, no matter whether they are truths or falsities, is very easy, for it involves no more than the use of one’s intellect.
[3] These truths known to the Church – that is, those people with whom they exist in the way explained immediately above – are meant by spies coming to see the nakedness of the land. For their belief in the teachings of their Church does not spring from any affection for truth but from an affection for securing important positions and personal gain. For this reason they themselves have scarcely any belief, and there is denial for the most part in their hearts. They regard the Church’s teachings in the way a merchant does his wares, in that they seem to themselves to be well-taught and wise when from within themselves they see those teachings as untrue and yet they are able to convince the common people that they are true. It is quite evident from those in the next life that very many leaders of Churches are like this. Wherever they go in the next life they take with them the sphere emanating from their affections and consequent thoughts, and that sphere is clearly perceptible to others. From this sphere one can recognize quite plainly what kind of affection for truth and what kind of faith they have possessed. The same is not made plain in the world because no spiritual perception of such things exists there. This being so, those leaders of Churches do not reveal what they really think, for that would deprive them of what they seek to gain.
[4] The fact that these are ‘spies’ becomes perfectly clear from the consideration that they are the kind of people who do nothing else than find fault with, so as to accuse and condemn, those who adhere to truths grounded in good. Whether they belong to the Papists so-called, or to the Reformed, or to the Quakers, or to the Socinians, or to the Jews, are not such people, once they have firmly embraced the teachings of their Church, nothing else than ‘spies’? They deride and condemn absolute truths, if these are known anywhere; for truths are not embraced by them because they are truths, the reason for this being that they are not moved by any affection for truth for its own sake, let alone for their life’s sake, only for the sake of personal gain. Also, when such people read the Word they examine it closely with the sole intention of confirming what is already known and taught, and for the sake of material gain. Many of them examine the Word closely ‘to see the nakedness of the land’, that is, to see there the truths known to the Church not as truths but merely as means that will serve them to convince others, for the sake of their own personal gain, that they are truths.
[5] People however who are moved by an affection for truth for its own sake and for their life’s sake, consequently for the sake of the Lord’s kingdom, do indeed have faith in the teachings of the Church. But even so they examine the Word closely with no other end in view than to see the truth itself, as a result of which they develop a faith and a conscience that are their own. If anyone tells them that they ought to keep to the teachings of the Church in which they were born, they then think that they would have been told exactly the same if they had been born within Judaism, within Socinianism, Quakerism, or Christian Gentilism, or even outside the Church, and that everywhere they would say, This is where the Church is, this is where the Church is; truths exist here and nowhere else! This being what they think they decide to examine the Word closely, praying sincerely to the Lord for enlightenment as they do so. People like these do not upset anyone else within the Church, nor do they ever condemn others, for they recognize that the life led by everyone who is a Church is founded on the faith that is his own.
[2] The implications of this may be seen from what has been stated immediately above in 5472, where it is said that people who do not learn truths for truth’s own sake and for their life’s sake, but for the sake of material gain, inevitably think that the truths known to the Church are not truths. The reason for this is that the affection for gain is an earthly affection, whereas the affection for truth is a spiritual one. One or the other must have dominion, for no one can serve two masters. Consequently where one affection exists the other does not, so that where the affection for truth is present the affection for gain is absent, and where the affection for gain is present the affection for truth is absent. This being so, if the affection for material gain has dominion, then inevitably nothing pleases the person more than to know that truths are not truths. Yet nothing else pleases him more than when others believe that truths are truths. If the internal man looks downwards, that is to say, towards earthly things and makes these everything, he cannot possibly look upwards and have anything there since earthly things completely swallow up and smother everything. The reason for this is that the angels from heaven who are present with a person cannot dwell among earthly things; they therefore depart, in which case spirits from hell draw near who, while they are present with a person, cannot dwell among heavenly things. As a consequence he then thinks that heavenly things are of no importance, while earthly ones are everything. And when that person thinks that earthly things are everything, he believes himself to be more learned and wiser than everybody else, in that he himself does not accept the truths known to the Church, and at the same time says that they exist for those who are simple. The affection that moves a person is therefore either an earthly affection or else a heavenly one, for he cannot have his being simultaneously with angels from heaven and with spirits from hell; for if he did he would be left hanging between heaven and hell. But when he is moved by an affection for truth for truth’s own sake, that is, for the sake of the Lord’s kingdom (where Divine Truth is present) and so for the Lord’s sake, he is among angels. He does not in this case despise material gain insofar as it enables him to lead his life in the world. But such gain is not his end in view, only the useful purposes it serves which are seen by him as intermediate ends leading on to an ultimate heavenly one. This being so, his heart is by no means at all set on material gain.
[3] The fact that ‘the nakedness’ means a lack of truths may also be seen from other places in the Word, as in John,
To the angel of the Church of the Laodiceans write, Because you say, I am rich and have become wealthy, so that I have need of nothing – when you do not know that you are wretched and miserable, and needy, and blind, and naked…. Rev. 3:17.
Here being ‘naked’ stands for suffering from a scarcity of truth. In the same place,
I counsel you to buy from Me gold purified in the fire, and white garments to clothe you, and do not let the shame of your nakedness be manifested. Rev. 3:18.
‘Buying gold’ stands for acquiring good and making this one’s own, ‘that you may become wealthy’ for acquiring it to the end that celestial and spiritual good may be present; ‘white garments’ stands for spiritual truths, ‘the shame of nakedness’ for the lack of any goodness or truth. For ‘buying’ means acquiring and making one’s own, see 5374; ‘gold’ celestial and spiritual good, 1551, 1552; ‘garments’ truths, 1073, 2576, 4545, 4763, 5248, 5319; while ‘white’ is attributed to truth because this comes from the light of heaven, 3301, 3993, 4007, 5319.
[4] In the same book,
Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is he who is awake and keeps his garments, so that he may not walk naked. Rev. 16:15.
‘He who keeps his garments’ stands for the person who hangs on to truths. ‘So that he may not walk naked’ stands for so that he is not without truths. In Matthew,
The King will say to those at His right hand, I was naked and you clothed Me around, and to those at His left, I was naked and you did not clothe Me around. Matt. 25:36, 43.
‘Naked’ stands for the good who acknowledge that within themselves no good or truth at all exists, 4958.
[5] In Isaiah,
Is not this the fast, to break your bread for the hungry, and that you may bring afflicted outcasts to your house, when you see the naked and cover him? Isa. 58:7.
Here the meaning is similar. In Jeremiah,
Jerusalem sinned grievously, therefore she became a menstruous woman; all who honoured her despised her, for they saw her nakedness. Lam. 1:8.
Here ‘nakedness’ stands for a lack of truths. In Ezekiel,
You reached full beauty, your breasts were formed and your hair had grown; but you were naked and bare. I spread My wing over you and covered your nakedness. You did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare. Ezek. 16:7, 8, 22.
[6] This refers to Jerusalem, by which the Ancient Church is meant – what it was like when it was first established and what it came to be like after that. That is to say, initially it was lacking in truths, after which it was furnished with them, but finally it cast them aside. In the same prophet,
If a man is righteous, one who has executed judgement and righteousness, he gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing. Ezek. 18:5, 7.
‘Covering the naked with clothing’ stands for furnishing with truths those who desire truths. In Hosea,
Lest I strip her naked, present her as she was on the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a land of dryness, and slay her with thirst. Hosea 2:3.
‘Stripping her naked’ stands for leaving her without truths. In Nahum,
I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame. Nahum 3:5.
‘Showing the nations its nakedness’ stands for its ugliness. All ugliness is a result of the absence of truths, all beauty a result of the presence of them, 4985, 5199.
[2] There is no other means than good by which truth can be made a person’s own. But once it has been made his own by means of good, truth becomes good, for it now acts in unison with it. At the same time the two make so to speak one body, the soul of which is the good. The truths are present within that good like spiritual fibres forming the body. For this reason also the inmost forms going forth from good are meant by the fibres of the body, and truths by the sinews there, 4303, 5189 (end).
Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matt. 6:33.
‘And he shut them up in custody’ means a separation of them from himself. ‘For three days’ means that which is complete. ‘And Joseph said to them on the third day’ means a perception of the celestial of the spiritual regarding those truths separated from itself, when completion is reached. ‘Do this and you will live, [for] I fear God’ means that so it will be if they have life from the Divine. ‘If you are upright men’ means if truths are indeed present within them. ‘One brother among you is to be in bonds in the house of your custody’ means that faith in the will must be separated. ‘And you, go, take corn for the famine of your houses’ means that in the meantime they will be left in freedom to consider their own interests. ‘And bring your youngest brother to me means until the intermediary is present. ‘And your words will be verified’ means that in this case those truths will be exactly as they have been declared to be. ‘And you will not die’ means that the truths will thereby possess life. ‘And they did so’ means the end of this state.
[2] In the case of someone who has been regenerated the Divine flows from the Lord into good, and from this into truth; or what amounts to the same, it flows into his will, and from there into his understanding. To the extent therefore that someone with whom the truths of faith are present receives good from the Lord, the Lord forms for him a new will within the understanding part of his mind (why in the understanding part, see 927, 1023, 1043, 1044, 2256, 4328, 4493, 5113), and the Lord enters in there and creates an affection to do good, that is, to exercise charity towards the neighbour. From this one may see what is meant by the explanation that faith in the will must be separated, which faith is represented by ‘Simeon’, before the intermediary, which is ‘Benjamin’, comes to be present.
[2] The desire to earn material gain, position, and reputation for their own sakes adopts every means that can be employed to convince another; it adopts nothing more readily than such things as are essentially true since these have the power hidden within them to attract people’s minds. Everyone – no matter who, provided that he is not mentally deficient – is endowed with such an ability, that is to say, the ability to understand whether things are true. He has been endowed with it to enable him to be reformed and regenerated through the understanding part of his mind. But although, once he has departed into wicked ways and has cast aside altogether what constitutes the faith of the Church, he still possesses the same ability to understand truths, he no longer has any wish to understand them and loathes them the moment he hears them.
‘And they said, a man to his brother’ means a perception as to the reason why. ‘Assuredly we are guilty concerning our brother’ means that they were blameworthy because they had alienated the internal by their non-acceptance of good. ‘Whose anguish of soul we saw’ means the state of the internal in regard to good, once it was alienated. ‘When he pleaded with us and we did not hear’ means its constant entreaty without ever gaining acceptance. ‘And Reuben answered them, saying’ means that a perception nevertheless existed, springing from faith in doctrine and in the understanding. ‘Did I not say to you, saying’ means the degree of perception from there. ‘Do not sin against the boy’ means lest they become separated [the external from the internal]. ‘And you did not listen’ means non-acceptance. ‘And also, his blood; behold, it is required’ means the subsequent remorse of conscience. ‘And they did not know that Joseph was hearing’ means that the natural light in which those truths dwell does not engender any belief that spiritual light renders all things visible. ‘Because the interpreter was between them’ means that at this time spiritual things are understood in a completely different manner. ‘And he turned away from them’ means somewhat of a withdrawal. ‘And wept’ means mercy. ‘And he came back to them and spoke to them’ means an influx. ‘And he took Simeon from them’ means faith in the will. ‘And bound him’ means a separation. ‘Before their eyes’ means a discernment.
[2] In this chapter ‘Joseph’ represents the celestial of the spiritual or truth from the Divine, which is the internal; ‘Benjamin’ represents the spiritual of the celestial, which is the intermediary going forth from the internal; and the remaining ‘ten sons of Jacob’ represent the truths known to the external Church and so truths that are present in the natural, as stated many times above. This chapter also deals with the joining of the internal aspect of the Church to its external aspect, corporately and in every specific part; for each person individually must be a Church if he is to form part of the Church as a corporate whole. But in the highest sense the chapter deals with the way in which the Lord united the Internal to the External within His Human so as to make this Divine.
[2] If therefore a person when he inclines to evils – as most people do in adolescence – feels at all disturbed when he reflects on an evil deed he has committed, this is a sign that he will nevertheless accept what flows into him from heaven through the angels. It is also a sign that subsequently he will allow himself to be reformed. But if he does not feel in any way disturbed when he reflects on an evil deed he has committed, this is a sign that he no longer wishes to accept what flows into him from heaven through the angels; and it is a sign too that subsequently he will not allow himself to be reformed. Here therefore, where the subject is the truths known to the external Church, which are represented by ‘the ten sons of Jacob’, reference is made to ‘the anguish of soul’ which Joseph experienced once he was alienated from his brothers, and then to the fact that Reuben had warned them against doing what they did. By this is meant the consideration that once that state was under way reformation was to follow; that is, the internal came to be joined to the external, that joining together being the subject in what follows. For with people who feel disturbed during this state, an internal recognition of evil is present; and when the Lord calls that recognition to mind, it becomes confession and finally penitence.
* Reading in bono (in regard to good) for interea (in the meantime); cp above in 5467, where in his rough draft Sw. amends interea to in bono.
[2] The situation with natural light and spiritual light is as follows. Natural light flows from the sun in the world, and spiritual light flows from the Sun in heaven, which is the Lord. All the truths of faith that a person has learned since early childhood come to be understood by him with the help of the kinds of objects, and the ideas formed from these, that originate in the light of the world. Thus every single thing is seen in a natural way; for as long as he lives in the world all the ideas constituting a person’s thought are based on the kinds of things that exist in the world. If therefore these things are taken away from him his thought is totally destroyed. One who has not been regenerated has no knowledge at all of the existence of spiritual light, not even of the existence in heaven of a light that has nothing in common with the light of the world. Still less does that person know that spiritual light is what lights up ideas and objects that originate in the light of the world and is what enables a person to think, draw conclusions, and reflect on them. The reason such spiritual light enables him to do this is that that light is wisdom itself which goes forth from the Lord; and that wisdom manifests itself as the light which the angels in heaven see before them. That light renders visible every single thing beneath it, that is, every single thing present with a person which is a product of natural light. But the reverse does not happen unless the person has been regenerated, in which case the things that belong to heaven, that is, forms of goodness and truth, are lit up by spiritual light and become visible in the natural as if in a representative mirror.
[3] From this it is evident that the Lord, who is Light itself, sees every single thing present in a person’s thought and will, and present indeed in the whole natural creation; nothing at all escapes His notice. From all this one may now recognize what is involved here – that natural light in which those truths dwell does not engender any belief that spiritual light renders all things visible, meant by the words ‘they did not know that Joseph was hearing’. Much the same is implied by the statement above in verse 8, ‘Joseph recognized his brothers and they did not recognize him’. For these words mean that the truths of the Church were seen by the celestial of the spiritual by the light it possessed, and that truth from the Divine was not seen in natural light that was not yet brightened with heavenly light; see 5427, 5428.
I shall weep with weeping over Jazer, the vine of Sibmah. I will seek you with My tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh. Isa. 16:9.
And in Jeremiah,
I know, says Jehovah, the indignation of Moab, that he is not right. Therefore I will howl over Moab and will cry out because of the whole of Moab. Above the weeping of Jazer I will weep because of you, O vine of Sibmah. Jer. 48:30-32.
‘Moab’ stands for those who are governed by natural good and allow themselves to be led astray; and once led astray they adulterate what is good, 2468. ‘Howling, crying out, and weeping over Moab’ stands for feelings of mercy and grief. Similarly in Luke,
As He drew near, Jesus saw the city and wept over it. Luke 19:41.
The Jerusalem over which Jesus wept, that is, for which He had feelings of mercy and grief, was not only the actual city of Jerusalem but also the Church, whose last day, when there will no longer be any charity or consequently any faith, is meant in the internal sense. His feelings of mercy and grief led Him to weep. As regards ‘Jerusalem’ being the Church, see 2117, 3654.
[2] This may be compared to the sun flowing into objects on earth. When it reproduces these from their seed and renews them, it flows in with heat, as it does in springtime and summertime, and also with light, and so reproduces them. Absolutely nothing at all is reproduced by light alone, as is evident from those objects in wintertime. Spiritual heat is the good of love, and spiritual light is the truth of faith. Also, spiritual heat present in objects in the animal kingdom gives them their vital heat, while spiritual light gives them life, which springs from that vital heat.
‘And Joseph gave the command’ means an influx from the celestial of the spiritual. ‘To fill their vessels with grain’ means that factual knowledge was endowed with good produced from truth. ‘And to restore their silver’ means without the expending of any power of their own. ‘Each man’s in his own sack’ means wherever a receptacle exists in the natural. ‘And to give them provision for the way’ means and that support should be supplied to the truths they had. ‘And thus he did [for them]’ means a putting into effect. ‘And they loaded their corn onto their asses’ means the truths gathered into factual knowledge. ‘And went from there’ means subsequent life. ‘And one opened his sack’ means a perusal. ‘To give fodder to his ass, in a lodging-place’ means when they stopped to reflect on the facts present in the exterior natural. ‘And he saw his silver’ means a discernment that no power of their own had been expended. ‘And it was in the mouth of his pouch’ means that this was returned as a gift and was put back in the opening of the exterior natural. ‘And he said to his brothers’ means a perception shared by all. ‘My silver has been restored’ means that nothing of their own resources was taken from them. ‘And also behold, it is in my pouch’ means its presence in the exterior natural. ‘And their heart went out of them’ means fear. ‘And they trembled [turning] a man to his brother’ means the dread shared by them all. ‘Saying, What is this that God has done to us?’ means owing to so great an act of providence.
* lit. And Joseph commanded, and they [his servants?] filled
Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he who has no silver, come, buy and eat. And come, buy wine and milk without silver and without price. Isa. 55:1.
[2] From this one may now conclude that, among unregenerate persons who have cast aside the good of charity, facts existing as truths known to the Church have the kinds of impulses expressing self-love and love of the world attached to them. Thus attached to those facts there are forms of evil which, because of the delight these hold within them, are called forms of good by those unregenerate persons, who also employ wrong interpretations to present them as such. Those facts take on an attractive appearance, when self-love and love of the world reign throughout, assuming it in the degree in which these are reigning. But among regenerate persons facts existing as truths known to the Church have the kinds of impulses that belong to love towards the neighbour and love to God, thus forms of genuine good, attached to them. These forms of good are placed by the Lord within the truths known to the Church that are present with all undergoing regeneration. Therefore when the Lord inspires these people with a zeal for what is good, those truths come forth at the same time in their own proper order; and when He inspires a zeal for truth, that good is present and sets it ablaze. From all this one may see the situation so far as factual knowledge and truths are concerned – that they are the receptacles for good.
He caused manna to rain down onto them for food, and gave them the grain of heaven. Man ate the bread of the mighty; He sent them provision to satiety. Ps. 78:24, 25.
[2] The fact that the historical descriptions in the Word move away into another sense when they are raised into heaven may become clear to anyone who uses his reason to draw conclusions and who knows something about the natural and the spiritual. He can see that ‘loading corn onto their asses’ is a purely natural action and has absolutely nothing spiritual about it. He can also see that angels in heaven, that is, in a spiritual world, cannot grasp those words in any but a spiritual manner and that they do grasp them in a spiritual manner when corresponding entities are understood in place of them, that is to say, when they understand truth known to the Church in place of ‘corn’ and facts present in the natural in place of ‘asses’. It has been shown previously that in the Word ‘asses’ means objects of service and so known facts, for in relation to spiritual ideas and also to rational concepts such facts are objects of service, see 2781. From all this one may also see what the thought and speech of angels are like compared with men’s thought and speech. That is to say, one may see that angels’ thought and speech are spiritual whereas men’s are natural, and that when angels’ thought and speech move downwards they pass into men’s, and that men’s are converted into angels’ when they move upwards. If this were not so there would not be any communication at all between mankind and the angels, that is, between the world and heaven.
[2] One who is still a child cannot begin to think from anything higher than the exterior natural, for he composes his ideas out of sensory impressions. But as he grows up, employing sensory impressions to work out the reasons for things, he begins to think from the interior natural. For he begins to employ his sensory impressions to formulate ideas about truths which essentially are higher than sensory impressions; yet such ideas are still on a level with things in the natural world. But as he grows into a young adult, if he develops his power of reason, he employs what is in his interior natural to work out the reasons for things, which are truths of a yet higher nature. These are extracted so to speak from what is present in the interior natural. (The learned world calls the ideas composing thought which originate in this way intellectual and immaterial ideas, whereas ideas formed from factual knowledge present in both parts of the natural, insofar as these originate in the world and come through the senses, they call material ideas.) This is the manner in which a person rises with his understanding from the world up to heaven. Yet he does not go on into heaven with that understanding unless he accepts good from the Lord which is constantly present and flowing into him. If he does accept that good he is also endowed with truths, for in good all truths are welcome guests. And as he is endowed with truths, so he is endowed with understanding enabling him to have his being in heaven.
‘And they came’ means a subsequent state of reformation. ‘To Jacob their father’ means the good of natural truth. ‘To the land of Canaan’ means which is that of the Church. ‘And they pointed out to him all that was happening to them’ means reflection made by the good of that truth on what was provided up to then. ‘Saying’ means perception. ‘The man, the lord of the land, spoke’ means the celestial of the spiritual ruling in the natural. ‘Hard words to us’ means that no joining together with this took place because no agreement existed. ‘And took us for men spying out the land’ means that it saw the truths known to the Church as ones existing for the sake of gain. ‘And we said to him, We are upright men; we are not spies’ means a denial that they were interested in the truths known to the Church for the sake of gain. ‘Twelve are we, brothers’ means all truths in their entirety. ‘The sons of our father’ means having the same origin. ‘One is not’ means that the Divine spiritual from which their joining together begins is not apparent. ‘And the youngest is today with our father in the land of Canaan’ means that from itself [the celestial of the spiritual] had a link with spiritual good. ‘And the man, the lord of the land, said to us’ means a discernment regarding the celestial of the spiritual ruling in the natural. ‘By this I shall know that you are upright men’ means its willingness, provided that they were not interested in truths for the sake of gain. ‘Cause one brother among you to remain with me’ means that faith in the will was to be separated from them. ‘And take [food for] the famine of your houses’ means that in the meantime they should provide for their own needs in that desolation. ‘And go’ means so that they may thereby live. ‘And bring your youngest brother to me’ means that if the intermediary were there the joining together would take place. ‘And I shall know that you are not spies’ means that they are no longer truths existing for the sake of gain. ‘That you are upright men means that agreement accordingly exists. ‘I will give you your brother’ means that truths will thereby be made forms of good. ‘And you will wander through the land, trading’ means that truths from good will thereby be made fruitful and will all afford some useful purpose and lead to some form of gain.
[2] The reason ‘what is happening’ means what is providential or has been provided is that every happening or contingency which is otherwise described as fortuitous and attributed to chance or luck is something providential. Divine Providence does its work out of sight and in ways beyond comprehension, for the reason that a person may be able in freedom to attribute that work either to providence or else to chance. For if providence performed its acts in seen and comprehensible ways the dangerous condition would then exist in which a person would first believe, because of what he has seen and comprehended, that those acts were providential, but after that would move away into a contrary belief. In that case truth and falsity would then be joined together in his interior man and the truth would be rendered profane – a condition that holds eternal damnation within it. The retention therefore of a person such as this in a state of disbelief is preferable to his having faith at one point and then departing from it.
[3] This condition is meant in Isaiah,
Say to this people, Hearing, hear – but do not understand; and seeing, see – but do not comprehend. 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, and they turn again and are healed. Isa. 6:9, 10; John 12:40.
This also explains why miracles do not take place at the present day. For as with everything else that is seen and comprehensible, miracles would compel a person to believe; and anything that compels takes freedom away. But the whole of a person’s reformation and regeneration takes place while he is in freedom; nothing implanted in him if he is not in freedom remains fixed in him. Things are implanted in freedom if an affection for goodness and truth are present in the person, 1937, 1947, 2744, 2870-2893, 3145, 3146, 3158, 4401.
[4] The reason why great miracles occurred among the descendants of Jacob was that they were compelled by those miracles to fulfill in their outward form the religious laws they were given; for no more than this was required of those limited to representatives of the Church. With those people things of an external nature were separated from internal ones, which was why they could not undergo any interior reformation. They completely rejected things of an internal nature and were therefore unable to render truths profane, 3398, 3399, 3479, 4680. Such people could be subjected to compulsion without any danger of their profaning what was holy.
[5] People of today ought to believe what they do not see, as is also clear from the Lord’s words to Thomas, in John,
Because you have seen Me, Thomas, you have believed; blessed are those who do not see and yet believe. John 20:29.
The truth that contingencies which are otherwise attributed to chance or luck are due to Divine Providence is indeed accepted by the Church; yet there is no real belief in it. Who does not say that God has saved him, who does not give thanks to God when, seemingly by good fortune, he gets out of some great danger? Also, when he is promoted to important positions or comes into wealth, does he not also call this a blessing received from God? Thus the member of the Church accepts that all contingencies are attributable to providence, even though he does not really believe this. But more on these matters will in the Lord’s Divine mercy be presented elsewhere.
[2] There are within the natural these two: known facts and the truths known to the Church. The placing of facts into their proper order by the celestial of the spiritual, which is truth from the Divine, has been dealt with already. Now the truths known to the Church, which are represented by ‘the ten sons of Jacob’, are the subject. Facts must be placed in order within the natural before the truths known to the Church are placed in order there, for the reason that those facts are needed for the grasping of these truths. For nothing can enter a person’s understanding without ideas formed from such factual knowledge as has been acquired by him since early childhood. For man is totally ignorant of this, that every truth known to the Church that is called a truth of faith is founded on the facts he knows, or that he comes to grasp that truth, retain it in his memory, and recall it from there with the help of ideas formulated from the facts he knows.
[3] It is quite normal in the next life to demonstrate in a visual way to those who desire it what those ideas are like; for things like this can be presented clearly in visual ways in the light of heaven. At the same time that visual presentation demonstrates in what darkness or else in what kind of beaming light they have kept the truth taught by the Church. With some people that truth is shown to be lying among falsities, with some among absurd, even scandalous ideas, with others among illusions of the senses, with others again among apparent truths, and so on. If a person has been governed by good, that is, if he has led a charitable life, truths are lit up by good, as if by fire sent down from heaven, and the illusions of the senses holding those truths within them are made beautifully radiant. And when they have innocence introduced into them by the Lord they actually look like truths.
[2] It is similarly the case when the internal, or those living in their internal, declare that the joy experienced by the angels originates in love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour, that is to say, when they are actually engaged in performing deeds of love and charity, and that those deeds hold within them so much joy and happiness that these are beyond description. This will come as a ‘hard’ idea to those whose joy springs solely from self-love and love of the world and who take no interest in their neighbour other than for their own selfish reasons. Yet heaven and heavenly joy start to exist in a person when self-regard vanishes from the useful deeds he performs.
[3] Take as yet another example the situation in which the internal declares that a person’s soul is nothing else than the internal man and that after death the internal man appears to be exactly the same person as lived in the world, having a similar face, similar body, similar sensory powers, and a similar power of thought. People who have entertained the idea that the soul exists only on the level where thought does and is for that reason something ethereal lacking any outward form, and that the soul is to be reclothed with its body, imagine that what is declared by the internal about the soul is very far from the truth. Indeed those who believe that there is nothing more than the body to a human being will find the idea ‘hard’ when they hear that the soul is the real person and that the body which is buried serves no use at all in the next life. I know this is true because I have in the Lord’s Divine mercy gone among such people, not among just some but among many, not just once but often, and I have talked to them on this matter. The same may also be said about countless other matters.
[2] For as soon as the truth of faith, which is a matter of doctrine, enters the will it is made the truth of life and truth put into practice, in which case it is called good and also becomes spiritual good; and the Lord uses this good to form a new will in the person. The will causes truth to exist as a form of good for the reason that essentially the will is nothing else than love (for whatever a person loves he wills, and whatever he does not love he does not will), and also for the reason that everything which is a product of love or flows from love is perceived by a person as a form of good since he takes delight in it. From this it follows that everything which is a product of the will or flows from the will is a form of good.
[2] For someone who is governed by good possesses the ability to see particular truths that derive from general ones, and to see them in a continuing sequence. This is more especially the case at a later stage in the next life when worldly and bodily matters cease to cast a shadow over them. I have been allowed to know from considerable experience that good brings this ability with it. Such experience has included spirits who had possessed not so much of that ability when they lived as people in the world but who had nevertheless led charitable lives. I have seen those spirits raised up into heavenly communities, where they have then possessed intelligence and wisdom akin to that of the angels there; indeed these knew no other than that such intelligence and wisdom existed within those spirits. For the good which had governed the lives they had led gave them the ability to receive everything that flowed into them from the angelic communities in which they were present. This kind of ability exists within good and so therefore does that kind of fruitfulness. But the truths which with them are made fruitful by good do not remain as truths; these people make them matters of life, in which case they come to be assigned to some useful purpose. Therefore ‘wandering through the land, trading’ also means that all truths will afford some useful purpose and lead to some form of gain.
‘And so it was, as they were emptying their sacks’ means the use performed by truths in the natural. ‘That behold, each man’s bundle of silver’ means truths in ordered groups freely given. ‘Was in his sack’ means in each one’s receptacle. ‘And they saw their bundles of silver means a discernment that this was so. ‘They and their father’ means by the truths and the good of truth in the natural. ‘And they were afraid’ means a holy influence. ‘And Jacob their father said to them’ means a perception that came to them from the good of truth. ‘You have bereaved me [of my children]’ means that thus no Church existed any longer. ‘Joseph is not’ means that the internal does not exist: ‘And Simeon is not’ means that faith in the will does not exist either. ‘And you take Benjamin’ means if the intermediary also is taken away. ‘All these things will be upon me’ means that, when this is so, that which constitutes the Church will have been destroyed. ‘And Reuben said to his father’ means matters of faith present in the understanding were discerned by the good of truth. ‘He said, Make my two sons die’ means that neither of the two kinds of faith will survive. ‘If I do not bring him back to you’ means if no joining of the intermediary takes place. ‘Give him into my hand’ means insofar as it was in its power. ‘And I will bring him to you’ means that it will be restored. ‘And he said, My son shall not go down with you’ means that it will not move down towards inferior things. ‘For his brother is dead’ means because the internal is not present. ‘And he, he alone, is left’ means that this one now exists in place of the internal. ‘And should harm happen to him on the road on which you go’ means that, when in the company of truths alone in the natural that have been separated from the internal, it will perish. ‘You will cause my grey hair to go down’ means that this will accordingly be the final phase of the Church. ‘In sorrow to the grave’ means without hope of a restoration to life.
[2] From this one may see quite clearly what the situation is with those governed by self-love and love of the world and what it is with those governed by love to God and towards their neighbour. With people governed by self-love and love of the world the kinds of truths that lend support to these loves are in the middle, while those giving them little support are on the peripheries, and those contrary to them, such as truths to do with loving God and loving their neighbour, are cast to the outside. Such is the state of those in hell. This also explains why sometimes a band of light is seen around them; but inside this band where they themselves are, there exists a dark, gruesome, and horrible centre. With angels however there is a radiance at the centre, fuelled by the good of celestial and spiritual love, with a band of light or shining whiteness clothing it round about. Those who appear like this are likenesses of the Lord, for when He Himself revealed His Divinity to Peter, James, and John, He shone with His face like the sun, and His garments became like the light, Matt. 17:2. The fact that angels, who are likenesses of Him, are seen in a radiance with a surrounding whiteness is evident from the angel who came down from heaven and rolled the stone away from the door of the tomb,
His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. Matt. 28:3.
truth, dealt with just above in 5533.
[2] ‘Bereaving’ is depriving the Church of its truths for the reason that the Church is likened to a marriage. Good is likened to the husband and truth to the wife, while the truths born from that marriage are likened to ‘the sons’ and the forms of good to ‘the daughters’, and so on. When therefore a state of bereavement or an action causing this is mentioned, the meaning is that the Church has been deprived of its truths and as a consequence ceases to be a Church. The expressions ‘bereft’ and ‘bereavement’ are also used in various other places in the Word, as in
Ezekiel,
I will send famine and evil wild animals upon you, and I will make you bereft. Ezek. 5:17.
In the same prophet,
When I cause evil wild animals to pass through the land and they leave it bereft so that it becomes a desolation, with the result that no one passes through on account of the wild animals. Ezek. 14:15.
In Leviticus,
I will send into you the wild animals of the field, which will leave you bereft and will cut off your beasts,* and make you few in number, so that your roads are laid waste. Lev. 26:22.
[3] In these quotations ‘famine’ stands for an absence of cognitions of good and truth and the consequent desolation, ‘evil wild animals’ for falsities derived from evils, and ‘the land’ for the Church. ‘Sending famine and evil wild animals, and leaving the land bereft’ stands for destroying the Church by means of falsities derived from evils and so depriving it completely of truths. In Jeremiah,
I will winnow them with a winnowing-fork in the gates of the land; I will bereave, I will destroy My people. Jer. 15:7.
Here also ‘bereaving’ stands for depriving of truths. In the same prophet,
Give their children over to the famine, and cause them to be wiped out by the power of the sword,** so that their wives become bereaved [of children] and widows. Jer. 18:11.
‘So that their wives become bereaved and widows’ stands for their being left without truths or good.
[4] In Hosea,
As for the Ephraimites, their glory will fly away like a bird, away from birth, and from the belly, and from conception. Even if they bring up their sons, I will make them bereft of human beings. Hosea 9:11, 12.
Here the meaning is similar. In Ezekiel,
I will cause human beings to walk upon you, even My people; and those human beings will by inheritance take possession of you and you will be an inheritance to them; no more will you bereave them [of their children]. Thus said the Lord Jehovih, Because they say to you, You have been one devouring human beings and one bereaving your peoples [of children]. Ezek. 36:12, 13.
Here also ‘bereaving’ stands for depriving of truths.
[5] In Isaiah,
Now hear this, you lover of pleasures, sitting securely, saying in her*** heart, I am, and there is no one else like me; a widow I shall not sit, nor shall I know bereavement [of children]. But these two things will come to you in a moment in one day-bereavement and widowhood. Isa. 47:8, 9.
This refers to the daughter of Babel and to Chaldea, that is, to those who are outwardly holy but inwardly unholy and who call themselves the Church by virtue of that outward holiness. ‘Bereavement and widowhood’ stands for a deprivation of truth and good. In the same prophet,
Lift up your eyes round about, and see; they all gather together, they come to you. The children of your bereavements will say again in your ears, The place is too narrow for me; yield me a place to dwell in. But you will say in your heart, Who has begotten these for me, when yet I am bereft [of children] and alone, an exile and one who has been displaced? Who therefore has brought these up? I was left, alone. These, where were they? Isa. 49:18, 20, 21.
This refers to Zion, which is the celestial Church, and to its fruitfulness after it had been laid waste. ‘The sons of bereavements’ stands for the truths of which it was deprived when laid waste, but which were restored and underwent enormous increase.
* i.e. cattle
** lit. cause them to flow down by means of the hand of the sword
*** The Latin means your but the Hebrew means her, which Sw. has in another place where he quotes this verse.
Hearken to Me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel who have been carried from the womb, borne from the belly. Even to [your] old age I am the same, and even to grey hair I will carry [you]. Isa. 46:3, 4.
‘The house of Jacob’ stands for the external Church, ‘the house of Israel’ for the internal Church. ‘From the womb and the belly’ stands for since it began. ‘To old age and to grey hair’ stands for the final phase of it. And in David,
Planted in the house of Jehovah, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still have produce when in grey hair. Ps. 92:13, 14.
‘When in grey hair’ stands for when in the final phase.
[2] It does indeed seem strange that ‘the grave’ means a restoration to life; but that strangeness is due to man’s idea about the grave. He makes no distinction between the grave and death, nor even between the grave and the corpse lying in it. But angels in heaven cannot have any such idea about the grave; theirs is an entirely different one from man’s, namely the idea of resurrection and restoration to life. For when a person’s corpse is committed to the grave he himself is raised into the next life. When thinking about the grave therefore the angels have no idea of death, only of life and consequently of a restoration to life.
IN THIS SECTION THE CORRESPONDENCE OF THE SKIN, HAIR, AND BONES WITH IT
Correspondence is by nature such that the parts in the human being which possess the greatest amount of life correspond to those communities in heaven which possess the greatest amount of life and consequently the greatest amount of happiness there, such as those communities to which a person’s external and internal sensory powers correspond, and which have a link with his understanding and his will. But parts in the human being which possess less life correspond to the kinds of communities where less life is present, such as the layers of the skin which cover the whole body, also the cartilages and the bones which hold together and support everything within the body, as well as the hairs that grow out of the skin. The identity and nature of those communities to which all these parts of the body correspond must also be stated.
[2] I perceived that the spirits present with me had been traders during their lifetime; yet they were the kind whose delight in life lay in trading itself and not so much in riches, so that trading itself was so to speak the driving force (anima) within them. I therefore spoke to them about this, and was led to say that trading in no way prevented them from entering heaven and that in heaven there were rich people no less than poor ones. But they objected to this, saying it had been their opinion that if they were going to be saved, they would need to give up trading, donate all their possessions to the poor, and reduce themselves to a pitiable condition. I was led to answer that what they said was not true and that those among them who were in heaven because they had been good Christians and yet had been wealthy, some extremely wealthy, thought otherwise. These people had had as their end in view the common good and love towards their neighbour; and they had engaged in commerce solely for the sake of service in the world and had not, what is more, set their heart on wealth. But the reason why those to whom I was speaking were on a lower level was that they were wholly naturally-minded and therefore had no belief in a life after death, or in hell, or in heaven; indeed they had no belief in the spirit. I also told them that by the use of all kinds of ingenuity they had heartlessly robbed others of their goods and without feeling any pity could for their own gain watch entire households perish, and that they consequently derided everyone who talked to them about the spiritual life.
[3] I have also been shown the kind of belief those spirits had had regarding life after death, and regarding heaven and hell. A certain person appeared who was carried up to heaven, going up from the left over to the right. I was told that this was someone who had recently died and was being taken off immediately by angels into heaven. There followed a discussion concerning that person, but although those spirits too saw this take place, they possessed a sphere of disbelief which was an extremely powerful one and which they diffused around themselves. It was so powerful that they were willing to convince themselves and others not to believe what they had seen. Because their disbelief was so strong I was led to tell them that if in the world they had by chance witnessed the restoration to life of someone lying dead on a catafalque they would first of all have said that they refused to believe it unless they had seen many dead persons restored to life, and that if they had seen this they would have attributed such to natural causes. After this, when those spirits had been left to think for a while, they said that at first they would have believed that what they had seen was some trick. But once, they added, it proved to be no trick they would have believed that the soul of the dead person had some secret communication with the one restoring him to life, and at length that this was some secret which they could not comprehend; for the natural world contains very many incomprehensible secrets. So they could not have been led to believe that such a happening was attributable to some force outside the natural order. This revealed the kind of faith that had been theirs, that is to say, a faith which could not possibly lead them to believe in a life after death, or in hell, or in heaven. Thus it revealed that they were naturally-minded. When spirits like these are seen in the light of heaven they too seem to have no face, only a thick growth of hair in place of it.
43
GENESIS 43
1 And the famine grew more serious in the land.
2 And it happened, when they had finished eating the corn which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, Turn back, buy a little food for us.
3 And Judah said to him – he said, The man issued a solemn warning to us, saying, You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.
4 If you are willing to send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you.
5 And if you are not willing to send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.
6 And Israel said, Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had still [another] brother?
7 And they said, The man questioned us closely about ourselves and our generation, saying, Is your father still alive? Have you a brother? And we told him according to the tenor* of these words. Could we possibly have known that he would say, Cause your brother to come down?
8 And Judah said to Israel his father, Send the boy with me, and we will rise up and go, and we will live and not die – even we, even you, even our young children.
9 I myself will be surety for him; from my hand you will require him. If I do not bring him to you and set him before you, then I shall be sinning against you every day.
10 For if perhaps we had not delayed we would by now have returned these two times.**
11 And Israel their father said to them, If this therefore has to be, do it. Take some of the much-sung-about produce*** of the land in your vessels, and cause a gift to go down to the man – a little resin and a little honey, wax and stacte, pistachio nuts and almonds.
12 And take a double amount of silver in your hands. And the silver that was put back in the mouth of your pouches you are to take back in your hand; perhaps it was a mistake.
13 And take your brother; and rise up, return to the man.
14 And may God Shaddai grant you mercy before the man, and may he release**** to you your other brother and Benjamin; and I, even as I have been bereaved, I shall be bereaved.
15 And the men took this gift, and took the double amount of silver in their hand, and Benjamin; and they rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.
16 And Joseph saw Benjamin with them, and he said to the one who was over his house, Bring the men to the house, and slaughter and prepare [an animal]; for the men will eat with me at midday.
17 And the man did as Joseph said, and the man brought the men to Joseph’s house.
18 And the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph’s house; and they said, Over the matter of the silver put back in our pouches at the beginning are we brought to [this place], so that he may come down on us and fall on us,***** and take us as slaves, and our asses.
19 And they came near the man who was over Joseph’s house, and they spoke to him [at]****** the door (ostium) of the house.
20 And they said, On my honour,******* my lord, we certainly came down at the beginning to buy food.
21 And it happened, when we came to the lodging-place and opened our pouches, that behold, each man’s silver was in the mouth of his pouch, our silver in its full weight; and we are bringing it back in our hand.
22 And we are causing other silver to come down in our hand to buy food; we do not know who put our silver in our pouches.
23 And he said, Peace to you, do not be afraid; your God and the God of your father has given you the concealed gift in your pouches; your silver came to me. And he brought Simeon out to them.
24 And the man brought the men to Joseph’s house and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave fodder to their asses.
25 And they made ready the gift, until Joseph’s coming at midday, for they heard that they would eat bread there.
26 And Joseph came to the house, and they brought him the gift that was in their hand, to the house, and bowed down to him to the earth.
27 And he questioned them about their peace,******** and said, Does your father, the old man of whom you spoke, have peace? Is he still alive?
28 And they said, Your servant our father has peace; he is still alive. And they bowed, and bowed down.
29 And he lifted up his eyes and saw Benjamin his brother, his mother’s son, and said, Is this your youngest brother, whom you said [something about) to me? And he said, God be gracious to you, my son.
30 And Joseph hastened, because feelings of compassion were being roused in him towards his brother, and he sought [somewhere] to weep; and he went to his bedchamber and wept there.
31 And he washed his face and went out; and he contained himself and said, Set on bread.
32 And they set for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians eating with him by themselves; for the Egyptians cannot eat bread with the Hebrews, since that is an abomination to the Egyptians.
33 And they sat in front of him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth; and the men were astonished [and looked] each at his companion.
34 And he took portions from before his face to them, and he multiplied Benjamin’s portion above the portions of all theirs – five measures more. And they drank, and drank plentifully with him.
* lit. mouth
** i.e. they would by now have returned home a second time
*** much-sung-about produce translates the single Latin word decantatio, which Sw. uses to represent the Hebrew zimrath, a word meaning products celebrated and praised in song.
**** lit. send
***** lit. roll down onto us and throw himself onto us
****** See 5653.
******* The Latin In me here represents the Hebrew Bi, which is usually regarded as an expression of entreaty rather than validity, cp Chapter 44:18.
******** i.e. their welfare
The description of the joining of the truths known to the Church and present in the natural, which are ‘the ten sons of Jacob’, to the celestial of the spiritual or truth from the Divine, which is ‘Joseph’, through the intermediary, which is ‘Benjamin’, is continued. But this chapter confines itself in the internal sense to the general influx which comes before the joining together.
Verses 1-5 And the famine grew more serious in the land. And it happened, when they had finished eating the corn which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, Turn back, buy a little food for us. And Judah said to him – he said, The man issued a solemn warning to us, saying, You will not see my face unless your brother is with you. If you are willing to send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you. And if you are not willing to send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.
‘And the famine grew more serious’ means the desolation resulting from the dearth of spiritual things. ‘In the land’ means in the case of the integral parts of the Church. ‘And it happened’ means a new situation. ‘When they had finished eating the corn’ means when there was a deficiency of truths. ‘Which they had brought from Egypt’ means which had been obtained from factual knowledge. ‘That their father said to them’ means a perception received from the things that constituted the Church. ‘Turn back, buy a little food for us’ means that, so as to have life, they should acquire the good of spiritual truth. ‘And Judah said to him’ means the good which existed in the Church. ‘He said, The man issued a solemn warning to us’ means the turning away from them of the spiritual from the internal. ‘Saying, You will not see my face’ means that no compassion will show itself. ‘Unless your brother is with you means unless the intermediary is with you. ‘If you are willing to send our brother with us’ means if the Church desires a linking to take place, the intermediary must be there. ‘We will go down and buy food for you’ means that in this case the good of truth will be acquired. ‘And if you are not willing to send him’ means if that is not so. ‘We will not go down’ means that it cannot be acquired. ‘For the man said to us’ means a perception regarding the spiritual. ‘You will not see my face’ means that no compassion will show itself. ‘Unless your brother is with you’ means unless the intermediary is with you.
[2] This has been made clear to me by the fact that after young children, who have died as young children, have been furnished in heaven with truths that are the constituents of intelligence and with forms of good that are the essence of wisdom, they no longer look like young children but adults, increasingly so as goodness and truth increase with them. The nourishment of angels by spiritual food has also been made clear to me by the fact that they have a constant desire for those things that are the constituents of intelligence and wisdom. At their eveningtime, that is, when they pass through a state in which they lack what they desire, that state compared with other states holds no happiness for them. In that state there is nothing that they hunger and long for more than a new dawning of morning light upon them and their return to the life filled with happiness that comes with intelligence and wisdom.
[3] It may also be seen by anyone who stops to reflect on the matter that understanding what is true and desiring what is good constitute spiritual food. If someone who is enjoying material food that serves to nourish the body is at the same time in a cheerful state of mind and is engaged in conversation about the kinds of things that accord with that state of mind, the material food for the body becomes all the more nourishing. This is an indication of the existence of a correspondence between spiritual food, which feeds the soul, and material food, which feeds the body. The same is clear in addition from the experience of someone who has the desire to furnish his mind with ideas that constitute knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom. If he is denied these he begins to feel sad and distressed, and like somebody in time of famine he has the desire to return to his spiritual food and so to the nourishment of his soul.
[4] It may also be seen from the Word that spiritual food is what nourishes the soul in the way material food nourishes the body, as in Moses,
Man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every utterance of the mouth of Jehovah. Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4.
In general ‘utterance of the mouth of Jehovah’ is the Divine Truth which goes forth from the Lord, and so is every truth contained in wisdom; specifically it is the Word, the foundation and source of ideas constituting wisdom. And in John,
Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. John 6:17.
This ‘food’ is clearly the truth that is contained in wisdom and that goes forth from the Lord.
[5] From this one may also recognize what is meant by these words of the Lord recorded in the same chapter,
My flesh is truly food, and My blood truly is drink. John 6:55.
That is to say, ‘the Lord’s flesh’ is Divine Good, 3813, and ‘His blood’ Divine Truth, 4735. For now that the Lord has made His Human completely Divine, His ‘flesh’ is nothing else than Divine Good, and His ‘blood’ nothing else than Divine Truth. One has to understand that in the Divine there is nothing material; therefore in the highest sense, that is, where it has reference to the Lord, ‘food’ is the Good of Divine Love directed towards the salvation of the human race. This food is also the kind that is meant by the Lord’s words in John,
Jesus said to the disciples, I have food to eat of which you do not know. My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. John 4:32, 34.
‘Doing the will of Him who sent Me, and finishing His work’ is saving the human race; and the Divine attribute which motivates this is Divine Love.
From all this one may now see what is meant in the spiritual sense by ‘the famine’.
[2] From this one may see how deluded those people are who believe – on the basis of prophetical utterances in the Old Testament, and in John in the New – that on the day when the last judgement takes place a new earth or land and a new heaven or sky are going to be created, when in fact nothing else than a new external Church is meant by ‘a new earth’ and a new internal Church by ‘a new heaven’. These deluded people also believe that something other than the Church is meant when the expression ‘the whole earth’ is used in the Word. This shows how little understanding of the Word exists with those who imagine that the Word does not contain any meaning more holy than that shining out of the letter alone.
Regarding the existence of the Church in the land of Canaan since most ancient times, 3686, 4447, 4454, 4516, 4517, 5136.
Regarding ‘the land’ in the Word meaning the Church, 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1413, 1607, 1928, 4447.
Regarding ‘a new heaven and a new earth’ meaning a new Church, internal and external, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355 (end), 4535.
[2] For the impression of those facts on a person’s senses takes place first, and this opens the way into the more internal parts of the mind. Indeed it is well known that the area of external sensory perception is opened up first in a person, then that of the more internal sensory perceptions, and finally that where intellectual concepts reside; and that once the area where those concepts reside has been opened up, such concepts there are represented, to enable them to be understood, within those sensory impressions. The reason for this is that intellectual concepts spring up out of sensory impressions by a process of extraction from them; for intellectual concepts are deductions which, once they have been made, are separated from and rise far above sensory impressions. The presence of spiritual influences coming from the Lord by way of heaven is what accomplishes all this. From these things one may see what is implied by truths obtained from factual knowledge.
[2] As regards ‘Jehovah’s (or the Lord’s) face’ meaning mercy, this is evident from the Word; for understood properly ‘Jehovah’s (or the Lord’s) face’ is Divine love itself, and being Divine love it is the face of mercy since mercy is the expression of love towards the human race set in such miseries. The truth that ‘Jehovah’s (or the Lord’s) face’ is Divine Love may be seen from the Lord’s face when He was transfigured in the presence of Peter, James, and John; that is, when He displayed His Divinity to them,
His face shone like the sun. Matt. 17:2.
It has been shown already that ‘the sun’ is Divine Love, see 30-38, 1521, 1529-1531, 2441, 2495, 3636, 3643, 4060, 4321 (end), 4696. The Lord’s actual Divinity had never previously appeared in any face; but His Divine Human had so appeared, through which, seemingly within which, Divine Love – which in relation to the human race is Divine Mercy – showed itself. This Divine Mercy within the Divine Human is called ‘the angel of His face’ in Isaiah,
I will cause the mercies of Jehovah to be remembered. He has rewarded* them according to His mercies, and according to the abundance of His mercies; and He became their Saviour. And the angel of His face saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them. Isa. 63:7-9.
The expression ‘the angel’ is used because ‘angels’ in the Word means in the internal sense some attribute of the Lord, 1925, 2821, 4085, in this case His mercy, which is why the phrase ‘the angel of His face’ is used.
[3] ‘Jehovah’s (or the Lord’s) face’ is not only mercy but also peace and goodness since these are attributes of mercy, as may also be seen from the following places: In the Blessing,
Jehovah make His face shine upon you and be merciful to you. Jehovah lift up His face upon you and give you peace. Num. 6:25, 26.
Here it is quite evident that ‘making His face shine’ means showing mercy, and ‘lifting up His face’ means granting His peace. In David,
God be merciful to us and bless us, and make His face shine upon us. Ps. 67:1.
Here also ‘face’ stands for mercy. In the same author,
Turn us back, O God, and make Your face shine, that we may be saved. Ps. 80:3, 7, 19.
Here the meaning is similar. In the same author,
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and my pursuers. Make Your face shine upon Your servant. Ps. 31:15, 16.
Likewise in Ps. 119:134, 135. In Daniel,
Hear, our God, the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and make Your face shine upon Your sanctuary that has been made desolate. Dan. 9:17.
Here also ‘making His face shine’ stands for showing mercy.
[4] In David,
Many are saying, Who will cause us to see good? Lift up the light of Your face upon us. Ps. 4:6, 7.
‘Lifting up the light of His face’ stands for His imparting good because of His mercy. In Hosea,
Let them seek My face; when they are in distress, in the morning let them seek Me. Hosea 5:15.
In David,
Seek My face! Your face, O Jehovah, will I seek. Ps. 27:8, 9.
In the same author,
Seek Jehovah and His strength; seek His face continually. Ps 105:4.
‘Seeking Jehovah’s face’ stands for seeking His mercy. In the same author,
I, in righteousness, shall see Your face. Ps. 17:15.
And in Matthew,
See that you do not despise any of these tiny ones; for I say to you that their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. Matt. 18:10.
‘Seeing God’s face’ stands for the enjoyment of peace and good because of His mercy.
[5] But the contrary of this is the hiding or concealment and also the turning away of the face, by which showing no compassion is meant, as in Isaiah,
In an overflowing of My anger I hid My face from you for a moment; but with eternal mercy I will have mercy on you. Isa. 54:8.
‘An overflowing of anger’ stands for temptation in which, because the Lord does not seem to show mercy, the words ‘I hid My face from you for a moment’ are used. In Ezekiel,
I will turn My face away from them. Ezek. 7:22.
In David,
How long, O Jehovah, will You forget me [as if] for ever? How long will You hide Your face from me? Ps. 13:1
In the same author,
Do not hide Your face from me; do not cast aside Your servant in anger. Ps. 17:8, 9.
In the same author,
Why, O Jehovah, do You abandon my soul? Why do You hide Your face from me? Ps. 88:14.
In the same author,
Make haste, answer me, O Jehovah. MY spirit is consumed. Do not hide Your face from me, lest I become like those going down into the pit. Cause me to hear Your mercy in the morning. Ps. 143:7, 8.
And in Moses,
My anger will flare up against this people on that day, so that I forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they will be devoured. I will certainly hide My face on that day, because of all the evil which they have done. Deut. 31:17, 18.
‘Anger flaring up’ stands for turning oneself away, 5034, and ‘hiding one’s face’ for not showing any compassion.
[6] These actions are attributed to Jehovah or the Lord, for the reason that although He is never angry and never turns away or hides His face He is said to do so because that is how it seems to someone under the influence of evil. For the person under the influence of evil turns himself away and hides the Lord’s face from himself; that is, he removes His mercy from himself. The fact that it is the evils present with a person that do this is also clear from the Word, as in Micah,
Jehovah will hide His face from them at that time, inasmuch as they have rendered their deeds evil. Micah 3:4.
In Ezekiel,
Because they transgressed against Me, therefore I hid My face from them. According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt with them and have hidden My face from them. Ezek. 39:23, 24.
In particular in Isaiah,
Your iniquities are what separate you from your God, and your sins what cause. His face to hide from you. Isa. 59:2.
From these and many other places one may see the internal sense, which shows itself in various places and is discovered by one who is looking for it.
* Reading retribuit (has rewarded), which Sw. has in his rough draft and also in 221, for retribuet (will reward)
‘And Israel said’ means a perception received from spiritual good. ‘Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had still [another] brother?’ means that they separated the truth of good from spiritual good, so as to join it to the spiritual from the internal. ‘And they said, The man questioned us closely about ourselves’ means the clear perception this had regarding what existed within the natural. ‘And our generation’ means regarding the truths of faith there. ‘Saying, Is your father still alive?’ means and regarding spiritual good from which those truths sprang. ‘Have you a brother?’ means regarding interior truth. ‘And we told him according to the tenor of these words’ means its accordant discernment of these matters. ‘Could we possibly have known that he would say, Cause your brother to come down?’ means that we did not believe that he would want the truth of good to be joined to him. ‘And Judah said to Israel his father’ means a perception received from the good of the Church regarding these matters. ‘Send the boy with me’ means so that he would be attached to him. ‘And we will rise up and go, and we will live and not die’ means spiritual life entered into by degrees. ‘Even we’ means the external aspect of the Church. ‘Even you’ means the internal aspect of it. ‘Even our young children’ means aspects even more internal. ‘And I will be surety for him’ means that in the meantime [the truth of good] will be attached to it [the good of the Church]. ‘From my hand you will require him’ means that [the truth of good] will not be snatched away, insofar as it lies within its power to prevent it. ‘If I do not bring him to you and set him before you’ means the complete restoration of it to the Church. ‘Then I shall be sinning against you every day’ means that the good of the Church will not exist any longer. ‘For if perhaps we had not delayed’ means lingering in a state of indecision. ‘We would by now have returned these two times’ means that spiritual life, exterior and interior, [would have been restored].
* lit. mouth
** i.e. they would by now have returned home a second time
[2] The reason why Jacob is not called Jacob now, as he is in verse 36 of the previous chapter, but Israel is that good is the subject here, whereas truth was the subject in the previous chapter. In the previous chapter the speaker was therefore Reuben, who represents the truth of doctrine taught by the Church, 3861, 3866, 4731, 4734, 4761, 5542; but in the present chapter the speaker is Judah, by whom the good of the Church is represented, 3654, 5583. Good becomes the subject now because this time the joining together is effected of the internal, which is ‘Joseph’, and the external, which is ‘the ten sons of Jacob’, through the intermediary, which is ‘Benjamin’. That joining of the internal to the external is effected through good.
[2] In heaven unending variations exist; but those variations are effected by the Lord in such a way that they resemble families in which there are brothers, sisters, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, grandsons, granddaughters, and so on. In general however all are organized into the kind of form that makes one united whole. They are like the variations within the human body, in which no one member is exactly the same as any other; indeed no one part within any member is the same as any other part. Even so, all those varying parts are organized into the kind of form in which they act as a single whole, and each fits in directly or remotely with the activity of another. Seeing a form such as this in the human being, one may deduce what the form must be like in heaven, with which there is a correspondence – a most perfect one – of everything in the human being.
[2] The idea that living is meant in the internal sense by ‘going’ will seem strange to one who does not know anything about spiritual life. But much the same is involved here as with the expression ‘travelling on’, namely an ordered life and a further stage of life, 1293, 4375, 4554, 4585; receiving instruction and leading a life in keeping with it, 1463, 2025, 3672. The reason why ‘going’, ‘travelling on’, and ‘sojourning’ have these meanings can, it is true, be stated; yet it is the kind of reason that makes little sense to those who have no knowledge of the exact nature of people’s movements in the next life. Moving about and advancements made by people there are nothing else, since they have no other origin, than changes in their states of life. Such changes present themselves in outward actions as nothing other than advances from one place to another. The truth of this has been proved to me from many an experience I have had in the next life. In my spirit I have walked with and among those there, and have moved through their many dwelling-places; and I have done so even though my body remained all the time in the same place. I have talked to them about how this could be so and have learned that changes in their states of life are what constitute the advances people make in the spiritual world.
[3] The same has also been proved to me by the fact that spirits are able, through changes of state that are effected, to be somewhere high up and then in an instant somewhere deep down, or to be far away in the west and then in an instant in the east, and so on. But, as stated, this is bound to seem strange to someone who does not know anything about life in the spiritual world. For in that world no intervals of space or of time exist, but states of life instead of these. Such states produce externally a visible scene with all the appearance of life involving advances and movement. The scene that appears is so vivid and real that it is an appearance of life itself; that is to say, the appearance is that life exists inherently within us, and so is essentially our own, when in actual fact life flows into us from the Lord, the source from which all life involves much the same, namely and the expression ‘sojourning springs, see 2021, 2658, 2706, 2886-2888, 3001, 3318, 3337, 3338, 3484, 3619, 3741-3743, 4151, 4249, 4318-4320, 4417, 4523, 4524, 4882. Because ‘going’ and ‘moving’ mean living, the ancients had the saying, In God we move, and live, and have our being. By ‘moving’ they meant the external degree of life, by ‘living’ the internal degree, and by ‘having one’s being’ the inmost degree.
[2] Since innocence is the inmost virtue of heaven, innocence must exist inwardly with all who are in heaven. It is like entities of a consecutive nature in relation to those that come into being simultaneously, that is, entities existing separated from one another in distinct degrees in relation to ones that come into being from these. For everything that comes into being simultaneously has its origin in entities of a consecutive nature. When simultaneous things take rise from consecutive ones they position themselves in the same order as that in which they existed initially, separated into distinct degrees. Take, by way of illustration, end, cause, and effect. These exist consecutively, distinct and separate from one another. When they come into being simultaneously they position themselves in the same order; that is to say, the end takes up the inmost position, the cause the position after this, and the effect the one that comes last. The effect comes into being simultaneously with the others; for unless the cause is present within the effect, and the end within the cause, no effect exists. If you remove the cause from the effect you destroy the effect, and all the more so if you remove the end from the cause. The end enables the cause to be a cause, and the cause enables the effect to be an effect.
[3] The same is so in the spiritual world; just as end, cause, and effect are distinct and separate from one another, so in the spiritual world are love to the Lord, charity towards the neighbour, and the deeds of charity. When these three are made one, that is, when they come forth simultaneously, the first has to be within the second, and the second within the third. Likewise within the deeds of charity: unless charity flowing from affection or the heart is present inwardly in those deeds, they are not the deeds of charity; and unless love to the Lord is present inwardly in charity it is not charity. If therefore you take away the inward substance, the outward form perishes; for the outward form is brought into being and kept in being by the loves existing in order within it. The same is so with innocence. It makes one with love to the Lord. Unless innocence is present inwardly in charity it is not charity. Consequently unless charity that has innocence within it is present inwardly in the deeds of charity, they are not the deeds of charity. This being so, innocence must be present inwardly with all who are in heaven.
[4] The truth of this, as well as the fact that innocence is meant by ‘young children’, is clear in Mark,
Jesus said to the disciples, Let the young children come to Me and do not hinder them; for of such is the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, Whoever has not received the kingdom of God like a young child will not enter into it. Taking them up therefore in His arms, He laid His hand upon them, and blessed them. Mark 10:14-16; Luke 18:15-17; Matt. 18:3
Here ‘the young children’ clearly means innocence, for the reason that innocence resides with young children, and for the reason that in heaven forms of innocence are seen as young children. No one can enter heaven unless he possesses some measure of innocence, see 4797.
[5] What is more, young children allow themselves to be governed by angels who are filled with innocence; children do not act independently, the way adults govern personal behaviour by the exercise of their own judgement and will. The fact that young children allow themselves to be governed by angels is clear from the Lord’s words in Matthew,
See that you do not despise any one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father. Matt. 18:10.
No one can see God’s face except by virtue of having innocence.
[6] Innocence is meant by ‘young children’ in the following places as well:
In Matthew,
Out of the mouth of young children and sucklings You have perfected praise. Matt. 21:16; Ps. 8:1.
In the same gospel,
You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to young children. Matt. 11:25; Luke 10:21.
The innocence meant by ‘young children’ is true wisdom; for genuine innocence dwells within wisdom, 2305, 2306, 4797. This explains why it is said that ‘out of the mouth of young children and sucklings You have perfected praise’, and also that such matters ‘have been revealed to young children’.
[7] In Isaiah,
The young cow and the bear will feed; their young will lie down together. And a suckling will play over the viper’s hole. Isa. 11:7, 8.
This refers to the Lord’s kingdom, specifically to the state of peace and innocence there. ‘Suckling’ stands for innocence. The impossibility that any evil can befall those in whom innocence is present is meant by ‘the suckling will play over the viper’s hole’ – ‘vipers’ being utterly deceitful persons. This chapter in Isaiah refers quite explicitly to the Lord. In Joel,
Blow the trumpet in Zion; gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the young children and those sucking at the breast. Joel 2:15, 16.
The elders’ stands for the wise ones, ‘the young children and those sucking at the breast’ for the innocent ones.
[8] In the following places too ‘young children’ is used to mean innocence, but here innocence that has been destroyed: In Jeremiah,
Why are you committing great evil against your own souls, to cut off from you man and woman, young child and suckling from the midst of Judah, so that I leave you no remnant? Jer. 44:7.
In the same prophet,
Lift up to Him your hands for the soul of your young children who faint through famine at the head of every street. Lam. 2:19.
In Ezekiel,
Go through Jerusalem and strike; do not let your eye spare, and show no pity. [Utterly slay] old man, young man, virgin, and young child. Ezek. 9:5, 6
In Micah,
The women of My people you cast out from each one’s pleasant house; from her young children you take away My honour for ever. Micah 2:9.
[9] As regards the innocence present in young children, this is solely external, not internal; and because it is not internal it cannot be linked to any wisdom and exist together with it. But the innocence in angels, especially in those of the third heaven, is internal, and so exists joined to wisdom, 2305, 2306, 3494, 4563, 4797. Furthermore the human being has been created in such a way that when he grows old and becomes like a young child, the innocence of wisdom links itself to the innocence of ignorance that had been his when he was a young child, and in this condition, as a true young child, he passes over into the next life.
[2] It is bound to seem strange that these things are meant, especially to someone who has no knowledge of what is spiritual; for it seems as though ‘returning these two times’ does not have the vaguest connection with what is actually meant, namely spiritual life. But this really is the inner meaning of these words. Indeed – if you are willing to believe it – that spiritual meaning is what the interior thought of a person moved by good comprehends, for that interior thought exists on the same level as the internal sense, though the person himself is totally ignorant of this while he lives in the body. For the internal or spiritual sense, which exists on the level of his interior thought, comes down without him knowing it into material ideas formed by his senses. These ideas rely for their formation on time and space and on the kinds of things that exist in the world, so that it is not evident to him that his interior thought is of such a nature. His interior thought is by nature the same as that of the angels, for his spirit dwells in communion with them.
[3] The fact that the thought of a person moved by good accords with the internal sense may be recognized from the consideration that when he enters heaven after death he knows that internal sense without ever at all having to learn about it, which would by no means be possible if in the world his interior thought had not existed on the same level as that sense. It exists on the same level because of the correspondence between spiritual things and natural ones, the nature of which is such that not even the smallest thing is without correspondence. Therefore since the interior or rational mind of a person moved by good is in the spiritual world and his exterior or natural mind is in the natural world, both of these parts of his mind inevitably engage in thought. But his interior mind thinks on a spiritual level, his exterior mind on a natural level; also what is spiritual comes down into what is natural, and then through correspondence the two act as one.
[4] A person’s interior mind, in which the ideas constituting the thought there are called intellectual concepts and are referred to as immaterial ideas, does not rely, when it is engaged in thought, on verbal expressions belonging to any language. Consequently it does not rely on any natural forms. This may be recognized by anyone who is able to stop and reflect on these matters; for he can in an instant see in his mind what he can hardly express verbally in an hour, by the use of general observations which include very many details. The ideas constituting his thought are spiritual ones and are no different in nature, when the Word is read, from the spiritual sense. Even so, that person is quite unaware of this, for the reason already stated that those spiritual ideas flow into the natural and present themselves within natural ideas. Thus those spiritual ideas are in apparent, so completely that unless a person has received instruction in the matter he imagines that the spiritual does not exist unless it is like the natural, indeed that he does not think within his spirit in any different way from that in which he speaks in the body. Such is the way that the natural conceals the spiritual.
‘And Israel their father said to them’ means a perception received from spiritual good. ‘If this therefore has to be, do it’ means if it cannot be done in any other way, let it be done in that way. ‘Take some of the much-sung-about Produce of the land in your vessels’ means the choicer things of the Church among the truths of faith. ‘And cause a gift to go down to the man’ means to obtain favour. ‘A little resin and a little honey’ means the truths of exterior natural good, and the delight that goes with these. ‘Wax and stacte’ means the truths of interior natural good. ‘Pistachio nuts and almonds’ means forms of the good of life that agree with those truths. ‘And take a double amount of silver in your hands’ means truth received by the powers. ‘And the silver that was put back in the mouth of your pouches you are to take back in your hand’ means that through the truth freely given and present in the exterior natural they were to make themselves submissive as far as was possible. ‘Perhaps it was a mistake’ means lest he becomes unfriendly. ‘And take your brother’ means that by that self-submission they would receive the good of faith. ‘And rise up, return to the man’ means the life received from spiritual truth. ‘And may God Shaddai’ means the comfort that follows hardships. ‘Grant you mercy before the man’ means so that spiritual truth may accept you favourably. ‘And may he release to you your other brother’ means so that it may grant the good of faith. ‘And Benjamin’ means so that interior truth may be granted also. ‘And I, even as I have been bereaved, I shall be bereaved’ means that
before these things take place the Church must be so to speak deprived of its own truths.
* much-sung-about Produce translates the single Latin word decantatio, which Sw. uses to represent the Hebrew zimrath, a word meaning products celebrated and praised in song.
** lit. send
[2] The fact that ‘honey’ means delight may be seen also from other places in the Word, as in Isaiah,
A virgin will conceive and bear a son, and will call His name Immanuel (God with us). Butter and honey will He eat that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. Isa. 7:14, 15.
This refers to the Lord. ‘Butter’ stands for what is celestial, ‘honey’ for what is derived from the celestial.
[3] In the same prophet,
It will be, because of the abundance of the milk which they give, that he will eat butter; both butter and honey will everyone eat that is left in the midst of the land. Isa. 7:22.
This refers to the Lord’s kingdom. ‘Milk’ stands for spiritual good, ‘butter’ for celestial good, and ‘honey’ for what is derived from these, namely happiness, pleasure, and delight.
[4] In Ezekiel,
Thus were you adorned with gold and silver, and your robes were fine linen, and silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, and honey, and oil; therefore you became extremely beautiful, and attained to a kingdom. With fine flour, oil, and honey I fed you; but you set this before them as a pacifying odour. Ezek. 16:13, 19.
This refers to Jerusalem, by which the spiritual Church is meant; it describes what that Church was like among the Ancients, and what it came to be like after that. Its adornment with gold and silver is the furnishment of it with celestial and spiritual good and truth. Its robes of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth stand for truths present in the rational and in both parts of the natural. ‘Fine flour’ stands for what is spiritual, ‘honey’ for the pleasure accompanying this, and ‘oil’ for the good that goes with it. The fact that all these, each one, mean things of a heavenly nature may be recognized by anyone.
[5] In the same prophet,
Judah and the land of Israel were your traders in wheat of minnith and pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm. Ezek. 27:17.
This refers to Tyre, by which is meant the spiritual Church, what it was like initially and what it came to be like subsequently so far as cognitions of good and truth were concerned, 1201. Also, ‘honey’ in this quotation stands for the pleasure and delight gained from affections for knowing and learning about celestial and spiritual forms of goodness and truth.
[6] In Moses,
He causes* him to ride over the heights of the land and He feeds [him] with the produce of the fields; he causes him to suck honey out of the crag, and oil out of the stony rock. Deut. 32:13.
This too refers to the spiritual Ancient Church. ‘Sucking honey from the crag’ stands for the delight taken in factual knowledge that holds truths within it.
[7] In David,
I feed them with the fat of wheat, and with honey out of the rock I satisfy them. Ps. 81:16.
‘Satisfying with honey out of the rock’ stands for the delight gained from the truths of faith.
[8] In Deuteronomy,
Jehovah is bringing you to a good land, a land of rivers of water, springs, and depths gushing out of valleys and mountains; a land of wheat and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey. Deut. 8:7, 8.
This refers to the land of Canaan, in the internal sense to the Lord’s kingdom in heaven. ‘A land of olive oil and honey’ stands for spiritual good and the pleasure that goes with it.
[9] For the same reason the land of Canaan is called ‘a land flowing with milk and honey’, Num. 13:27; 14:7, 8; Deut. 26:9, 15; 27:3; Jer. 11:5; 32:22; Ezek. 20:6. In these places ‘the land of Canaan’ is used, as has been stated, to mean in the internal sense the Lord’s kingdom. ‘Flowing with milk’ stands for an abundance of celestial-spiritual things, while ‘honey’ stands for an abundance of forms of happiness and delight received from these.
[10] In David,
The judgements of Jehovah are truth; they are righteous altogether – more desirable than gold, and much fine gold; and sweeter than honey and what drops from honeycombs. Ps. 19:9, 10.
‘The judgements of Jehovah’ stands for Divine truth, ‘sweeter than honey and what drops from honeycombs’ for the delights received from good and the pleasures received from truth. In the same author,
Sweet are Your words to my taste,** more than honey to my mouth. Ps. 119:103.
Here the meaning is similar.
[11] The manna which the descendants of Jacob received in the wilderness as their bread is described in Moses as follows,
The manna was like coriander seed, white, and its taste was like wafers made with honey. Exod. 16:31.
Because ‘the manna’ meant the Divine truth which came down from the Lord by way of heaven, it is the Lord’s own Divine Human, as He Himself teaches in John 6:51, 58. For the Lord’s Divine Human is the source from which every truth that is Divine springs; indeed it is what every truth that is Divine has reference to. This being so, the manna, the taste of which gave delight and pleasure, is described as being ‘like wafers made with honey’ – ‘taste’ being the delight which good provides and the pleasure that truth affords, see 3502.
[12] Because John the Baptist represented the Lord as to the Word, which is Divine Truth on the earth – in the same way as Elijah had represented Him, 2762, 5247(end), making him the Elijah who was to come ahead of the Lord, Mal. 4:5; Matt. 17:10-12; Mark 9:11-13; Luke 1:17 – his clothing and food were therefore meaningful signs. They are described in Matthew as follows,
John had a garment of camel hair and a skin girdle around his waist; his food was locusts and wild honey. Matt. 3:4; Mark 1:6.
‘A garment of camel hair’ was a sign of what the literal sense of the Word is like so far as truth there is concerned. That sense – the natural sense – serves as a garment for the internal sense; for ‘hair’ and also ‘camels’ mean what is natural. Food consisting of ‘locusts and wild honey’ was a sign of what the literal sense is like so far as good there is concerned, the delight belonging to that good being meant by ‘wild honey’.
[13] In addition the delight afforded by Divine truth as this exists in the external sense is described by ‘honey’, in Ezekiel,
He said to me, Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your inward parts with this scroll that I am giving you. And when I ate it, it was in my mouth like honey as regards sweetness. Ezek. 3:3.
And in John,
The angel said to me, Take the little book and eat it up; it will indeed make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey. I therefore took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it up, and it was in my mouth like sweet honey. But when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. Then he said to me, You must prophesy again over many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and many kings. Rev. 10:9-11.
‘The scroll’ in Ezekiel, and ‘the little book’ in John, stand for Divine truth. The delight this appears to possess in the outward form it takes is meant by the taste being sweet as honey; for Divine truth, like the Word, is full of delight in the outward form it takes, which is the literal sense, because this allows everyone to interpret and explain it in whatever way it suits him. But the internal sense does not allow him to do so, and this is meant by its bitter taste; for the internal sense discloses what man is like inwardly. The external sense is full of delight for the reason just stated, that a person can explain things there in whatever way it suits him. The truths contained in the external sense are all general ones and remain such until particular truths are added to qualify them, and specific ones to qualify these. The external sense is also full of delight because it is natural, concealing what is spiritual within itself. It needs to be full of delight too if a person is to accept it, that is, to be taken into it and not left standing on the threshold.
[14] The honeycomb and the broiled fish which after His resurrection the Lord ate in the presence of the disciples was also a sign of the external sense of the Word, ‘the fish’ meaning the truth associated with that sense and ‘the honeycomb’ the pleasure attached to it, described in Luke as follows,
Jesus said, Do you have any food at all here? They gave Him part of a broiled fish and some honeycomb, which He took and ate in their presence. Luke 24:41-43.
And because the fish and the honeycomb had that meaning the Lord therefore tells them,
These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and the Prophets, and the Psalms concerning Me. Luke 24:44.
The appearance is that nothing of the sort is meant, for it seems to have been purely by chance that they had part of a broiled fish and a honeycomb. But in fact their possession of these was providential – as is not only this but every other smallest fact mentioned in the Word. Because matters such as have been described were indeed meant, the Lord therefore referred to the Word, declaring that the things written in it had reference to Himself. But the things which have been written in the Old Testament Word regarding the Lord are but few in the sense of the letter, whereas everything contained in the internal sense has to do with Him; and it is from this that the Word gets its holiness. Everything contained in the internal sense is what is meant in the statement that ‘all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and the Prophets, and the Psalms concerning Him’.
[15] From all this one may now see that ‘honey’ means the delight that is received from goodness and truth, that is, from the affection for these, and that specifically external delight and so that belonging to the exterior natural is meant. Because this delight is the kind that is gained from the world through the senses, and so contains within it much that springs from love of the world, people were forbidden to use honey in their minchahs. This is expressed in Leviticus as follows,
Every minchah which you bring to Jehovah shall be made without yeast; for no yeast nor any honey shall be used along with the fire-offering you burn to Jehovah. Lev. 2:11.
‘Honey’ stands for the kind of external delight which, containing something of love of the world within it, was similar to yeast and therefore forbidden. What yeast or made with yeast implies, see 1342.
* The Latin means You cause, but the Hebrew means He causes, which Sw. has in other places where he quotes this verse.
** lit. palate
[2] This may be recognized from the consideration that in heaven truths derived from good are perceived with the same pleasure as sweet scents in the world. Also, when angels’ perceptions are converted into odours, which in the Lord’s good pleasure happens frequently, they are therefore detected as fragrances coming from spices and from flowers. This is why frankincense and incense were prepared from odiferous substances and put to a sacred use, and also why aromatic substances were mixed with oil for anointing. Anyone who does not know that the cause behind those practices lay among the perceptions enjoyed by those in heaven may suppose that they were practices enjoined solely to make external worship pleasant and that they held nothing of heaven and nothing holy at all within them, consequently that such religious practices held nothing Divine within them. See what has been shown already on these matters:
Frankincense and incense, as well as the fragrant substances in oil for anointing, were representative of spiritual and celestial things, 4748.
Spheres of faith and love are converted into pleasant odours; and therefore pleasant and sweet-smelling odours, also aromatic ones, mean the truths of faith which are derived from the good of love, 1514, 1517-1519, 4618.
[2] The reason ‘almonds’ means forms of the good of life that agree with the truths of interior natural good is that the almond is a superior kind of tree. In the spiritual sense the tree itself means a perception of interior truth derived from good, its blossom means interior truth derived from good, while its fruit means the good of life resulting from that truth. The word ‘almond’ is used with this meaning in Jeremiah,
The word of Jehovah came [to me], saying, What do you see, Jeremiah? And I said, A rod of almond do I see. Then Jehovah said to me, You have seen well,* for I am watching over My word to perform it. Jer. 1:11, 12.
‘A rod’ stands for power, ‘almond’ for a perception of interior truth; and because this rod is said to be Jehovah’s it stands for a watching over that truth -‘word’ standing for truth.
[3] The almonds which blossomed on Aaron’s rod for the tribe of Levi also mean the good deeds of charity or forms of the good of life. They are described in Moses as follows,
It happened the next day, when Moses went into the tent of meeting, that behold, Aaron’s rod for the house** of Levi had blossomed, and had produced buds,*** so that it flowered and produced almonds. Num. 17:8.
This was the sign that that tribe had been chosen for the priesthood; for charity was meant by that tribe, 3875, 3877, 4497, 4502, 4503, and charity is the essential characteristic of the spiritual Church.
* lit. Well have you done in seeing
** The Latin means tribe but the Hebrew means house.
*** lit. flower
[2] Those there who are moved by good have not only the ability to perceive truth but also the ability to accept it; yet this is conditioned by the amount and the kind of good that moves them. Those on the other hand who are moved by evil do not have any ability to accept truth. That ability of the former and this inability of the latter to accept truth are the outcome of each one’s pleasure and consequent desire. The pleasure of those moved by good consists in the accomplishing of what is good by means of truth; for the specific nature of their good is derived from truths, and therefore they also have a desire for those truths. But the pleasure of those moved by evil consists in evil and the justification of it by the use of falsities, which they also consequently have a desire for; and in their desire for falsities they turn away from truths. Consequently, having no ability to accept truths, those moved by evil therefore cast these aside, or smother them, or pervert them as soon as they reach their ears or enter their heads. Furthermore every individual person of sound mind has the ability to accept truths; but those who turn to evil annihilate that ability, whereas those who turn to good enhance it.
Over the matter of the silver put back in our pouches at the beginning are we brought to this place, so that he may come down on us and fall on us, and take us as slaves, and our asses. Verse 18.
Furthermore ‘sin’ means separation and an unfriendly turning away, 5229, 5474; so too does ‘a mistake’ if this entails some sin, though a minor one. This is why the expression ‘lest he becomes unfriendly’ is used.
* The brother referred to at this point was in fact Benjamin, whose spiritual representation is indicated in 5600
[2] The family of Terah, which Abraham came from, worshipped Shaddai as its particular god, see 1356, 1992, 2559, 3667. Consequently not only Abraham but Jacob too recognized Shaddai as their god; and they did so in the land of Canaan. But to avoid any compulsion of them to forsake the form of religion they had – for no one is compelled to forsake what for him is holy – they were allowed to keep to it. However, because the ancients had meant Jehovah Himself or the Lord by the name Shaddai, which they used when they underwent temptations, Jehovah or the Lord took this name in His dealings with Abraham, as is evident from Gen. 17:1, and-also in His dealings with Jacob, Gen. 35:11.
[3] The reason why not only temptation but also comfort is meant by ‘Shaddai’ is that comfort follows all spiritual temptations, as I have been allowed to know from experience in the next life. When anyone there is subjected to hardships at the hands of evil spirits, who attack him, incite him to evil practices, and persuade him to accept falsities, he is subsequently received by angels, once the evil spirits have been turned away, and he is brought into a state of consolation by means of some delight in keeping with his character.
‘And the men took [this] gift’ means that the truths had with them the means to obtain favour. ‘And took the double amount of silver in their hand’ means also truth received by the power. ‘And Benjamin’ means the intermediary also. ‘And they rose up, and went down to Egypt’ means a raising up so as to acquire life from the interior areas of factual knowledge. ‘And stood before Joseph’ means the presence there of the celestial of the spiritual. ‘And Joseph saw Benjamin with them’ means the discernment by the celestial of the spiritual that the spiritual intermediary was present with the truths. ‘And he said to the one who was over his house’ means that which belongs to the external Church. ‘Bring the men to the house’ means that the truths in the natural were to be introduced into it. ‘And slaughter and prepare [an animal]’ means through the forms of good belonging to the exterior natural. ‘For the men will eat with me at midday’ means that they will be joined together when accompanied by the intermediary. ‘And the man did as Joseph said’ means a putting into effect. ‘And the man brought the men to Joseph’s house’ means the first introduction into good coming from the celestial of the spiritual.
[2] The interior areas of factual knowledge are facts existing in the natural which are spiritual ones; and they are spiritual ones there when such facts in the natural have been illuminated by the light of heaven. They have been so illuminated by the light of heaven when a person has a real belief in teachings that are based on the Word; and he has a real belief in these when the good of charity is present in him. For then the good of charity, like a flame, sheds light on the truths and so on the facts he knows. This is how they get the spiritual light they possess. From this one may see what is meant by the interior areas of factual knowledge.
[2] A further brief statement needs to be made about what the spiritual compared with the natural is since the majority living in the Christian world do not know what the spiritual is. They are so ignorant of what it is that when they hear the term they are at a loss, saying to themselves, What the spiritual is, no one knows. Essentially the spiritual existing with a person is his actual affection for what is good and true, loved for its own sake and not for any selfish reason, as well as an affection for what is right and fair, likewise loved for its own sake and not for any selfish reason. When a person has inward feelings of delight and pleasure, and more so if feelings of blessedness and bliss flow from them, they constitute the spiritual present with him, which does not come to him from the natural world but from the spiritual world or heaven, that is, from the Lord by way of heaven. This then is the spiritual which, when it reigns in a person, influences and so to speak gives colour to everything he thinks, wills, or does, and which causes his thoughts and acts of will to partake of what is spiritual, till at length these too become spiritual qualities present with him when he passes from the natural world into the spiritual world. In short, the spiritual consists in an affection stirred by charity and faith, that is, an affection for what is good and true, and in the delight and pleasure, and even more so in the blessedness and bliss that flow from them, which are feelings residing with a person inwardly and making him someone truly Christian.
[3] The majority in the Christian world are ignorant of what the spiritual is for the reason that they make faith, not charity, the essential virtue in the Church. Consequently, since the few who do bother about faith give little if any thought at all to charity or know what charity is, and since therefore they have no knowledge or any perception of the affection characteristic of charity, an affection that is not present in them, they cannot possibly know what the spiritual is. This is especially so at the present day when scarcely any charity exists with anyone, for now is the final period of the Church. But it should be recognized that in a general sense the spiritual means an affection both for what is good and for what is true, which is why heaven is called the spiritual world and the internal sense of the Word is called the spiritual sense. But more specifically what is essentially an affection for good is called the celestial, while that which is essentially an affection for truth is called the spiritual.
‘And the men were afraid’ means a drawing back. ‘Because they were brought to Joseph’s house’ means that the truths belonging to the natural were to be linked and made subservient to the internal. ‘And they said, Over the matter of the silver put back in our pouches at the beginning are we brought to [this place]’ means that because truth in the exterior natural appears to be something freely given, they were being made subservient. ‘So that he may come down on us and fall on us’ means that for this reason they were subjected to its absolute power and control. ‘And take us as slaves, and our asses’ means even to the point where whatever exists in either part of the natural is of no worth. ‘And they came near the man who was over Joseph’s house’ means the teachings of the Church. ‘And they spoke to him [at] the door of the house’ means a consultation of these regarding the introduction. ‘And they said, On my honour, my lord’ means an attestation. ‘We certainly came down at the beginning to buy food’ means a mind set on acquiring good for truths. ‘And it happened, when we came to the lodging-place and opened our pouches’ means an inspection of the exterior natural. ‘That behold, each man’s silver was in the mouth of his pouch’ means that it was observed that the truths had been so to speak freely given. ‘Our silver in its full weight’ means truths commensurate with each one’s state. ‘And we are bringing it back in our hand’ means the submission as far as possible of what had been freely given. ‘And we are causing other silver to come down in our hand to buy food’ means that the mind is set on acquiring good through truth from some other source. ‘We do not know who put our silver in our pouches’ means an absence of faith owing to ignorance of where the truth present in the exterior natural came from. ‘And he said, Peace to you, do not be afraid’ means that all is well, they should not despair. ‘Your God and the God of your father’ means the Lord’s Divine Human. ‘Has given you the concealed gift in your pouches’ means that it came from Him without the exercise of any prudence by them. ‘Your silver came to me’ means that it will seem as though truth has been acquired by them. ‘And he brought Simeon out to them’ means that he linked to those truths the will to practise them.
* lit. roll down onto us and throw himself onto us
** See 5653.
*** The Latin In me here represents the Hebrew Bi, which is usually regarded as an expression of entreaty rather than validity, cp Chapter 44:18.
[2] Let a brief preliminary statement be made here about the nature of that joining together, that is to say, of the external or natural man to the internal or spiritual man. The external or natural man reigns from the earliest period in life, unaware of the existence of the internal or spiritual man. That being so, when a person undergoes reformation and from being a natural or external man starts to become a spiritual or internal one, the natural rebels initially. For that person receives teaching to the effect that the natural man must be made subservient; that is, all his strong evil desires and the accompanying ideas that lend support to these must be rooted out. Consequently when left to himself the natural man thinks that in that case he may be completely destroyed, since he knows nothing other than that the natural is all there is, being totally ignorant of the fact that things beyond measure or description reside within the spiritual. When the natural man thinks like this he draws back, having no wish to be made subservient to the spiritual. This then is what is meant here by ‘fear’.
[2] Let a brief statement be made about what the situation is with the internal sense. The internal sense of the Word exists primarily for the benefit of those in the next life. When present with someone [on earth] who is reading the Word those in the next life perceive it according to its internal sense, not its external sense. For they do not understand any expressions used by man, only the sense lying behind those expressions; nor to understand that sense do they employ the natural thoughts that are men’s, only their own thoughts, which are spiritual ones. The transformation of the natural sense residing with man into that spiritual sense takes place instantaneously, like a person’s immediate conversion of someone else’s language into his own which is a different one. It is in that kind of way that the natural sense proper to man’s thought is converted into the spiritual sense; for spiritual language or speech belongs properly to angels, but natural language properly to man. The reason for the immediate transformation of the one sort of language into the other is that a correspondence exists between every single thing in the natural world and every single thing in the spiritual world.
[3] Now because the internal sense of the Word exists primarily for the benefit of those in the spiritual world, the kinds of details contained here in the internal sense that have been mentioned are ones that exist for their benefit and give them pleasure and delight. But the more internal those details are the further removed they are from the range of understanding present in men, for whom none but matters of a worldly and bodily nature bring pleasure and delight. When this is the situation they consider the spiritual matters contained in the internal sense as of little value; indeed they loathe them. Let anyone examine himself to see whether or not the ideas contained in the internal sense of the narrative that follows below are to him worthless and loathsome. Yet such ideas are what give angelic communities utmost delight. From this anyone who stops to reflect may also see the kind of difference there is between men’s delights and angels’ delights, as well as what it is that angels consider wisdom to consist in and what it is that men consider it to consist in. That is to say, angels consider wisdom to consist in the kinds of things that man regards as being worthless and that he is averse to, while man considers wisdom to consist in the kinds of things in which angels have no interest at all; indeed many people consider it to consist in the kinds of things which angels cast aside and have nothing to do with.
[2] The implications of all this are as follows: Because it had been perceived that the facts present in the exterior man which held truths within them had been freely given and were therefore being led on to become joined to the internal, which would make them subservient to it, it was consequently perceived that, as stated just above, they would be deprived of their freedom and so of all the delight that life holds within itself. But man has no conception of such a thing, that is to say, of its being perceived that facts holding truths within them can be given freely and that this happens in the natural, in either the exterior part or the interior part of it. The reason he has no conception of this is that he does not enjoy any kind of perception like that, for he does not have the vaguest idea about what is given to him freely, let alone about what is stored away in the exterior natural and what in the interior natural. The common reason why he does not have any perception of this is that his heart is set on worldly and earthly things, not on celestial and spiritual ones, and therefore he has no belief in any influence coming from the Lord by way of heaven and so no belief whatever in the gift of any such things to him. Yet in actual fact all the truth which he arrives at by the use of reason based on factual knowledge and which he imagines he arrives at by his own power of understanding is something that is given to him. And man has even less ability to perceive whether that truth is stored away in the exterior natural or in the interior natural, because he is ignorant of the fact that the natural has two parts, namely an exterior part which leans towards the external senses and an interior part which leans away from these and turns towards the rational.
[3] Since man has no knowledge of any of these matters he cannot have any perception at all regarding such ideas; for acquaintance with a reality must come first if there is to be any perception about it. But angelic communities are properly acquainted with and have a right perception of those matters. They are acquainted with and perceive not only what is given them freely but also in what place this exists, as the following experience makes clear: When any spirit who is moved by good, and therefore has the ability to do so, enters some angelic community, he enters at the same time into all the knowledge and intelligence belonging to this community, which he had not possessed before. At such a time he is not aware of anything different from this – that he was already in possession of such knowledge and understanding, and through his own deliberation. But when he stops to reflect he realizes that it is something freely given him by the Lord through that angelic community. He also knows, from the angelic community where he is, whether that truth exists in the exterior natural or in the interior natural; for there are angelic communities situated in the exterior natural, and there are those situated in the interior natural. But their natural is not like man’s natural; rather it is a natural that is spiritual – one that has been made spiritual by having become joined and made subservient to the spiritual.
[4] From all this one may see that the matters mentioned here in the internal sense describe what actually happens in the next life. That is to say, those there are quite aware of what is freely given them and also of where it is stored away, even though man at the present day knows nothing at all about such matters. In ancient times however those who belonged to the Church did know about them; their factual knowledge told them about such matters, and so did their religious teachings. They were people of a more internal frame of mind; but since those times people have become progressively more externally minded, so much so that at the present day they live in the body, thus in what is the most external. A sign of this is seen in the fact that people do not even know what the spiritual is or what the internal is; and they do not believe even in the existence of such realities. Indeed people have moved so far away from things on a more internal level to what is most external within the body that they do not even believe in the reality of a life after death, or in the existence of heaven or hell. Indeed because of their departure from things of a more internal level into what is most external they have become so stupid. So far as spiritual realities are concerned, as to believe that man’s life is similar to that of beasts, so that in death man is no different from them. And what is so surprising, the learned believe these kinds of things more than the simple; and anyone whose belief is different from theirs is thought by them to be a simpleton.
[2] The implications of this, that whatever exists in either part of the natural is of no worth, are as follows: If a person is to become spiritual his natural must come to be of no worth, that is, it must cease to have any power that is essentially its own; for to the extent that the natural has any power of its own the spiritual lacks it. Since earliest childhood the natural has been acquiring no other ambitions than those that spring from selfish and worldly desires, thus ones that are the opposite of charity. These evil ambitions make it impossible for good to flow in from the Lord by way of the internal man; for whatever flows in is turned within the natural into what is evil, the natural being the final level into which what is inflowing goes. Consequently unless the natural, that is, the evil and falsity that have been giving shape to the natural, comes to be of no worth, no good can possibly flow in from the Lord by way of heaven. It finds no dwelling-place there and is dissipated, for it cannot stay in what is evil and false. For this reason the internal remains closed to the extent that the natural fails to become of no worth. This is something known within the Church from the teaching that one should put off the old man in order that one may put
[3] Regeneration consists in nothing else than the natural being made subservient and the spiritual becoming its lord; and the natural is made subservient when it is made to correspond to the spiritual. Once the natural is made to correspond it is no longer reactionary but acts as it is commanded, answering the beck and call of the spiritual, almost as the actions of the body are answers to the beck and call of the will, or as speech and facial expressions conform to the thought flowing into them. From this it is evident that for a person to become spiritual, his natural must come to be, so far as his power of will is concerned, of no on the new.*
[4] But it should be realized that it is the old natural that must come to be of no worth, since it is shaped by evils and falsities. Once it has been made of no worth the person is endowed with a new natural, called the spiritual, natural. This is called spiritual because the spiritual is what acts by means of it and also makes itself known through it, in the way a cause does through its effect – the cause, as is well known, being the entire reason for the effect. Consequently the new natural, so far as the activities of thought, will, and putting into effect are concerned, is nothing else than the representative of the spiritual. When this new natural comes into being a person receives good from the Lord; when worth whatsoever he receives that good truths are conferred on him; when those truths are conferred on him his intelligence and wisdom are made more perfect; and when his intelligence and wisdom are made more perfect he is blessed with happiness that lasts for ever.
* A Pauline teaching; see for example Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:9, 10.
[2] It was very well known in ancient times that ‘silver’ meant truth; therefore the ancients divided up periods of time ranging from the earliest to the latest world epochs into the golden ages, the silver ones, the copper ones, and the iron ones, to which they also added the clay ones. They applied the expression ‘golden ages’ to those periods when innocence and perfection existed, when everyone was moved by good to do what was good and by righteousness to do what was right. They used ‘silver ages’ however to describe those times when innocence did not exist any longer, though there was still some sort of perfection, which did not consist in being moved by good to do what was good but in being moved by truth to do what was true. ‘Copper ages’ and ‘iron ages’ were the names they gave to the times that were even more inferior than the silver ones.
[3] What led those people to give periods of time these names was not comparison but correspondence. For the ancients knew that ‘silver’ corresponded to truth and ‘gold’ to good; they knew this from being in communication with spirits and angels. For when a discussion takes place in a higher heaven about what is good, this reveals itself among those underneath them in the first or lowest heaven as what is golden; and when a discussion takes place about what is true this reveals itself there as what is silvery. Sometimes not only the walls of the rooms where they live are gleaming with gold and silver but also the very air within them. Also, in the homes of those angels belonging to the first or lowest heaven who are moved by good to live among what is good, tables made of gold, lampstands made of gold, and many other objects are seen; but in the homes of those who are moved by truth to live among what is true, similar objects made of silver are seen. But who at the present day knows that correspondence was what led the ancients to call ages golden ones and silver ones? Indeed who at the present day knows anything at all about correspondence? Anyone who does not know this about the ancients, and more so anyone who thinks pleasure and wisdom lie in contesting whether such an idea is true or untrue, cannot begin to know the countless facets there are to correspondence.
[2] Something like this happens in the next life in the case of spirits who are being introduced by means of truths into good, especially into this – that everything good and true flows in from the Lord. When they learn that everything they think or will flows into them, so that they themselves cannot be the source of their thinking and willing, they fight all they can against the idea. For they believe that, if this idea is true, they cannot have any life within themselves that is entirely their own and that all delight is therefore destroyed, for they make the existence of separate selfhood vital to delight. Furthermore those spirits think that if they do not have any power entirely their own to do what is good and to believe what is true, they must let their hands hang down, not do or think anything on their own initiative, and wait for influx. They are allowed to go on thinking in this kind of way until they reach the point when they almost decide that they do not want to receive what is good and true from such influx but from some other source which does not involve their being deprived in this manner of their selfhood. Sometimes they are even allowed to make enquiries about where they may find that kind of goodness and truth. But when after this they do not find such goodness and truth anywhere, those who are being regenerated come back and freely choose to let the Lord lead their will and thought. They are also told at the same time that they are going to receive a heavenly selfhood such as the angels possess, and along with this the gift of everlasting bliss and happiness.
[3] As regards this heavenly selfhood, it is a product of the new will conferred by the Lord. It is different from the selfhood properly man’s own, in that those who have received that heavenly selfhood no longer see only themselves in every single thing they do or in every single thing they learn about and convey to others. Instead they see their neighbour, the general public, the Church, the Lord’s kingdom, and so the Lord Himself. The ends they have in life are what undergo change; for ends which have lower things – namely self and the world – in view are removed and higher ones introduced to replace them. Ends in life are nothing else than the actual life in a person, for a person’s ends in view are the things that his will desires. They are also the actual loves present in him, for what a person loves is what his will desires and what constitute his end in view. The person who is given a heavenly selfhood enjoys too a state of serenity and peace, for he trusts in the Lord and believes that no evil at all can come to touch him, knowing too that no strong evil desires can molest him. More than that, those who have received a heavenly selfhood enjoy true freedom; for being led by the Lord constitutes freedom since one is then led within the sphere of good, from good, and to good. From this it becomes clear that they enjoy bliss and happiness, for nothing exists to disturb them – no self-love at all, consequently no enmity, hatred, or vengeance at all; nor any love of the world at all, consequently no deceitfulness, fear, or unease at all.
[2] The reason ‘peace’ means all is well is that peace is what is central and consequently what reigns universally within every single thing in heaven. For the peace that reigns in heaven is like spring on earth, or like the dawn. What moves a person’s feelings when spring or dawn arrives is not the discernible changes that take place then but the loveliness reigning universally, which pervades every individual thing he perceives and fills not only that perception but also each individual object with loveliness. Scarcely anyone at the present day knows what peace is when it is mentioned in the Word, as, besides other places, in the Blessing,
Jehovah lift up His face upon you and give you peace. Num. 6:26.
Almost everyone believes that peace consists in being kept safe from enemies and in serenity reigning at home and among companions. That kind of peace is not however what is meant here but another kind that is immensely superior, namely heavenly peace, described immediately above. No one can be granted this peace unless he is led by the Lord and abides in the Lord, that is, unless he is in heaven where the Lord is the All in all. For heavenly peace enters in when the desires that spring from self-love and love of the world are removed; for those desires take peace away, molesting a person inwardly and causing him at length to consider rest to consist in unrest and peace in molestations, because he considers delight to consist in evil desires. All the time a person is subject to these desires he cannot by any means know what peace is; indeed during all that time he believes that such peace is of no worth. And should anyone say that one experiences this peace when the delights that spring from self-love and love of the world are removed he laughs at the idea, for the reason that he considers peace to consist in the delight taken in evil, which is the opposite of peace.
[3] Such being the nature of peace, that is to say, it is what is central to every form of happiness and bliss and is therefore what reigns universally within every individual thing, the ancients therefore used the common saying ‘Peace to you’, meaning May all be well; or else they would ask people ‘Did they have peace?’ meaning Was all well with them? See what has been stated and shown already regarding peace,
Peace in heaven is like spring and the dawn on earth, 1726, 2780.
In the highest sense ‘peace’ is the Lord; in the representative sense it is His kingdom, also the Lord’s Divine affecting inmostly what is good, 3780, 4681.
All unrest is due to evil and falsity, whereas peace is due to goodness and truth, 3170.
[2] The truth that the Lord was meant by God and Jehovah in the Word was unknown to the Jewish Church; and the Christian Church at the present day does not know it, the reason for its ignorance of this truth being that it has distinguished the Divine into three separate persons. But the Ancient Church which existed after the Flood, and especially the Most Ancient Church which existed before the Flood, did not understand by Jehovah and God anyone else than the Lord, in particular His Divine Human. They did know about the Divine Himself who dwells within the Lord, and whom the Lord calls His Father; but they could not engage in any thought about the Divine Himself who dwells within the Lord, only about His Divine Human, and consequently could not be joined to any other that is Divine. For that linking together is effected through thought which is the activity of the understanding and through affection which is the activity of the will, thus through faith and love. When anyone thinks about the Divine Himself his thought becomes lost so to speak in boundless space and so is dissipated. As a consequence no joining together can result. But it is different when anyone thinks about the Divine Himself as the Divine Human. Those people living in former times also knew that unless they were joined to the Divine they could not be saved.
[3] It was therefore a Divine Human that the Ancient Churches worshipped, and it was Jehovah in this Divine Human that revealed Himself among them. That Divine Human was also the Divine Himself in heaven, for heaven consists of a single human being called the Grand Man, dealt with at the ends of chapters up to this point. The Divine in heaven is essentially the Divine Himself; but He exists in heaven as a Divine Man. This Man is the one the Lord took upon Himself, made Divine within Himself, and made one with the Divine Himself, even as He had from eternity been made one with Him; for He has from eternity been one. He acted in that way because the human race could not otherwise be saved. The channel formed by heaven, and so by the Divine Human there, by means of which the Divine Himself came into people’s minds was no longer adequate; therefore the Divine Himself was willing to make the Divine Human one with Himself through the Human He actually took upon Himself in the world. This Divine Human and that Divine Himself are the Lord.
5664[a] ‘Your silver came to me’ means that it will seem as though truth has been acquired by them. This is clear from the meaning of ‘silver’ as truth, dealt with in 1551, 2954. The coming of their silver to him implies that payment had been made by them, thus that they had made an acquisition for themselves; for’ buying’ means acquiring, 5655. This explains why ‘your silver has come to me’ means that truth has been acquired by them. Yet because the truth which constitutes faith is never an acquisition that a person makes but is a gift instilled and conferred by the Lord, though it seems to be an acquisition made by that person, the expression it will seem as though truth has been acquired by them is used.
[2] The fact that truth is instilled and conferred by the Lord is also well known in the Church, for the Church teaches that faith does not originate in man but comes from God, so that not only confidence but also the truths that constitute faith come from Him. Yet the appearance is that truths of faith are acquired by the person himself. The fact that they flow into him is something he is totally unaware of because he has no perception of their doing so. The reason he has no such perception is that his interiors are closed, so that he is unable to have any communication with spirits and angels that is perceptible by him. When a person’s interiors are closed he cannot know anything whatever about what is flowing into him.
[3] But it should be recognized that it is one thing to know the truths of faith, another thing to believe them. Those who merely know the truths of faith consign them to their memory in the way they do anything else that is an item of knowledge. A person can acquire those truths without any such inflow into himself; but they do not possess any life, as is evident from the fact that a wicked person, even a very wicked one, can know the truths of faith just as well as an upright and God-fearing person. But in the case of the wicked, as stated, truths possess no life; for when a wicked person brings them forth he sees in each one either his own glory or personal gain. Consequently it is self-love and love of the world that fill those truths and give them what seems like life. But this life is akin to that in hell, which life is called spiritual death. Consequently, when such a person brings forth those truths he does so from his memory, not from his heart. But someone who has a belief in the truths of faith is bringing them forth from his heart when they pass through his lips; for in his case the truths of faith have so taken root in him that they strike root in the external memory and then, like fruitful trees, grow up into interior or higher levels of the mind, where tree-like they adorn themselves with leaves and at length blossom, to the end that they may bear fruit.
[4] This is what someone with belief is like. He too has nothing else in mind, when employing the truths of faith, than the performance of useful services or the exercise of charity, which is his ‘fruit’. These are not the kind that anyone can acquire by himself. Not even the smallest can be so acquired by him; rather, the Lord gives such to him freely, doing so every single moment of his life. Indeed, if he will but believe it, countless gifts are imparted every single moment. But man’s nature is such that he has no perception of the things that flow into him; for if he did have that kind of perception he would fight against the idea, as stated above, for he would then think that if the idea was true he would lose his selfhood, and with this his freedom, and with his freedom his delight, and so would be left with nothing. And without that perception a person knows no other than that such things originate in himself. This then is the meaning of the explanation ‘it will seem as though truth has been acquired by them’. What is more, if a person is to have a heavenly selfhood and heavenly freedom conferred on him, he must do what is good as though he himself were the source of it and think what is true as though he were the source of that. But when he stops to reflect he must acknowledge that such goodness and truth have their origin in the Lord, see 2882, 2883, 2891.
‘And the man brought the men to Joseph’s house’ means an introductory stage to the joining to the internal. ‘And gave them water’ means a general influx of truth from the internal. ‘And they washed their feet’ means a consequent purification of the natural. ‘And he gave fodder to their asses’ means instruction regarding good. ‘And they made ready the gift’ means an instillation. ‘Until Joseph’s coming at midday’ means up to when the internal would be present with light. ‘For they heard that they would eat bread there’ means a discernment that good was to be linked to the truths. ‘And Joseph came to the house’ means the presence of the internal. ‘And they brought him the gift that was in their hand, to the house’ means an instillation as far as this was possible. ‘And bowed down to the earth’ means an expression of humility. ‘And he questioned them about their peace’ means a perception that all is well. ‘And he said, Does your father, the old man of whom you spoke, have peace?’ means with spiritual good too. ‘Is he still alive?’ means that this has life. ‘And they said, Your servant our father has peace’ means a perception gained from there by the natural that all is well with the good from which it springs. ‘He is still alive means and that it has life. ‘And they bowed, and bowed down’ means an expression of humility, exterior and interior.
* i.e. their welfare
* The Latin word used here may mean midday, or it may mean the south.
[2] The perception is said to be gained from there – from the internal represented by ‘Joseph’, 5648 – because every perception gained by the natural comes from the spiritual; and because it comes from the spiritual it comes from the internal, that is, from the Lord through the internal. The natural cannot possibly have any perception, nor even any life present within thought and affection, other than that which comes from the spiritual. For all things within the natural that are essentially its own are dead; but they receive life through what flows in from the spiritual world, that is, from the Lord by way Of the spiritual world. In the spiritual world everything receives life from the light flowing from the Lord, for that light holds wisdom and intelligence within. The meaning here – that the perception is gained from there, from the internal, in the natural – also follows from what has gone before in 5677.
‘And he lifted up his eyes’ means reflection. ‘And saw Benjamin’ means a discernment of the intermediary. ‘His brother, his mother’s son’ means the internal born from the natural as its mother. ‘And said’ means perception. ‘Is this your youngest brother, whom you said [something about] to me?’ means born after all of them, as they well knew. ‘And he said, God be gracious to you, my son means that the Divine was also present with the spiritual of the celestial, which is the intermediary, because it goes forth from the celestial of the spiritual, which is truth from the Divine. ‘And Joseph hastened’ means from what is inmost. ‘Because feelings of compassion were being roused in him’ means mercy springing out of love. ‘Towards his brother’ means towards the internal going forth from himself. ‘And he sought [somewhere] to weep’ means an expression of mercy springing out of love. ‘And he went to his bedchamber and wept there’ means within itself, in an unseen manner. ‘And he washed his face’ means that it took steps to ensure this. ‘And went out’ means by means of a removal. ‘And he contained himself’ means a concealment. ‘And said, Set on bread’ means a perception of a joining, through the intermediary, to the truths in the natural. ‘And they set for him by himself, and for them by themselves’ means the outward appearance that the internal was seemingly separated from them. ‘And for the Egyptians eating with him by themselves’ means the separation of factual knowledge existing in an inverted state of order. ‘For the Egyptians cannot eat bread with the Hebrews’ means that these could not by any means be joined to the truth and good of the Church. ‘Since that is an abomination to the Egyptians’ means that they are in a contrary position. ‘And they took their seats in front of him’ means that they were ranged in order, as determined by his presence. ‘The firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth’ means in conformity with the order truths take beneath good. ‘And the men were astonished [and looked] each at his companion’ means a change of state that took place in each one among them. ‘And he took portions from before his face to them’ means forms of good applied with mercy to each one. ‘And he multiplied Benjamin’s portion above the portions of all theirs’ means the good imparted to the intermediary exceeded the forms of good imparted to the truths in the natural. ‘Five measures more’ means that it was much increased. ‘And they drank’ means the application of the truths beneath good. ‘And drank plentifully’ means in abundance.
[2] Everything recorded in the Word regarding the sons of Jacob happened for a providential reason, which was that the Word might be written dealing with them and their descendants. This Word was to contain heavenly realities, and in the highest sense Divine ones, which those sons in actual fact represented. This was no less so in the case of Benjamin who, being the one born last of all, represented the intermediary between the internal and the external, that is, between the celestial of the spiritual which was the Lord’s when He was in the world and the natural which was also the Lord’s and which He was to make Divine.
[3] Everything recorded about Joseph and his brothers represents in the highest sense the glorification of the Lord’s Human, that is, the way in which the Lord made the Human within Himself Divine. The reason this is what is represented in the inmost sense is so that in its inmost sense the Word may be completely holy. A further reason is that every detail recorded may contain within itself what can pass into angelic wisdom; for it is well known that angelic wisdom so surpasses man’s wisdom that man can hardly begin to comprehend any of it. The actual happiness of the angels resides in the fact that every detail has to do with the Lord; for they abide in Him. Furthermore the glorification of the Lord’s Human is the pattern for a person’s regeneration, which is why a person’s regeneration is also presented in the internal sense at the same time as the subject of the Lord’s glorification is dealt with. A person’s regeneration and the countless arcana associated with it also passes into angelic wisdom and brings the angels happiness insofar as they apply those arcana to useful services, which look to a person’s reformation.
[2] Since, as stated above, the Lord’s inner man was the celestial of the spiritual, and this was truth from the Divine or the clothing next to the Divine Himself within the Lord, and since the spiritual of the celestial, which is the intermediary, went forth from that, it follows that the Divine was also present with this intermediary. What goes forth from something acquires its essential being from that from which it goes forth; but it is clothed with coverings such as serve to enable communication to take place and thereby enable a useful purpose to be realized in a lower sphere. The coverings that clothe it are derived in part from such things as exist in that lower sphere, to the end that the internal from which it goes forth can operate in the lower sphere through the kinds of things present there.
[3] What provides its essential being is so to speak its father, since that essential being is its soul; and what provides its clothing is its mother, for that clothing is the body belonging to this soul. This is why, as stated above, the intermediary must be derived from both if it is to be an intermediary – from the internal as its father and from the external as its
mother.
Go away, my people, enter your bedchambers, and shut your door behind you. Hide yourself, so to speak, for a little moment, until the anger passes over. Isa. 26:20.
Quite clearly ‘entering bedchambers’ does not in this case mean entering bedchambers but keeping out of sight and within oneself.
[2] In Ezekiel,
He said to me, Have you not seen, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in the chambers of his own idol? For they say, Jehovah does not see us. Ezek. 8:12.
‘Doing in the dark, each in the chambers of his own idol’ stands for within themselves inwardly, in their thoughts. The interior aspects of their thought and affection were being represented to the prophet by means of ‘chambers’, and they were called ‘the chambers of an idol’.
[3] In Moses,
Outside the sword will bereave – and out of the chambers terror – both young man and virgin, suckling together with a man in old age. Deut. 32:15.
‘The sword’ stands for the vastation of truth and the punishment of falsity, 2799. ‘Out of the chambers terror’ stands for a person’s interiors; for here too it is self-evident that one should not take ‘the chambers’ to mean chambers.
[4] In David,
He waters the mountains from His chambers. Ps. 104:13.
In the spiritual sense ‘watering the mountains’ is blessing those in whom love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour are present. For ‘a mountain’ means the celestial element of love, see 795, 1430, 4210, and therefore ‘from His chambers’ means from the interior parts of heaven. In Luke,
Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light; and what you have spoken in the ear in bedchambers will be proclaimed on the housetops. Luke 12:3.
Here also ‘bedchambers’ stands for a person’s interiors – what he has thought, what he has intended, and what he has mulled over. In Matthew,
When you pray, enter your bedchamber, and shut your door, and pray in secret. Matt. 6:6.
‘Entering one’s bedchamber and praying’ stands for acting in an unseen manner; for these words had their origin in things of a representative nature.
[2] But those in hell, as long as they are not seen in the light of heaven, have a face other than the one that corresponds to their interiors. The reason for this is that during their lifetime they bore witness by means of their face to charity towards the neighbour solely for the sake of their own position and gain; they did not desire their neighbour’s well being except insofar as it was identical with their own. Consequently the expression on their face is at variance with their interiors. Sometimes that variance is so great that feelings of enmity, hatred, and revenge, and the desire to murder are inwardly present, yet their face is set in such a way that love towards their neighbour is beaming from it. From this one may see how far people’s interiors disagree at the present day with their exteriors, and why they resort to those kinds of practices to serve their own interests.
And Joseph saw Benjamin with them, and he said to the one who was over his house, Bring the men to the house, and slaughter and prepare [an animal]; for the men will eat with me at midday. Verse 16.
[2] Facts are said to exist in an inverted state of order when people intent on doing what is evil violate heavenly order; for heavenly order intends that good should be done to everyone. The result of this therefore is that once people cause heavenly order to become inverted in this way they ultimately reject what is of God, what is of heaven, and consequently what constitutes charity and faith. People who have come to be like this know how to use factual knowledge to engage in keen and skillful reasoning; for their use of reason relies on sensory evidence, and reasoning reliant on sensory evidence relies on considerations of an external nature – on bodily and worldly matters which instantly absorb a person’s thoughts and feelings. Unless such factual knowledge has had the light of heaven shed upon it and has thereby been brought into a completely different state of order, it sets the person in obscurity. This obscurity is so pronounced, so far as heavenly matters are concerned, that he not only fails to understand them but also utterly refuses to accept them, and at length casts them aside and, so far as he is allowed to do so, says blasphemous things about them. When factual knowledge exists in a proper state of order it has been arranged by the Lord into the same form as heaven takes. But when it exists in an inverted state of order it has been arranged into the form hell takes, a form in which the worst falsities are in the centre, supporting ideas come next, and truths on the outside. And as those truths are on the outside they cannot have any communication with heaven where truths are predominant. For this reason the interiors are closed, since it is through those interiors that the way to heaven lies open.
[2] The fact that all aspects of the Hebrew Church, the one established at a later time among the descendants of Jacob, were an abomination to the Egyptians is evident not only from their refusal even to eat with them but also from the fact that sacrifices, in which the Hebrew Church made its main worship consist, were an abomination to them, as is evident in Moses,
Pharaoh said, Go away, sacrifice within the land. But Moses said, It is incorrect to do so, for we shall be sacrificing to Jehovah our God what is an abomination to the Egyptians; behold, if we sacrifice what is an abomination to the Egyptians in their eyes, will they not stone us? Exod. 8:25, 26.
Also, feeding cattle and being a shepherd was an abomination to them, as is evident again in Moses,
Every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians. Gen. 46:34.
Thus every aspect of that Church was an abomination to the Egyptians. The reason was that initially even the Egyptians had been among those who constituted the representative Ancient Church, 1238, 2385. But after that they rejected the God of the Ancient Church, who was Jehovah or the Lord, and served idols, in particular calves. Also the actual representatives and meaningful signs of the celestial and spiritual realities of the Ancient Church, which they came to know while part of that Church, were turned by them into magical practices. This being so, order with them became inverted, as a consequence of which everything constituting the Church was an abomination.
[2] The truth of the matter is that in the highest sense ‘Joseph’ represents the Lord, ‘the sons of Israel’ the forms of good and the truths in the natural. When the Lord is present His very presence arranges everything into order. The Lord is order itself, and therefore wherever He is present order exists, and wherever order exists He is present. That order is described in what follows next, the aim of that order being to see that truths are properly arranged beneath good.
[2] The fact that good is what brings order to truths is evident from order as it exists in the heavens. All the communities there are ranged in conformity with the order in which truths that are received from the Lord exist beneath good. For [in His own Being] the Lord is nothing else than Divine Good, while Divine Truth, which does not exist within Him, goes forth from Him. And it is in conformity with this Divine Truth ranged beneath Divine Good that all the communities of heaven have been arranged into order. As regards the Lord’s being nothing else than Divine Love whereas Divine Truth does not exist within Him but goes forth from Him, this can be illustrated by a comparison made with the sun of this world. The sun is nothing else than fire, while its light does not exist within it but goes forth from it. What is more, objects in the world dependent on light, such as plants, are subject to the order imparted to them by the heat that goes forth from the fire of the sun and exists within the light of the sun, as is evident in springtime and summertime. For since the Whole natural order is a theatre representative of the Lord’s kingdom, so is this whole situation involving the sun representative. The sun represents the Lord; its fire represents His Divine Love; the heat from it represents the good that flows from this Love, and its light the truths that constitute faith. And since they have these representations, ‘the sun’ is also used in the spiritual sense of the Word to mean the Lord, 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 3636, 3643, 4321 (end), 5097, 5377, ‘fire’ to mean love, 934, 4906, 5071, 5215, so that the sun’s fire in a representative sense is Divine Love, while the heat from that fire is good flowing from Divine love. As regards ‘light’ meaning truth, see 2776, 3138, 3190, 3195, 3222, 3339, 3636, 3643, 3862, 3993, 4302, 4409, 4413, 4415, 4526, 5219, 5400.
[2] The reason Why the good imparted to the intermediary exceeded the forms of good imparted to the truths in the natural is that the intermediary is interior, and what is interior possesses forms of good in greater abundance than what is exterior. Few know what is implied by this – by what is interior possessing forms of good and truth in greater abundance than parts that are more external do. The reason for this is that up to now few, if any, have known that what is interior is distinct and separate from what is exterior, so distinct that the two can be separated from each other; and that once they have been separated the interior goes on living but the exterior dies. But as long as they exist joined together what is exterior receives life from what is interior. If people knew this first they could then know what the interior is like compared with the exterior – that what is interior possesses thousands of things which are seen in the exterior only as a simple whole. For what is interior exists in a purer sphere, what is exterior in a grosser one; and what exists in a purer sphere is capable of receiving individually thousands of things more than that which exists in a grosser sphere can. This is the reason why, when a person who has led a good life enters heaven after death, he is able to receive thousands and thousands more of those things that constitute intelligence and wisdom, and also happiness, than when he had been living in the world. For in heaven he lives in a purer sphere and in the interior parts of his being, having cast off the grosser parts belonging to the body. From all this one may now see what is implied by the statement that the good imparted to the intermediary exceeded the forms of good imparted to the truths in the natural, meant by ‘he multiplied Benjamin’s portion above the portions of all theirs’.
From the explanations given in this chapter it is evident that the subject has been an introductory stage to the joining of the natural to the celestial of the spiritual. But the subject in the next chapter is the first stage when they are actually joined together, that first stage being represented by Joseph’s revelation of himself to his brothers, and the second stage by his going to meet his father and his brothers and bringing them down into Egypt.
IN THIS SECTION THE CORRESPONDENCE OF SICKNESSES WITH THE SPIRITUAL WORLD
Since the subject is to be the correspondence of sicknesses, it should be recognized that all human sicknesses too have a correspondence with the spiritual world. For nothing at all comes into being in the natural creation that does not have a correspondence with the spiritual world; it has no cause from which it may be brought into being and from which it may be kept in being. Things existing in the natural world are nothing else than effects; their causes exist in the spiritual world, while the causes behind those causes, which are the ends, exist more internally in heaven. No effect can remain in being unless its cause is present within it constantly; for the instant a cause ceases to exist, so does its effect. Essentially an effect is nothing else than its cause; but a cause so clothes itself outwardly with an effect that it is enabled to act as a cause in a lower sphere than its own. And similar to the relationship between an effect and its cause is the relationship between a cause and its end. Unless a cause likewise comes into being from its own cause, which is the end, it is not a cause; for without an end a cause is devoid of order, and where there is no order nothing is brought into being. From this it is now evident that the essence of an effect is its cause, while the essence of a cause is its end, and that an end which has good in view exists in heaven and comes forth from the Lord. Consequently an effect is not an effect unless there is a cause within it, constantly there, and a cause is not a cause unless there is an end within it, constantly so. Nor is an end an end that has good in view unless the Divine which goes forth from the Lord is present within it. From this it is also evident that even as every single thing in the world has been brought into being from the Divine, so it is kept in being from the Divine.
[2] I have been told that those in former times who slew entire armies, such as one reads about in the Word, were like them. They charged into the cells of each man’s brain and introduced terror there, together with a kind of madness that caused one man to slay another. At the present day such spirits are kept locked up in their own hell and are not let out. They also correlate with malignant swellings of the head inside the skull. I have described those spirits as ones that charge inside the skull and continue without stopping right on into the spinal cord; but it should be realized that this charging in by them is an appearance. They are actually conveyed along a route outside the body which corresponds to those areas inside it; but it feels as though the force of them were inside. Correspondence is the explanation for this, for it enables the operation they are carrying out to be concentrated on the person at whom it is directed.
[2] I noticed that these spirits were devoid of any conscience and that they thought that human prudence and wisdom lay in stirring up all kinds of enmity, hatred, and internal conflicts for the purpose of gaining dominion over others. I was led to ask them whether they knew that they were now in the next life where they were going to live for ever and where spiritual laws existed that completely forbade such actions. I also told them that while in the world they may have been considered and thought to be wise ones among the stupid, but in fact they had been the insane among the wise – which they did not like to be told. I went on to say that they ought to know that heaven consists in mutual love, or the love of one person towards another, which love gives rise to order in heaven and which love governs so many millions as a single whole. But the contrary of this, I said, existed with them since they filled others with nothing else than feelings of hatred, revenge, and cruelty towards their companions. They replied that they could not be anything other than what they were, to which I responded that from this they could know that each person’s life remained with him.
[2] In the next life spirits like these speak as they did in the world, that is to say, with authority and great influence, and seemingly from an awareness of what is just, as a consequence of which many think that people should trust what they say more than what others say. But they are very wicked spirits. When they come into contact with a person they introduce intense pain through a feeling of fatigue which they instill and increase all the time to a point when it is totally unbearable, a fatigue which renders the mind and consequently the body so weak that the person can hardly get out of bed. This has been demonstrated to me by the experience that when those spirits were present weakness like that overcame me; yet the weakness left me to the extent they were moved away from me.
[3] They employ many a device to infuse that feeling of fatigue and consequent weakness; in particular they introduce the general sphere that is a product of insults and slanders they hurl at one another and at family and friends. When they engage within their own chambers in reasoning about Divine worship, faith, and eternal life, they sweep these completely aside, doing so, it seems, with a wisdom that is greater than anyone else’s. In the next life they are quite prepared to be called devils provided that they are allowed to reign over hells, and by reigning over these, so they believe, to act in opposition to the Divine. Inwardly they are foul, for they surpass all others in self-love, consequently in hatred and revenge, and in cruelty to all who do not pay them any respect.
[4] They undergo severe punishment, which I have also heard taking place, until they leave off misleading others by their outward pretence of being just. When that pretence is removed from them they speak in a different tone of voice. After this they are cast away from the world of spirits, to the left hand side, where they are sent to a hell very deep down. That hell is positioned on the left, a fair distance away.
[2] But when a person is kept within the sphere emanating from the life he has received through regeneration from the Lord he is completely outside such a deluge. He is so to speak in a calm and sunny, cheerful and happy place, and so is far removed from annoyance, anger, unpeacefulness, evil desires, and the like. The latter state is for spirits morning or spring, the former state their evening or autumn. I was led to perceive myself outside such a deluge; this lasted quite a long time, during which I saw other spirits caught in it. But after that I too become submerged in it, when I experienced what felt like a deluge. This is the kind in which people undergoing temptations are caught. From this I learned what is meant in the Word by the Flood, namely that the final descendants of the most ancient people who belonged to the Lord’s celestial Church were completely submerged in evils and falsities, so that they perished.
44
GENESIS 44
1 And he commanded the one who was over his house, saying, Fill the men’s pouches with food, as much as they can carry; and put each one’s silver in the mouth of his pouch.
2 And you are to put my cup, the cup made of silver, in the mouth of the pouch of the youngest, and his silver for grain; and he did according to Joseph’s word which he spoke.
3 Morning dawned, and the men were sent away, they and their asses.
4 They went out of the city, not far distant. And Joseph said to the one who was over his house, Rise up, pursue the men and overtake them; and you are to say to them, Why are you repaying evil for good?
5 Is not this what my lord drinks from; and does he not certainly practise divination in this? You have done evil in what you have done.
6 And he overtook them, and spoke those words to them.
7 And they said to him, Why does my lord speak words such as these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing as this.
8 Behold, the silver which we found in the mouth of our pouches we brought back to you from the land of Canaan; and how could we steal from your lord’s house silver or gold?
9 With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die; and we also will be slaves to my lord.
10 And he said, Now also, according to your words, so let it be: He with whom it is found will be my slave, and you will be innocent.
11 And they hurried and caused to come down, each one his pouch to the earth; and they opened each one his pouch.
12 And he searched; he began with the oldest and finished with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin’s pouch.
13 And they rent their clothes; and each one loaded his ass, and they returned to the city.
14 And Judah and his brothers entered Joseph’s house, and he, he was still there; and they fell before him to the earth.
15 And Joseph said to them, What deed is this that you have done? Did you not know that a man such as I certainly practises divination?
16 And Judah said, What shall we say to my lord, what shall we speak? And how shall we be acquitted? God has found out the iniquity of your servants; behold, we are my lord’s slaves, even ourselves, even he in whose hand the cup was found.
17 And [Joseph] said, Far be it from me to do this; the man in whose hand the cup was found, he will be my slave, and you, go up in peace to your father.
18 And Judah approached him and said, By me,* my lord, let your servant, I beg you, speak a word in my lord’s ears, and do not let your anger burn against your servant, for as you are, so is Pharaoh.
19 My lord questioned his servants, saying, Have you a father, or a brother?
20 And we said to my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, the youngest one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left to his mother, and his father loves him.
21 And you said to your servants, Cause him to come down to me, and I will set my eye on him.
22 And we said to my lord, The boy cannot leave his father; and should he leave his father, [his father] will die.
23 And you said to your servants, If your youngest brother does not come down with you, you will not see my face again.
24 And so it was, when we went up to your servant my father, that we told him my lord’s words.
25 And our father said, Return, buy us a little food.
26 And we said, We cannot go down; if our youngest brother is with us we will go down, for we cannot see the man’s face if our youngest brother is not with us.
27 And your servant my father said to us, You know that my wife bore me two sons.
28 And one went out from me, and I said, He has surely been torn to pieces; and I have not seen him since.
29 And you are taking this one also from before my face, and should harm befall him, you will cause my grey hair to go down in evil to the grave.
30 And now, when I come to your servant my father and the boy is not with us, and his soul being bound up with his soul,
31 It will be, when he sees that the boy is not there, that he will die, and your servants will cause the grey hair of your servant our father to go down in sorrow to the grave.
32 For your servant became surety for the boy to my father, saying, If I do not bring him back to you I shall be sinning against my father all my days.
33 And now, I beg you, let your servant stay instead of the boy, a slave to my lord; and let the boy go up with his brothers.
34 For how am I to go up to my father, and the boy is not with me? Perhaps I shall see the evil which will come upon my father.
* The Latin per me represents the Hebrew Bi, which usually expresses entreaty, as here. But cp Chapter 43:20.
This chapter deals in the internal sense with the intermediary between the internal celestial man and the external natural man. First comes a description which shows that from itself the internal celestial man filled the intermediary with spiritual truth. The intermediary is ‘Benjamin’, while the spiritual truth present there is ‘Joseph’s silver cup’; the internal celestial man is ‘Joseph’, and the external natural man is ‘the ten sons of Jacob’.
Verses 1, 2 And he commanded the one who was over his house, saying, Fill the men’s pouches with food, as much as they can carry; and put each one’s silver in the mouth of his pouch. And you are to put my cup, the cup made of silver, in the mouth of the pouch of the youngest, and his silver for grain; and he did according to Joseph’s word which he spoke.
‘And he commanded the one who was over his house, saying’ means an influx from itself. ‘Fill the men’s pouches with food’ means into the natural, bringing the good of truth. ‘As much as they can carry’ means to the point of sufficiency. ‘And put each one’s silver in the mouth of his pouch’ means bringing in addition truth received anew in the exterior natural. ‘And you are to put my cup, the cup made of silver, in the mouth of the pouch of the youngest’ means interior truth granted to the intermediary. ‘And his silver for grain’ means the truth of good. ‘And he did according to Joseph’s word which he spoke’ means that it was done as commanded.
[2] Furthermore those in heaven not only think but also talk to one another – about those things that are matters of wisdom. Yet there is not in what they say any trace of an order given to another; for no one wishes to be the master and consequently regard another as his slave. Rather, each wishes to minister and be of service to another. From this one may see what form of government exists in heaven, the form described by the Lord in Matthew,
It shall not be so among you, but whoever has the wish to become great among you must be your minister, and whoever has the wish to be first must be your servant. Matt. 20:26, 27.
And in the same gospel,
He who is the greatest of you shall be your minister; whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
This is how a person who has heartfelt love of his neighbour behaves – a person who feels delight and bliss in doing good to others for no selfish reason, that is, one who has charity towards the neighbour.
‘Morning dawned’ means a state of enlightenment at this point. ‘And the men were sent away, they and their asses’ means that the external natural man was to some extent removed, together with its truths and factual knowledge. ‘They went out of the city, not far distant’ means the extent of that removal. ‘And Joseph said to the one who was over his house’ means perception and influx received anew. ‘Rise up, pursue the men’ means that it ought now to link them to itself. ‘And overtake them’ means an indirect link with them. ‘And you are to say to them, Why are you repaying evil for good?’ means, Why the turning away? ‘Is not this what my lord drinks from?’ means that present with them there was interior truth received from the celestial. ‘And does he not certainly practise divination in this?’ means that the celestial knows, from the Divine that resides within it, things that lie concealed. ‘You have done evil in what you have done’ means that it is contrary to Divine law to claim that truth as their own.
[2] As to the meaning of ‘asses’, it should be realized that something different is meant by them when they served as animals that were ridden on; for judges, kings, and their sons used to ride on asses, she-asses, and also mules. At such times ‘asses’ were a sign of rational truth and good, and also of natural truth and good, see 2781. This explains why, when as judge and king the Lord entered Jerusalem, He rode on a she-ass with her colt, this being a sign indicating His offices of judge and king. But ‘asses’ had another meaning when they served as beasts of burden, as they did here. In this case they were a sign of factual knowledge. Factual knowledge is just like such a beast of burden. Anyone who, when he thinks about what constitutes a person interiorly, looks no further than factual knowledge contained in a person’s memory, presumes that there is no more to a human being than such knowledge. He does not know that factual knowledge constitutes the lowest level of the human personality and is such that most of it becomes hidden from view when the body dies, 2475-2477, 2479, 2480. But What the knowledge contains within itself remains, namely truth and goodness, together with affections for them, or in the case of evil people, falsity and evil, together with affections for these. Factual knowledge is so to speak the body for those things. As long as a person is living in the world, these things – truth and goodness, or else falsity and evil- are held within his factual knowledge since it is their container. And because factual knowledge contains and thus so to speak carries interior things with it, that is therefore meant by asses that serve to carry burdens.
[2] The men are accused of having supposedly taken the cup. The reason why they were accused of having taken it, when in fact the cup had been planted there, is evident from the inner meaning, which is this: Truth imparted by the Lord is not accepted initially as a gift; for prior to regeneration a person supposes that he himself acquires the truth he knows, and as long as he makes this supposition he is guilty of spiritual theft. Claiming good and truth as his own and attributing them to his own righteousness and merit is taking away from the Lord what is His, see 2609, 4174, 5135. In order that this theft might be represented Joseph acted in the way he did; even so, the men were accused of theft so that a joining together might be effected. Before he has been regenerated a person’s belief about how he acquires truth cannot be any different. He may, it is true, say with his lips, because of what he has been taught, that the truth of faith and the good of charity come entirely from the Lord; nevertheless he does not believe it until faith has become implanted in good. Only then does he begin to acknowledge it in his heart.
[3] Professing something because one has been taught it is altogether different from professing it because one believes it. Many people – even those who are not governed by good – can profess something because they have been taught it; for to them the teaching they receive is no more than factual knowledge. But only those who are governed by spiritual good, that is, by charity towards the neighbour, can profess something because they believe it. Further evidence that the men were accused of theft so that a joining together might be effected lies in the fact that by that means Joseph brought them back to himself and kept them thinking for some time about that deed, after which he revealed who he was, that is, he joined himself to them.
‘And he overtook them’ means an indirect link with them. ‘And spoke those words to them’ means the influx of this thing. ‘And they said to him’ means a discernment. ‘Why does my lord speak words such as these?’ means reflection as to why such a thing flows in. ‘Far be it from your servants to do such a thing as this’ means when this thing is not the intention of their will. ‘behold, the silver which we found in the mouth of our pouches’ means when truth freely given. ‘We brought back to you from the land of Canaan’ means has been submitted, as the result of religious belief. ‘And how could we steal from your lord’s house silver or gold?’ means, Why should we lay claim to truth or good that comes from the Divine celestial? ‘With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die’ means that the one who does such a thing stands condemned. ‘And we also will be slaves to my lord’ means that they will be adjuncts forever, without freedom of their own. ‘And he said, Now also, according to your words’ means indeed so, as justice demands. ‘So let it be’ means a less severe sentence. ‘He with whom it is found will be my slave’ means that the one with whom that thing is present will forever be without his own freedom. ‘And you will be innocent’ means that each of the rest will be his own master since they are not involved in the blame.
[2] I too have been allowed to perceive the same things quite plainly for many years now, and also to perceive that to the extent that I have been left to my proprium or on my own I have been swamped by evils, but to the extent that I have been withheld from this by the Lord I have been
raised from evil to good. Laying claim therefore to truth or good as one’s own is the opposite of the attitude of mind that reigns universally in heaven. It is also the opposite of the acknowledgement that all salvation is due to mercy, that is, that a person left to himself is in hell, but the Lord in His mercy pulls him out of there. Nor can a person have humility or consequently accept the Lord’s mercy – for mercy can enter only where there is humility, that is, into a humble heart – unless he acknowledges that left to himself he produces nothing but evil and that the Lord is the source of all good. Moreover he otherwise thinks that the deeds he performs earn him merit and eventually righteousness; for to claim as one’s own truth and good which come from the Lord is self-righteousness, from which many evils well up. Thinking in that way a person sees himself in every specific deed he performs for his neighbour; and when he does this he loves himself more than everyone else, whom he thus holds in contempt which, though he may not express it verbally, is nevertheless present in his heart.
Now also, according to your words, so let it be: He with whom it is found will be my slave, and you will be blameless.
But the situation is different when people behave in the same way not out of ignorance or simplicity but because of tenets which they have reinforced with their beliefs and by their life. Yet even then, because they do what is good, the Lord in His mercy preserves with them some degree of ignorance and simplicity.
Fathers shall not die because of sons, and sons shall not die because of fathers; they shall be put to death, each for his own sin. Deut. 24:16.
And in Ezekiel,
The soul that has sinned shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, nor shall the father bear the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. Ezek. 18:20.
From all this one may see the implication of the following: Jacob’s sons said, ‘With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die, and we also will be slaves to my lord’; but the one sent by Joseph amended that judgement, saying, ‘He with whom it is found will be my slave, and you will be innocent’. Something similar occurs in what follows below, where Judah speaks to Joseph, in verses 16, 17, ‘Behold, we are my lord’s slaves, even ourselves, even he in whose hand the cup was found’. And Joseph said, ‘Far be it from me to do this; the man in whose hand the cup was found, he will be my slave, and you, go up in peace to your father’.
‘And they hurried’ means an unwillingness to wait. ‘And caused to comedown, each one his pouch to the earth’ means that they brought the contents of the natural down to the level of sensory impressions. ‘And they opened, each one his pouch’ means so that they might thereby make the matter clear to themselves. ‘And he searched’ means an investigation.’ He began with the oldest and finished with the youngest’ means order. ‘And the cup was found in Benjamin’s pouch’ means that interior truth from the celestial existed with the intermediary.
What is implied by the matters referred to in this and the preceding paragraphs in this section is evident from what was stated previously.
‘And they rent their clothes’ means mourning. ‘And each one loaded his ass, and they returned to the city’ means that truths were brought back up from sensory impressions to known facts. ‘And Judah and his brothers entered’ means the good of the Church and the accompanying truths. ‘Joseph’s house’ means a communication with the internal. ‘And he, he was still there’ means foresight. ‘And they fell before him to the earth’ means an expression of humility. ‘And Joseph said to them’ means their perception at this point. ‘What deed is this that you have done?’ means that to lay claim to what is not one’s own is a gross evil. ‘Did you not know that a man such as I certainly practises divination?’ means that that evil cannot be hidden from him who sees things that are to come and lie concealed. ‘And Judah said’ means a perception imparted to the good of the Church in the natural. ‘What shall we say to my lord, what shall we speak?’ means a wavering. ‘And how shall we be acquitted?’ means that we are guilty. ‘God has found out the iniquity of your servants’ means a confession. ‘Behold, we are my lord’s slaves’ means that they are to be deprived for ever of their own freedom. ‘Even ourselves’ means both the adjuncts . . . ‘Even he in whose hand the cup was found’ means, and also the one with whom interior truth from the Divine celestial exists. ‘And [Joseph] said, Far be it from me to do this’ means that this must on no account be done. ‘The man in whose hand the cup was found’ means the one with whom interior truth received from the Divine exists. ‘He will be my slave’ means that he will be in subjection forever. ‘And you, go up in peace to your father’ means that the adjuncts, among whom that interior truth does not exist, are to return to their previous state.
[2] As regards mourning over truths of their own, which mourning is meant by them rending their clothes and offering to become slaves, it should be recognized that with people who are being regenerated a reversal takes place. That is to say, first they are led by means of truth to good, but after that they are led from good to truth. When this reversal takes place, or when the state is altered and becomes the reverse of what existed previously, there is mourning. For they are subjected to temptations, by means of which things properly their own are weakened and broken down, and good is introduced. Together with that good a new will is introduced, and with this a new freedom, and so something new of their own. This is represented by the return of Joseph’s brothers in despair to Joseph and their offer to become slaves; by the retention of them for quite a long time in that state; and by Joseph’s not revealing to them who he really was until that temptation was over. For once temptation is completed the Lord sheds light and brings comfort with it.
[2] A brief explanation must be given of what bringing truths back up from sensory impressions to known facts is. Sensory impressions are one thing, known facts another, and truths yet another; they are consecutive to one another, for sensory impressions give rise to factual knowledge, and factual knowledge leads on to truths. Images that come in through the senses are stored in a person’s memory; then he uses those images either to deduce a fact or to gain a perception of some fact he is learning about. After that he uses these facts either to deduce certain truths or to gain a perception of some truth he is learning about. This is the way everyone develops onwards from childhood. While he is a child a person’s thought and grasp of things relies on sensory impressions; as he grows older his thought and grasp of things relies on factual knowledge, and after that on truths. This is the path leading to the power of judgement a person enters into as he matures.
[3] From this one may see that sensory impressions, known facts, and truths are distinct and separate. Indeed the three remain so distinct that sometimes a person’s attention is fixed on sensory impressions, as happens when he gives thought only to what impinges on his senses; sometimes his attention is fixed on facts, as happens when he rises above sensory impressions and thinks more deeply; and at other times his attention is fixed on truths which have been inferred from facts, as happens when he thinks more deeply still. Anyone who stops to reflect can know these things from what is present within himself. In addition a person can bring truths down into known facts and see those truths within them, even as he can bring facts down into sensory impressions and consider them within these. And he can do the opposite. From all this one may see what is meant by bringing the contents of the natural down to the level of sensory impressions, and bringing truths back up from sensory impressions to known facts.
[2] The opposite occurs when the external man is not the servant but the master. The external man is the master when a person has the pleasure of the body and the senses as his end in view, especially when the objects of his selfish and worldly love and not the things of heaven are his end – to have as his end in view being to love one and not the other. For when a person has those objects as his end he no longer believes that there is any such thing as an internal man or that within himself there is anything that will be living when his body dies. In his case the internal, since it does not hold the position of the master, is merely the servant of the external, employed to enable thought and reasoning against what is good and true to take place; for in this person’s case no other kind of influx by way of the internal is available. This is also the reason why people like this utterly despise, indeed recoil from the things of heaven. From all this it is plain that the external man, which is the same as the natural man, ought to be wholly subject to the internal or spiritual man, and consequently should exist without any freedom of its own.
[3] Freedom of one’s own consists in giving oneself up to every kind of base pleasure, despising others in comparison with oneself, and making them subject like slaves to oneself. Or else it consists in persecuting others, hating them, being delighted when bad things happen to them – especially things done to them by one’s own designs or by the use of deceit – and wishing to see them dead. These are the kinds of things that come from indulging one’s own freedom. From this one may see what a person is like when he exercises this type of freedom, namely a devil in human form. But when he loses this freedom he receives a heavenly freedom from the Lord, the nature of which is completely unknown to those exercising the freedom of their own. They imagine that if the freedom of their own were taken away from them no life at all would remain. But in actual fact this is when true life has its beginning and when true delight, blessing, happiness, and wisdom arrive, because this freedom comes from the Lord.
‘And Judah approached him’ means a communication of the external man with the internal through good. ‘And said’ means perception. ‘By me, my lord’ means a pleading. ‘Let your servant, I beg you, speak a word in my lord’s ears’ means to be received and heard. ‘And do not let your anger burn against your servant’ means lest he turn away. ‘For as you are, so is Pharaoh’ means that he has control over the natural. ‘My lord questioned his servants, saying’ means perception of their thought. ‘Have you a father, or a brother?’ means the good that is the source, and the truth that is the means. ‘And we said to my lord’ means a reciprocated perception. ‘We have a father, an old man’ means that spiritual good is their source. ‘And a child of his old age, the youngest one’ means truth that is new, springing from that good. ‘And his brother is dead’ means that internal good does not exist. ‘And he alone is left to his mother’ means that this is the only truth the Church possesses. ‘And his father loves him’ means that this truth exists joined to spiritual good from the natural. ‘And you said to your servants’ means an imparted perception. ‘Cause him to come down to me’ means that this truth which is new must be made subject to internal good. ‘And I will set my eye on him’ means a flowing in at this point of truth from good. ‘And we said to my lord’ means a reciprocated perception. ‘The boy cannot leave his father’ means that that truth cannot be separated from spiritual good. ‘And should he leave his father, [his father] will die’ means that, if separated, the Church would perish. ‘And you said to your servants’ means a perception regarding this matter. ‘If your youngest brother does not come down with you’ means if it is not made subject to internal good. ‘You will not see my face again’ means that in that case no mercy is at hand and there is no joining to truths in the natural. ‘And so it was, when we went up to your servant my father’ means a raising up to spiritual good. ‘That we told him my lord’s words’ means an awareness of this matter. ‘And our father said’ means perception received from spiritual good. ‘Return, buy us a little food’ means that the good of truth should be made their own. ‘And we said, We cannot go down’ means an objection. ‘If our youngest brother is with us we will go down’ means unless the intermediary that accomplishes the joining together is with them. ‘For we cannot see the man’s face’ means since no mercy is at hand and there is no joining together. ‘If our youngest brother is not with us’ means except through the intermediary. ‘And your servant my father said to us’ means perception received from spiritual good. ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons’ means if spiritual good is what the Church possesses, internal good and truth will exist. ‘And one went out from me means an apparent departure of internal good. ‘And I said, He has surely been torn to pieces’ means a perception that it was destroyed by evils and falsities. ‘And I have not seen him since’ means because it has disappeared. ‘And you are taking this one also from before my face’ means if the new truth likewise departs. ‘And should harm befall him’ means caused by evils and falsities. ‘You will cause my grey hair to go down in evil to the grave means that spiritual good and so the internal aspect of the Church is going to perish. ‘And now, when I come to your servant my father’ means the good of the Church corresponding to the spiritual good which is that of the internal Church. ‘And the boy is not with us’ means if the new truth is not with them. ‘And his soul being bound up with his soul’ means when more closely joined together. ‘It will be, when he sees that the boy is not there, that he will die’ means that spiritual good will perish. ‘And your servants will cause the grey hair of your servant our father to go down in sorrow to the grave’ means that the Church will be done for.
* The Latin per me represents the Hebrew Bi, which usually expresses entreaty, as here. But cp Chapter 43:20.
[2] As regards ‘anger’ meaning hostility, this has been shown in 3614. It also means a turning away, and punishment too, when people are hostile towards what is good and true, as is evident from the following places: In Isaiah,
Woe to those decreeing decrees of iniquity. They will fall beneath the bound and beneath the slain; but in all this His anger will not be turned back. Woe to Asshur, the rod of My anger. Against a hypocritical nation I will send him, and against the people of [My] wrath I will command him. He does not think what is right and his heart does not consider what is right. Isa. 10:1, 4-7.
‘Anger’ and ‘wrath’ stand for a turning away and hostility on man’s side, a condition in which punishment and not being heard seem to him like anger. And as these exist on man’s side, the words ‘woe to those decreeing decrees of iniquity’, ‘he does not think what is right and his heart does not consider what is right’ are used.
[3] In the same prophet,
Jehovah together with the vessels of His anger [comes] to destroy the whole land. Behold, the day of Jehovah* comes – cruel, with indignation, wrath, and anger – to make the earth a ruin, so that He may destroy its sinners from it. I will make heaven quake, and the earth will quake out of its place, at the wrath of Jehovah
Zebaoth and in the day of His fierce anger. Isa. 13:5, 9, 13.
‘Heaven’ and ‘the earth’ here stand for the Church, which had turned away from truth and goodness. Because it had done this a description of the laying waste and destruction of it owing to the indignation, anger, and wrath of Jehovah appears here, though the truth of the matter is the
complete opposite. That is to say, the person ruled by evil is the one who is filled with indignation, anger, and wrath, in addition to which he sets himself against what is good and true. The attribution to Jehovah of punishment which comes as a result of evil is due to the appearance. Various places elsewhere in the Word call the final period of the Church and its destruction ‘the day of Jehovah’s anger’.
[4] In the same prophet,
Jehovah has broken the rod of the wicked, the stick of those who have dominion. He will strike the peoples in a rage, with an incurable stroke, He who with anger rules the nations. Isa. 14:5, 6.
Much the same applies here. It is like a criminal punished by the law; he attributes the evil of a punishment to the king or judge, not to himself. In the same prophet,
Jacob and Israel, because these were unwilling to walk in Jehovah’s ways and did not hear His law, He poured out upon him the wrath of His anger, and the violence of battle. Isa. 42:24, 25.
In Jeremiah,
I Myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, and in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation. Lest My fury go forth like fire, and burn and fail to be quenched because of the wickedness of your works.
Here ‘fury’, ‘anger’, and ‘great indignation’ are nothing other than the evils of a punishment because of a turning away from and a hostility towards what is good and true.
[5] It is in origin a Divine law that all evil carries punishment with it; and surprising though it may be, in, the next life evil and punishment are inseparable. For as soon as a hellish spirit does anything exceptionally bad other spirits, ones who administer punishments, become present and punish him without their having been alerted bay anyone else. The fact that the evil of a punishment is caused by turning away is self-evident, for the expression ‘because of the wickedness of your works’ is used. In David,
He let loose on them the wrath of His anger, indignation, and rage, and distress, and a mission of evil angels. He opened a way for His anger, He did not spare their soul from death. Ps. 78:49, 50.
See also Isa. 30:27, 30; 74:2; 47:3, 6; 54:8; 57:17; 63:6; 66:15; Jer. 4:8; 7:20; 15:14; 33:5; Ezek. 5:13, 17; Deut. 9:11-19; 29:20-24; Rev. 14:9, 10; 15:7. In these places too ‘wrath’, ‘anger’, ‘indignation’, and ‘rage’ stand for a turning away, hostility, and consequent punishment.
[6] The reason why punishment due to a turning away and hostility is attributed to Jehovah or the Lord and is called anger, wrath, and rage residing with Him is that the nation descended from Jacob had to be confined solely to the external representatives of the Church. They could not be confined to these except through fear and dread of Jehovah and unless they had believed that in His anger and wrath He would do evil to them. People who are concerned solely with external things and nothing internal cannot be led in any other way to perform external observances, since no sense of obligation is present with them interiorly. This is also the situation with simple persons in the Church. The only idea they can grasp, based on the appearance, is that God is angry when someone does what is evil. Yet anyone may see, if he stops to reflect, that no anger at all, still less any rage, resides with Jehovah or the Lord, since He is mercy itself, is goodness itself, and is infinitely beyond wishing evil on anyone. Neither does a person possessing charity towards the neighbour do evil to anyone; and as this is true of every angel, how much more must it be true of the Lord Himself? But the situation in the next life is as follows: Because of the newcomers there the Lord is constantly reordering heaven and its communities, imparting bliss and happiness to them.
[7] But when that bliss and happiness passes into the communities opposite (for in the next life all the communities of heaven have communities opposite them in hell, which is what provides equilibrium) and those communities feel a change taking place from heaven’s presence, they are filled with anger and wrath. They rush into doing evil and at the same time bring on themselves the evils of their punishment. Furthermore, when evil spirits or genii come near the light of heaven they start to experience pain and torment, 4225, 4226. This they attribute to heaven, and consequently to the Lord; but in actual fact they bring the torment on themselves since evil suffers torment whenever it comes near good. From all this it is evident that the Lord is the source of nothing but good and that all evil originates in those people themselves who turn away, stand in opposition, and attack. This arcanum enables one to see what the situation really is.
* The Latin means Jehovah but the Hebrew means the day of Jehovah, which Sw. has in other places where he quotes this verse.
* 5804 in Sw.’s rough draft
[2] Once a person has by means of truth arrived at good he is ‘Israel’, and the truth which he now receives from good, that is, from the Lord through good, is the new truth that ‘Benjamin’ represented all the time he was with his father. By means of this truth good in the natural bears fruit, bringing forth countless truths that hold good within them. This is the way the regeneration of the natural proceeds, becoming by its fruitfulness first of all like a tree with good fruit on it and then gradually like a garden. All this shows what is meant by new truth springing from spiritual good.
[2] As regards love, that it is a joining together, it should be recognized that love is a spiritual joining since it is a joining together of two people’s minds, that is, of their thought and will. From this it is evident that regarded essentially love is something purely spiritual, the natural counterpart of which is the delight that comes with companionship and that kind of togetherness. Essentially love is the harmony that results from changes of state and from variations in the forms or substances from which the human mind is built. If that harmony originates in the heavenly form it is heavenly love. From this one may see that love cannot have its origin in anything other than genuine Divine love, which is received from the Lord. This means that love is the Divine flowing into forms and so arranging them that their changes of state and variations may exist in the harmony of heaven.
[3] But loves contrary to this – self-love and love of the world – are not joinings together but separations. They do, it is true, appear to be joinings together; but this is due to one person considering another to be one with him as long as he co-operates with him in making gain, acquiring important positions, or in taking revenge on and persecuting those who oppose him. But as soon as one ceases to show the other person favour, they separate. Heavenly love is different. This is totally averse to doing good to another for selfish reasons; rather it does it for the sake of the good which resides with that other person and which he receives from the Lord, consequently for the sake of the Lord Himself, the Source of that good.
[2] With regard to no mercy being at hand and to there being no joining to truths in the natural Unless the truth represented by ‘Benjamin’ was made subject to the internal good represented by ‘Joseph’, the situation is this: The truth which enables a person to be a Church is that truth which springs from good; for when a person is governed by good, it is from good that he sees truths, perceives them, and so believes that they are indeed truths, which no one can possibly do unless he is governed by good. That good is like a little flame which sheds light and provides illumination, and so enables a person to see, perceive, and believe truths. For an affection for truth springing from good directs the internal sight towards those truths and away from matters of a worldly and bodily nature which envelop them in darkness. This is the kind of truth that ‘Benjamin’ represents here – the one and only truth the Church possesses, see 5806, which is to say the one and only truth that enables a person to be a Church. But this truth must be entirely subject to the internal good represented by ‘Joseph’; for the Lord flows in by way of internal good and imparts life to the truths below, thus also to this truth that springs from spiritual good from the natural, represented by ‘Israel’, 4286, 4598.
[3] From all this it is also evident that it is by means of this truth that the joining together with the truths below it is effected. For if this truth did not exist subject to internal good, enabling it to receive an influx of good into itself, mercy which flows in constantly from the Lord by way of internal good would not be received since no intermediary would be present. And if that mercy were not received, neither would there be any joining together. These are the considerations meant by ‘if your youngest brother does not come down with you, you will not see my face again’.
[2] The intermediary, which ‘Benjamin’ represents, derives from the external or natural its existence there as new truth; for the new truth represented by him exists in the natural because it springs from spiritual good from the natural, which his father as Israel represents, 5686, 5689. But that intermediary derives from the internal the quality that ‘Joseph’ represents, by means of influx. This is how it is derived from both and is the reason why ‘Benjamin’ represents the intermediary that accomplishes the joining together, as well as representing new truth. He represents new truth when he is present with his father, the intermediary accomplishing the joining together when he is with Joseph. This is an arcanum for which no clearer explanation is possible; nor can it be understood except by those who are aware of the fact that a person has an internal and an external that are distinct and separate from each other, and who at the same time have an affection for knowing truths. The understanding part of these people’s minds is lit by the light of heaven, enabling them to see what others do not see, including this arcanum.
[2] What is meant by internal good and truth existing if spiritual good is what the Church possesses is this: Spiritual good, which ‘Israel’ represents, is the good of truth, that is, truth existing in will and action. This truth or good of truth causes a person to be a Church. When truth has been implanted in his will – something he perceives to have happened from the fact that he feels an affection for truth because his intention is to live according to it – internal good and truth are present in him. When that internal good and truth are present in a person he has the Lord’s kingdom within him and he is consequently the Church; and together with those who are very similar to him he constitutes the Church at large. From this it may be recognized that for the Church to be the Church spiritual good, which is the good of truth, must exist and not simply truth by itself. At the present day it is by virtue of truth alone that a Church is called the Church, and it is what marks off one Church from another. Let anyone ask himself whether truth is anything unless it has life in view. What are religious teachings without that end in view? What for example are the Ten Commandments if separated from a life led according to them? For if someone knows them and the full extent of their meaning and yet leads a life contrary to them, what use are they? Surely none at all; indeed do they not serve to condemn some people? The same is so with other religious teachings that are derived from the Word. These too, being spiritual laws, are commandments for leading a Christian life; they likewise have no use at all unless they are made a person’s guide to life. Let anyone weigh up what resides with himself and discover whether he has anything there which really is anything other than what enters into the life he leads, or whether life which really is his life resides anywhere else in a person than in his will.
[3] This is the reason why the Lord has declared in the Old Testament and confirmed in the New that all the Law and all the Prophets are founded on love to God and love towards the neighbour, thus on life. They are not founded on faith apart from life, nor thus in any way at all on faith alone, nor consequently on confidence; for without charity towards the neighbour such confidence is impossible. If it seems to exist with the wicked at times when their lives are in danger or death is at hand it is a spurious or false confidence; for among such people in the next life not a trace of this confidence can be seen, however ardently they may have appeared when near to death to profess that they possessed it. But faith, no matter whether you call it confidence or else trust, does nothing for the wicked, as the Lord Himself teaches in John,
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.
[4] Those born of blood’ stands for those who do violence to charity, 374, 1005, also those who render truth profane, 4735. ‘Those born of the will of the flesh’ stands for those governed by evils that spring from self-love and love of the world, 3813. ‘Those born of the will of man’ stands for those governed by utterly false notions; for ‘man’ (vir) means truth and in the contrary sense falsity. ‘Those born of God’ stands for those who have been regenerated by the Lord and are consequently governed by good. The latter are the ones who receive the Lord; they are the ones who believe in His name; and they, not the former, are the ones to whom He gives power to be sons of God. From all this it is quite evident what contribution faith alone makes to salvation.
[5] To take the matter further, if a person is to undergo regeneration and become a Church he must be led by means of truth into good, which happens when truth becomes truth existing in will and action. This truth is good and is called the good of truth. It constantly brings forth new truths, since then for the first time it is fruitful. The truth that is brought forth or made fruitful from it is what is called internal truth; and the good from which it springs is called internal good. For nothing becomes internal until it has been implanted in the will, the will being the inmost part of a person. As long as good and truth remain outside the will and solely in the understanding they are outside the person; for the understanding is outside, the will inside.
* lit. bloods
[2] So far as a person’s regeneration is concerned, in the first state, when he is being brought by means of truth into good, truth is plainly visible because it exists in the light of the world and is not far removed from the ideas formed by the bodily senses. This is not the case with good, for good exists in the light of heaven, far from ideas formed by the bodily senses since it resides inwardly in the person’s spirit. Consequently the truth of faith is clearly visible but good is not, even though good is constantly present, both flowing into truths and bringing them to life. If that were not so the person could not be regenerated. But once the state is completed, good reveals itself, doing so through love towards the neighbour, and through affection for truth as a guide to life. These things also what are represented by Joseph’s being taken away from and not seen by his father, and after that revealing himself to his father. This is how an apparent departure of internal good, meant by ‘one went out from me’, is to be understood.
[2] The good which constantly comes from the Lord to a person is destroyed by nothing other than evils and derivative falsities, and by falsities and consequent evils. For as soon as that constantly inflowing good, coming by way of the internal man, reaches the external or natural man it encounters evil and falsity, which – acting like wild animals – employ various methods to tear apart and annihilate that good. For that reason the inflow of good by way of the internal man is blocked and halted, and the interior mind through which the inflow comes is consequently closed. Only as much of what is spiritual is allowed through as will enable the natural man to reason and speak, though he does so in terms that are solely earthly, bodily, and worldly, either in opposition to what is good and true, or else in keeping with such but in a false or deceitful way.
[3] It is a universal law that an inflow adjusts itself to the outflow, and if the outflow is blocked, so is the inflow. Through the internal man there is an inflow of good and truth from the Lord, and through the external there should be an outflow, an outflow into life, that is, in the exercise of charity. As long as that outflow is taking place the inflow from heaven, that is, from the Lord by way of heaven, is continuous. If however no outflow takes place but something stands in the way in the external or natural man, namely evil and falsity which tear the inflowing good to pieces and annihilate it, it follows from the universal law mentioned above that the inflow adjusts itself to the outflow. All this being so, the inflow of good holds itself back and accordingly closes the internal through which the inflow comes; and that closing of it leads to stupidity in spiritual matters, which is so great that the person who is like this neither knows nor wishes to know anything at all about eternal life. At length he becomes so senseless that he raises falsity as an obstacle to truth, calling falsities truths and truths falsities, and raises evil as an obstacle to good, regarding evils as forms of good and forms of good as evils. In this way he tears good completely to pieces.
[4] The word ‘torn’ occurs in various places in the Word, the proper meaning of which is falsities that arise from evils, while that which is destroyed by evils is called ‘a carcass’. When however the expression ‘torn’ is used by itself, both ideas are meant since the one includes the meaning carried by the other. It is different when the one is referred to together with the other, because in that case a distinction is being made. Since what had been torn meant in the spiritual sense what had been destroyed by falsities arising from evils, people were forbidden in the representative Church to eat anything torn. They would never have been forbidden to eat it if that spiritual evil had not been meant in heaven. Apart from this, what evil could have lain in eating flesh torn by a wild animal?
[5] Regarding their not eating anything torn the following is stated in Moses,
The fat of a carcass and the fat of that which has been torn may be put to any use, provided that you do not eat it at all. Lev. 7:24.
In the same author,
He shall not eat a carcass or that which has been torn, to be defiled by it. I am Jehovah. Lev. 12:8.
In the same author,
You shall be men who are sanctified to Me; therefore you shall not eat flesh torn in the field, you shall throw it to the dogs. Exod. 21:31.
In Ezekiel,
Ah Lord Jehovih! The prophet says, Behold, my soul has not been polluted, and from my youth even till now I have not eaten any carcass or that which has been torn, so that abominable flesh has not come into my mouth. Ezek. 4:14.
From these quotations it is evident that it was an abomination to eat what had been torn, not because it had been torn but because a tearing to pieces of good by falsities arising from evils was meant, ‘a carcass’ on the other hand being the death of good caused by evils.
[6] A tearing to pieces of good by falsities and evils is also meant in the internal sense of the following places in David,
The wicked is like a lion, he desires to tear, and like a young lion who sits in hiding-places. Ps. 17:12.
Elsewhere,
They opened their mouth against me – a lion tearing and roaring. Ps. 22:13.
And in yet another place,
Lest like a lion they seize my soul, tearing it to pieces and there is none to deliver. Ps. 7:1.
‘A lion’ stands for those who lay waste the Church. Above, where Joseph was the subject – at the point where he was sold by his brothers, and his tunic, which had been dipped in blood, was sent to his father – his father too said at that time,
My son’s tunic! An evil wild animal has devoured him; Joseph has been torn to pieces. Gen. 37:33.
‘His having been torn to pieces’ means being scattered by falsities arising from evils, see 4777.
[2] But at the present day those two mental powers have become completely set apart from each other, as may be recognized from the fact that a person can understand something as being true and yet be unable to will it. For a person can see in his understanding that all the Ten Commandments are truths and to some extent that the contents of religious teachings drawn from the Word are truths; indeed he can also confirm that they are truths by the use of his understanding and in addition through the preaching he hears. yet the intentions of his will are at variance with those truths, and so as a consequence are his actions. From this it is evident that those two mental powers present in a person have become set apart from each other. Yet they ought not to be set apart, as may be recognized from the consideration that should they be set apart when he enters the next life* the truth in his understanding will raise him up towards heaven, while the evil intentions in his will will draw him down towards hell, thus leaving him suspended between the two. Even so, the intentions in his will, which constitute his actual life, will carry him downwards, thus taking him inevitably into hell. Therefore to prevent this from happening, those two mental powers have to be joined together. This is effected by the Lord through regeneration – through the implantation of the truth of faith within the good of charity. For in this way a person is provided through the truth of faith with a new understanding, and through the good of charity with a new will; and this gives him two mental Powers which make one complete mind.
* The words should they be set apart when he enters the next life represent what appears in Sw.’s rough draft but is omitted from the printed edition.
‘For your servant became surety for the boy to my father, saying’ means an attachment to itself. ‘If I do not bring him back to you’ means unless it is joined to spiritual good. ‘I shall be sinning against my father all my days’ means a turning away, as a result of which the good of the Church
ceases to exist. ‘And now, I beg you, let your servant stay instead of the boy, a slave to my lord’ means submission. ‘And let the boy go up with his brothers’ means in order that interior truth may be joined to spiritual good. ‘For how am I to go up to my father, and the boy is not with me?’ means that spiritual good from the natural would be without interior truth. ‘Perhaps I shall see the evil which will come upon my father’ means a perception that it will perish.
THE SPIRITS AND ANGELS PRESENT WITH A PERSON
Considered generally the inflow from the spiritual world into a person is as follows: There is nothing that a person thinks or wills that can originate within himself. Rather, everything flows into him; goodness and truth flow in from the Lord by way of heaven, thus through the angels present with the person, evil and falsity from hell, thus through the evil spirits present with him. And what flows in enters his thought and will. I realize that this will appear to be utter nonsense because it is contrary to the appearance; but actual experience will settle the truth of the matter.
[2] The Lord could by means of angels use almighty force to lead a person to have good ends in view; but that would be to take the person’s life away from him, since his life consists of loves entirely contrary to those ends. It is therefore an inviolable law of God that a person should be left in freedom, and that goodness and truth, or charity and faith, should be implanted when he is in freedom, and by no means under compulsion. For what is received in a state of compulsion does not remain but disperses. Compelling a person to do something is not the same as instilling it into his will, for under compulsion the person must do someone else’s will; when therefore his own will, that is, his own freedom, is restored to him, whatever was instilled under compulsion is rooted out. For this reason the Lord governs people by means of their freedom and restrains them as far as possible from the freedom of thinking and willing what is evil. For unless restrained by the Lord they would be constantly hurling themselves into the deepest hell. It has just been stated that the Lord could by means of angels use almighty force to lead a person to have good ends in view; for even if a person is surrounded by tens of thousands of evil spirits, they can be driven away in an instant, and it takes only one angel to do it. But then the person would go through such torment and hell that he could not possibly stand it, for his life would be wrenched from him. For a person’s life consists of evil desires and false notions opposed to goodness and truth. Unless evil spirits were used to sustain and thereby correct that life, or at least to guide it, he could not survive one minute. For nothing else takes hold of him but love of self and of gain, and of reputation for selfish and gainful reasons, thus of whatever is contrary to order. So if he were not brought gently and gradually back to a state of order by having his freedom guided he would perish instantly.
45
GENESIS 45
1 And Joseph could not contain himself before all those standing with him; and he cried out, Make every man go out from me. And no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
2 And he gave forth his voice in weeping; and the Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard.
3 And Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph. Is my father still alive? And his brothers could not answer him, for they were filled with dismay at his presence.
4 And Joseph said to his brothers, Draw near to me, I beg you. And they drew near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt
5 And now, do not be grieved, and do not have any anger in your eyes, that you sold me here; for God sent me before you for the bestowal of life.
6 For this [is the situation] – there have been two years of famine in the midst of the land, and there are still five years, in which there will be no ploughing and harvest.
7 And God sent me before you to establish for you a remnant on the earth, and for the bestowal of life on you for a great escape.
8 And now, you did not send me here, but God; and He has established me as father to Pharaoh, and as lord for all his house; and I have dominion in all the land of Egypt.
9 Make haste and go up to my father, and say to him, Thus said your son Joseph: God has established me as lord for all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay.
10 And you shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your sons, and the sons of your sons, and your flocks, and your herds, and everything that belongs to you.
11 And I will sustain you there, for there are still five years of famine, lest perhaps you are wiped out, you and your household, and all that belongs to you.
12 And behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that with my mouth I am speaking to you.
13 And you must tell my father about all my glory in Egypt, and all that you see; and you must make haste, and cause my father to come down here.
14 And he fell on the neck* of Benjamin his brother, and wept; and Benjamin wept on his neck.*
15 And he kissed all his brothers, and wept on them; and after that his brothers talked to him.
16 And a voice was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, Joseph’s brothers have come. And it was good in Pharaoh’s eyes, and in the eyes of his servants.
17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Say to your brothers, Do this: Load your animals, and go, get you to the land of Canaan.
18 And take your father and your households, and come to me; and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.
19 And now carry out this command: Take for yourselves from the land of Egypt carts for your young children and your wives, and bring your father, and come.
20 And do not let your eye be sparing over your household utensils, for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.
21 And the sons of Israel did so, and Joseph gave them carts, according to Pharaoh’s command;** and he gave them provision for the way.
22 And to them all he gave each one changes of garments; and to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of garments.
23 And to his father he sent as follows: Ten asses carrying some of the good of Egypt, and ten she-asses carrying grain and bread, and food for his father for the way.
24 And he sent his brothers away, and they went; and he said to them, Do not quarrel on the way.
25 And they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan, to Jacob their father.
26 And they told him, saying, Joseph is still alive, and he has dominion in all the land of Egypt. And his heart failed, for he did not believe them.
27 And they spoke to him all Joseph’s words which he had spoken to them; and he saw the carts which Joseph had sent to carry him, and the spirit of Jacob their father revived.
28 And Israel said, Enough,*** Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.
* lit. necks
** lit. mouth
*** lit. much
The previous chapter dealt with the internal man, which is ‘Joseph’ – with the initial steps taken by the internal man to become joined to the external natural man, which is ‘Jacob’s ten sons’, through the intermediary, which is ‘Benjamin’. The present chapter too deals with the internal man – with the actual joining of it to the external natural man. But since the two are not joined together except through spiritual good from the natural, which is ‘Israel’, the internal man prepares to link
this good to itself first.
Verses 1, 2 And Joseph could not contain himself before all those standing with him; and he cried out, Make every man go out from me. And no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he gave forth his voice in weeping; and the Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard.
‘And Joseph could not contain himself before all those standing with him’ means that now everything had been prepared by the internal celestial for the joining together. ‘And he cried out’ means near to effect. ‘Make every man go out from me’ means that incompatible and contradictory factual knowledge was to be cast away from the centre. ‘And no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers means that no such factual knowledge was present when the internal celestial joined itself through the intermediary to the truths in the natural. ‘And he gave forth his voice in weeping’ means mercy and joy. ‘And the Egyptians heard’ means right through to last and lowest [mental images]. ‘And the house of Pharaoh heard’ means throughout the whole natural.
‘And Joseph said to his brothers’ means that the internal celestial imparted a power of perception to the truths in the natural. ‘I am Joseph’ means a revelation. ‘Is my father still alive?’ means the presence of spiritual good from the natural. ‘And his brothers could not answer him’ means that the truths in the natural were not yet in a state of being able to talk. ‘For they were filled with dismay at his presence’ means turmoil among them. ‘And Joseph said to his brothers’ means the perception by a new natural. ‘Draw near to me, I beg you’ means a more internal communication. ‘And they drew near’ means the effect. ‘And he said, I am Joseph your brother’ means a revelation made by means of influx. ‘Whom you sold into Egypt’ means the internal which they had alienated. ‘And now, do not be grieved’ means anxiety in the heart or will. ‘And do not have any anger in your eyes’ means sadness in the spirit or understanding. ‘That you sold me here’ means that they had alienated [it by banishing it] to the lowest parts. ‘For God sent me before you for the bestowal of life’ means the spiritual life they received as ordained by Providence.
[2] The reason why ‘the sons of Jacob’ here represent a new natural is that the internal sense at this point describes the accomplishment of the joining together which in general terms is effected as the overall explanation [given in 5867] indicates, which is this: When the joining together of the internal and the external, or of good and truth, takes place, there is first imparted a power of perception that the person is moved by an affection for truth and thus for good; at that time he goes through turmoil, after which a more internal communication is established through influx, and so on. From all this it is evident that the natural, which ‘the sons of Jacob’ represent here, is a new natural, for its previous state has undergone change, 5881.
[2] This is also what actually happens when a person dies. The internal is separated from the external, and the internal, which is alive after that separation, is what is then called a spirit. Yet it is the same person that lived in the body; and to himself, and to others in the next life, he looks like a person in the world, fully formed from head to toe. He is also equipped with the same powers that a person in the world has – of sensation when he is touched, of smelling, seeing, hearing, speaking, and thinking. He is equipped with them so completely that when he does not stop to reflect on the fact that he is in the next life, he imagines he is in his body in the world, as I have frequently heard spirits say. From all this one may see what a person’s internal and external are. If some idea is gained of them from what has been said, a somewhat clearer picture will emerge of what has been stated about the internal man and the external man so often in explanations, also of what the phrase ‘a more internal communication’ describes, meant here by ‘draw near to me, I beg you’.
[2] The meaning of ‘selling’ as alienating is also evident from the following places in the Word: In Isaiah,
Thus said Jehovah, Where is your mother’s bill of divorce, whom I have put away? Or who of My usurers is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, because of your sins you have been sold, and because of your transgressions your mother has been put away. Isa. 50:1.
‘Mother’ stands for the Church, ‘selling’ for alienating. In Ezekiel,
The time has come, the day has arrived. Do not let the buyer rejoice, and do not let the seller mourn, because wrath is on the whole multitude of it. For the seller will not return to the thing that has been sold, though his life may still be among the living ones. Ezek. 7:12, 13.
This refers to the land of Israel, which is the spiritual Church. ‘The seller stands for one who has alienated truths and subtly introduced falsities.
[3] In Joel,
You have sold the sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem to the sons of the Greeks, so that you might remove them far away from their borders. Behold, I will raise them up out of the place to which you have sold them. And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the sons of Judah, who will sell them to the Sabeans,* a people far off. Joel 3:6-8.
In this reference to Tyre and Sidon ‘selling’ again stands for alienating. In Moses,
Their rock sold them, and Jehovah shut them up. Deut. 32:30.
‘Selling’ plainly stands for alienating. In the highest sense ‘rock’ is the Lord as regards truth, and in the representative sense faith, while ‘Jehovah’ is the Lord as regards good.
[4] Since ‘buying’ in the spiritual sense is acquiring to oneself and ‘selling’ is alienating, the Lord compares the kingdom of heaven to one selling and buying, in Matthew,
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man (homo) finds and hides, and in his joy he goes and sells whatever he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a trader seeking fine pearls, who, when he has found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Matt. 13:44-46.
‘The kingdom of heaven’ stands for the good and truth present with a person, and so for heaven present with him. ‘Field’ stands for good and ‘pearl’ for truth, while ‘buying’ stands for acquiring these and making them one’s own. ‘Selling all that one has’ stands for alienating that which previously was properly one’s own, thus alienating evil desires and false ideas, for these are properly one’s own.
[5] In Luke,
Jesus said to the young ruler, You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, then you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me. Luke 18:22.
In the internal sense these words mean that everything completely a person’s own, which consists of nothing but evil desires and false ideas, ought to be alienated from him, for such desires and ideas are meant by ‘all that he has’, and then he will receive from the Lord good desires and true ideas, which are ‘treasure in heaven’.
[6] This is similar to what is said elsewhere in the same gospel,
Sell your resources and give alms; make for yourselves money bags that do not grow old, a treasure that does not fail in heaven. Luke 12:33.
Anyone can see that this verse holds a meaning other than the literal one. For at the present day ‘selling one’s resources’ would be making oneself a beggar, and depriving oneself of any further opportunity to exercise charity, quite apart from the fact that one would inevitably regard such a course of action as being meritorious. Also it is an invariable truth that there are rich people in heaven as well as poor ones. The meaning other than the literal one contained in this verse is what was stated just above.
[7] Since ‘selling’ meant alienating what belonged to the Church the following law was therefore laid down,
If a man was not pleased with a wife he had taken from among women captives, she was to be set apart from him. She should certainly not however be sold for silver; no gain was to be made out of her, because he had caused her distress. Deut. 21:14.
‘A wife taken from among women captives’ stands for truth that is foreign, not from a genuine stock, yet can be linked in some way to the good of the Church present in a person. If however that truth proves to, be in many respects incompatible it can be separated; but it cannot be alienated since it has been joined in some way to that good. This is the spiritual meaning of that law.
[8] There was also this law,
If there is found a man who has stolen a soul from his brothers, from the children of Israel, and has made profit on him, and has sold him, that thief shall be killed, so that you remove evil from the midst of you. Deut. 24:7.
‘Those who steal the children of Israel’ stands for those who acquire the truths of the Church, not with the intention of living according to them and thus teaching them from their hearts, but with the intention of using those truths for personal profit. The damnation of such a person is meant by ‘he shall be killed’.
* lit. the Sebaites
When I say to the wicked, You will surely die, and you do not warn him or speak to dissuade the wicked from his evil way so that life may be bestowed on him. Ezek. 3:18.
In the same prophet,
You have desecrated Me among My people for handfuls of barley and for crusts of bread, to kill souls that ought not to die and to bestow life on souls that ought not to live. You strengthen the hands of the wicked so that he does not turn back from his evil way for life to be bestowed on him. Ezek. 13:19, 22.
In Hosea,
Jehovah will bestow life on us after two days, and on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live before Him. Hosea 6:1.
In David,
Unless I believed I would see goodness in the land of life. Ps. 27:13.
In John,
To him who conquers I will grant to eat from the tree of life which is in the middle of the paradise of God. Rev. 2:7.
In John the Evangelist,
As the Father raises up the dead and bestows life [on them], so also the Son bestows life on whom He will. John 5:21.
In the same gospel,
It is the Spirit who bestows life; the flesh does not profit anything. The words which I speak, they are spirit and they are life. John 6:63.
In these places ‘bestowing life’ and ‘life’ plainly stand for spiritual life, which is life in heaven, a life which is also simply called ‘life’, as in Matthew,
Narrow and strait is the road that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Matt. 7:14.
And in other places ‘entering into life’ stands for entering heaven, Matt. 18:8, 9; 19:17; Mark 9:43, 45, 47; John 5:24.
‘For this’ means that this is the situation ‘There have been two years of famine in the midst of the land’ means a state when there is a lack of good in the natural mind. ‘And there are still five years’ means the duration of that state until remnants shine forth. ‘In which there will be no ploughing and harvest’ means that in the meanwhile no good will be seen nor any truth derived from good. ‘And God sent me before you’ means as ordained by Divine Providence. ‘To establish for you a remnant on the earth’ means the middle and inmost part of the Church. ‘And for the bestowal of life on you’ means the spiritual life from there that is bestowed on the truths in the natural. ‘For a great escape’ means deliverance from damnation. ‘And now, you did not send me here’ means that they had not handed him over to factual knowledge in the natural. ‘But God’ means that the Divine had done so. ‘And He has established me as father to Pharaoh’ means that now the natural was dependent on him ‘And as lord for all his house’ means that everything in the natural was dependent on him. ‘And I have dominion in all the land of Egypt’ means that he sets in order the factual knowledge there.
[2] The implications of this are as follows: Truths must be present in the natural mind if good is to do its work, and those truths must be brought into it through an affection belonging to genuine love. Everything without exception in a person’s memory has been brought into it through some love, and having become joined to that love remains in the memory. This also applies to the truths of faith; if they have been brought in through a love of truth, those truths become joined to and remain there with that love. Once they have become joined to it the following is then the situation: If the affection is evoked again, the truths that have been joined to it reappear at the same time; and if the truths are evoked again, the affection to which they have been joined reappears at the same time. This being so, when a person is being regenerated – which happens in adult life because he is unable before this to think for himself about the truths of faith – he is governed by angels sent by the Lord. They govern him by maintaining in him the truths which he has become convinced are truths, and by maintaining in him through those truths the affection to which they have been joined. And because that affection – an affection for truth – has its origin in good, he is then led step by step towards good.
[3] A considerable amount of experience has proved the truth of this to me. For I have noticed that when evil spirits have thrust evils and falsities at me, the angels from the Lord present at the time have maintained in me the truths implanted in me previously and have thereby withheld me from those evils and falsities. From this it has also been evident that the truths of faith which, through an affection for truth, have become rooted in me serve as a level into which angels can operate, so that people who do not have this level laid down in them cannot be led by angels but allow themselves to be led by hell. For without it the operation of the angels cannot become established anywhere and so passes away from them. That level for angels to operate into cannot however be acquired unless the truths of faith have been put into service and thus have been implanted in the person’s will and through this in his life. It is also worth mentioning that when the operation of the angels into the truths of faith present with a person takes place, it is rarely plain to see, that is to say, so plain that thought about the truth operated into is aroused. Rather, a general notion of things in keeping with that truth, and the affection that goes with it, is produced. For that operation by the angels is effected by means of an imperceptible inflowing which, when a visual presentation of it is made, looks like an inflowing beam of light. That light is made up of countless truths present within good which focus on one particular truth known by a person and which, while they sustain the truth in him, also sustain the love that belongs to that truth. This is the way the angels raise a person’s mind above falsities and protect it from evils. Yet the person is totally unaware of any of this.
* a state is probably intended here, cp 5891
[2] Because ‘ploughing’ had this meaning people in the representative Church were forbidden ‘to plough with an ox and an ass together’, Deut. 22:10. They would never have been forbidden to do this if there had not been some cause of a more internal nature, thus a cause existing in the spiritual world. Without it what would have been wrong with the two ploughing together? And what value would such a law have in the Word? That cause of a more internal nature, a cause existing in the spiritual world, is that ‘ploughing with an ox’ means good within the natural, and ‘ploughing with an ass’ means the truth there, ‘an ass’ being truth contained in factual knowledge, thus truth within the natural, see 5492, 5741. The more internal or spiritual cause behind the existence of this prohibition was that the angels could not have a separate idea of good and truth. The two must be joined together and make one. For this reason the angels were unwilling to see any kind of ploughing done by an ox and an ass. Celestial angels refuse even to think about truth separate from good, for all truth with them exists within good, so that also for them truth is good. It was for the same reason that people were also forbidden to wear a garment made from a mixture of wool and linen, Deut. 22:11; for ‘wool’ meant good, and ‘linen’ truth.
[3] The fact that ‘ploughing’, also ‘harrowing’, ‘sowing’, and ‘reaping’, mean the kinds of activities that are connected with good and the truth that goes with it is clear in Hosea,
I will make Ephraim ride, Judah will plough, Jacob will harrow for him. Sow for yourselves in keeping with righteousness, reap in keeping with godliness, break up ‘your fallow ground; and it is time to seek Jehovah, until He comes and teaches righteousness. Hosea 10:11, 12.
‘Riding’ is used in reference to Ephraim because ‘riding’ means having the use of an understanding, ‘Ephraim’ being the Church’s gift of understanding. But ‘ploughing’ is used in reference to Judah because ‘Judah’ is the good which exists in the Church.
[4] In Amos,
Will horses run upon the rock? Will one plough with oxen? in that you have turned judgement into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood. Amos 6:11, 12.
‘Will horses run upon the rock?’ stands for Will there be any understanding of the truth of faith? For ‘rock’ in the spiritual sense is faith, Preface to Genesis 22, while ‘horses’ means the powers of understanding, 2761, 2762, 3217, 5321. ‘Will one plough with oxen?’ stands for Will there be any doing of good? For ‘oxen’ means good in the natural, see 2180, 2566, 2781. The fact that no doing of it was possible is meant by the words that follow – ‘because you have turned judgement into poison’.
[5] In Luke,
Jesus said, No one putting his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. Luke 9:62.
These words have the same meaning as those spoken by the Lord in Matthew,
Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house; and let him who is in the field not turn back to take his clothes. Matt. 24:17, 18.
The meaning of these words is that a person governed by good should not depart from it and resort to matters of doctrine concerning faith; see 3652, where those words spoken by the Lord have been explained. Thus ‘one who puts his hand to the plough’ is a person governed by good; but ‘looking back’ means someone who then looks to matters of doctrine concerning faith and in so doing forsakes good. This explains why Elijah was displeased with Elisha who, ploughing in the field when he received his call, asked whether he might first kiss his father and mother; for Elijah said,
Go away; go back again; for what have I done to you? 1 Kings 19:19-21.
In the contrary sense ‘ploughing’ means evil that destroys good, and so means a laying waste, as in Jeremiah,
Zion will be ploughed [like] a field, and Jerusalem will be heaps, and the mountain of the house [will be turned] into the heights of the forest. Jer. 26:18; Micah 3:12.
[2] Reference is made in various places in the Word to ‘the remnant’, and also to ‘the ones who are left’; but so far these two expressions have been taken in a purely literal way to mean a remnant or those that are left of a people or nation. The fact that forms of good and truth stored away by the Lord in the interior man are meant in the spiritual sense has remained totally unknown till now. Examples of this meaning occur in the following places: In Isaiah,
On that day the branch of Jehovah will be honour and glory, and the fruit of the land will be magnificence and an adornment for the escape of Israel. And it will happen, that he who remains in Zion, and he who is left in Jerusalem, will be called holy, everyone who has been written for life in Jerusalem. Isa. 4:2, 3.
Those who remained in Zion and those who were left in Jerusalem were never made holy, nor were they ‘written for life’ any more than anyone else. Plainly therefore ‘those who remained’ and ‘those who were left’ mean things that are holy and that have been ‘written for life’; and these things are forms of good joined to truths that have been stored away by the Lord in the interior man.
[3] In the same prophet,
On that day, the remnant of Israel and those of the house of Jacob that escaped will no more lean on him that smote them; but they will lean on Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the God of power. Isa. 10:20-22.
‘The remnant’ is not used to mean the remnant of any people or nation, as may be recognized from the fact that in the Word, especially the prophetical part, ‘Israel’ has not been used to mean Israel, or ‘Jacob’ to mean Jacob; both are used to mean the Church and what constitutes the Church. This being so, ‘the remnant’ is not used to mean a remnant of Israel and Jacob but the truths and forms of good that constitute the Church. When the expressions ‘remnant of the people’ and ‘those left of the nation’ are used they do not mean a remnant of any people or those that are left of any nation, for ‘people’ in the internal sense means truths, 1259, 1260, 3295, 3581, and ‘nation’ forms of good, 1259, 1260, 1416. The reason why this has remained unknown and seems strange – that ‘a remnant’ means truths and forms of good – is that the literal sense, especially where it takes the form of history, draws the mind away and powerfully withholds it from contemplating such ideas.
[4] In the same prophet,
Then there will be a highway for the remnant of the people, which will be left from Asshur, as there was for Israel through the sea when they came up out of the land of Egypt.
In a similar way ‘those left from Asshur’ are people who have not been corrupted by means of perverted reasonings; for ‘Asshur’ means such reasonings, see 1186. In the same prophet,
On that day Jehovah Zebaoth will be a crown of adornment and a tiara of beauty for the remnant of His people. Isa. 18:5.
In the same prophet,
Moreover, those that are left of the house of Judah and who escape will take root downwards and bear fruit upwards. For out of Jerusalem will go a remnant, and those who escape from Mount Zion. Isa. 37:31, 32.
In the same prophet,
He will eat butter and honey, everyone that is left in the midst of the land. Isa. 7:22.
In Jeremiah,
I will gather the remnant of My flock from all lands where I have scattered them, and I will bring them back to their fold to give birth and to multiply. Jer. 23:3.
In the same prophet,
The people which were left from the sword found grace in the wilderness, when He went to give rest to him, to Israel. Jer. 31:2.
‘The people which were left from the sword in the wilderness’ were those who were called the young children – those who were led into the land of Canaan after all the rest had died. These ‘young children’ were those who were left’, by whom were meant forms of good embodying innocence; and the leading of those people into Canaan represented incorporation into the Lord’s kingdom.
[5] In Ezekiel,
I will cause some to be left, in that you will have some who will have escaped the sword among the nations when you are dispersed in the earth Then those of that escape will remember Me among the nations where they will be captives. Ezek. 6:8, 9.
The reason why the forms of good and the truths stored away by the Lord in a person interiorly were represented by the ones who were left or were a remnant among the nations where they were dispersed and made captives is that a person is constantly among evils and falsities, held in, captivity by them; for evils and falsities are what is meant by ‘the nations’. When separated from the internal man the external man is altogether among them, and unless the Lord gathered forms of good and truth together, which are instilled into a person at various stages during the course of his life, he could not possibly be saved. Without remnants salvation comes to none.
[6] In Joel,
It will happen, that everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will escape. For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be an escape, as Jehovah has said, and among those that are left whom Jehovah is calling. Joel 1:32.
In Micah,
The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest. Micah 5:8.
In Zephaniah,
The remnant of Israel will not do iniquity or speak any lie; nor will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth. They will feed and rest, with none making them afraid. Zeph. 3:13.
These words describe the character of the remnant, a character which the people who were called Israel never possessed, as is well known. From this also it is evident that ‘the remnant’ has some other meaning, and this, it is plain, is forms of good and truth since these are what ‘do not do iniquity, do not speak any lie, and no deceitful tongue is found in their mouth’.
[7] In Zechariah,
The streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. This will be a marvel in the eyes of the remnant of My people. Now I will not be as in former days to the remnant of this people. For this will be the seed of peace; the vine will give its fruit, and the land will give its increase, and the heavens will give their dew. I will make the remnant of this people the heirs of all those things. Zech. 8:5, 6, 11, 12.
‘The remnant’ here is called ‘the seed of peace’ and they are ones in possession of truths derived from good, the fruitfulness of which truths is described by the statement that the vine will give its fruit, the land its increase, and the heavens their dew.
[8] The remnants that are meant in the spiritual sense become so sealed off through evil living and false convictions that they cease to be seen any longer. And they are destroyed when from affection truth has first been accepted and then from affection afterwards denied; for when this
happens truth and falsity become mixed together, and this is called profanation. Such remnants are referred to in the Word in the following places: In Isaiah,
He will remove man (homo); and the wilderness will be multiplied in the midst of the land. Scarcely any longer will there be a tenth part in it; it will be however an uprooting. Isa. 6:12, 13.
‘Ten’ means remnants, see 576, 1906, 2284. In the same prophet,
I will kill your root with famine, and it will kill the ones of you who are left. Isa. 14:30.
‘This refers to the Philistines, meaning those who have a knowledge of cognitions but do not live in accordance with them, 1197, 1198, 3412, 3413. The ones who are left are called a ‘root’ because forms of good and truth which make man truly human spring from remnants as their root. Therefore ‘He will remove man’, as stated in the quotation from Isaiah immediately above, means a destroying of remnants.
[9] In Jeremiah,
The young men will die by the sword; their sons and their daughters will die by famine, and they will not have any remnant. Jer. 11:22, 23.
This has to do with the men of Anathoth. In the same prophet,
I will take the remnant of Judah, who have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt, to sojourn there, so that all are consumed; and none will escape, nor will any of the remnant of Judah be left, who have gone to dwell in the land of Egypt. Jer. 44:12, 14, 28.
The reason why people from Judah could not sojourn in Egypt or reside there, and why they were so strictly forbidden to do so, was that the tribe of Judah represented the Lord’s celestial Church, and celestial people have no desire at all to know facts meant by ‘Egypt’. For everything they know grows out of celestial good present with them and that good would perish if they were to resort to factual knowledge. Indeed since celestial good is present with members of the Lord’s celestial kingdom, and celestial truth is charity whereas spiritual truth is faith, they refuse even to speak of faith, for fear that they may come down from good and look back, see, 202, 337, 2715, 3246, 4448. These matters are also what is meant by the prohibition,
He who is on the housetop must not go down to take anything out of his house, and he who is in the field must not turn back to take his clothes. Matt. 14:17, 18.
See just above in 5895. Those same matters are likewise meant by the words in Luke 17:32, ‘Remember Lot’s wife’ – she looked back and became a pillar of salt. About looking and turning back, see 2454, 3652.
[10] The utter destruction of nations with not a single person left represented the condition among them when iniquity was so complete that no goodness or truth at all, nor thus any remnant, was surviving, as in Moses,
They struck down Og the king of Bashan, and all his sons, and all his people, until they did not leave him any remainder. Num. 21:35; Deut. 3:3.
[11] In the same author,
They took all Sihon’s cities, and utterly destroyed every inhabited city, and the women, and the young children; they did not leave any remainder. Deut. 2:34.
And there are other places where one reads about the utter destruction of nations.
The situation with remnants – or forms of good and truth stored away by the Lord in a person interiorly – is this: Goodness and truth are implanted in a person when he seeks them with affection and so in freedom. When this happens angels from heaven draw nearer and link themselves to that person. Their link with him is what causes the forms of good coupled with truths to come to exist in the person interiorly. But when external interests occupy the person’s attention, as when he is engaged in worldly and bodily pursuits, the angels depart; and once they have departed not a trace of those forms of good and truth is apparent. Nevertheless because such a link has been effected once, this person now has the capability of being linked to angels and so to the goodness and truth residing with them. But this linking does not take place any more often or fully than the Lord pleases, who controls the situation as is entirely best for that person’s life.
On that day the fruit of the land will be magnificence and an adornment for the escape of Israel. And it will happen, that he who remains in Zion, and he who is left in Jerusalem, will be called holy. Isa. 4:2, 3.
In the same prophet,
On that day, the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob that escaped,* will no more lean on him that smote them. Isa. 10:20-22.
In the same prophet,
Moreover, those that are left of the house of Judah and who escape** will take root downwards and bear fruit upwards. For out of Jerusalem will go a remnant, and those who escape*** from mount Zion. Isa. 37:31, 32.
In Ezekiel,
I will cause some to be left, in that you will have some who will have escaped from the sword among the nations when you are dispersed in the earth. Then those of you that escape will remember Me. Ezek. 6:8, 9.
In Joel,
It will happen, that everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will escape. For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be an escape, as Jehovah has said, and among those that are left whom Jehovah is calling. Joel 2:32.
In Jeremiah,
None will escape, nor will any of the remnant of Judah be left. Jer. 44:12, 14.
All these places show what is meant by ‘escaping’, which is this: The people to escape are those who have remnants, and ‘escaping’ means being delivered from damnation.
* lit. and the escape of the house of Jacob
** lit. the escape that is left of the house of Judah
*** lit. and the escape
‘Make haste and go up to my father’ means to spiritual good. ‘And say to him, Thus said your son Joseph’ means the perception this good had regarding the internal celestial. ‘God has established me as lord for all Egypt’ means that it sets in order every single thing in the natural. ‘Come down to me, do not delay’ means a sure joining together. ‘And you shall dwell in the land of Goshen’ means the middle of the natural. ‘And you shall be near to me’ means an everlasting joining together. ‘You and your sons, and the sons of your sons’ means spiritual good, and all derivatives from it, and further derivatives from these. ‘And your flocks, and your herds’ means natural good, interior and exterior. ‘And everything that belongs to you’ means whatever is dependent on that good. ‘And I will sustain you there’ means a constant influx of spiritual life from the internal celestial. ‘For there are still five years of famine’ means the duration of the lack of good. ‘Lest perhaps you are wiped out’ means lest it perishes. ‘You and your household, and all that belongs to you’ means spiritual good and everything belonging to it. ‘And behold, your eyes see’ means attesting as a result of perception. ‘And the eyes of my brother Benjamin’ means especially as a result of perception by the intermediary. ‘That with my mouth I am speaking to you’ means a revelation. ‘And you must tell my father about all my glory in Egypt’ means a communication of the spiritual heaven in the natural with spiritual good. ‘And all that you see’ means whatever is recognized and perceived there. ‘And you must make haste, and cause my father to come down here’ means a closer joining together.
[2] The fact that a person’s soul, that is, his internal man, is sustained by spiritual food and drink, which are goodness and truth, is clear from the Lord’s words in Moses,
Man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every utterance of the mouth of Jehovah. Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4.
‘Utterance of the mouth of Jehovah’ is goodness and truth that go forth from Him. In John,
Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. John 6:27.
In the same gospel,
The disciples asked Jesus, saying, Master, eat. He said to them, I have food to eat of which you do not know. John 4:31, 32.
And regarding drink, in the same gospel,
Jesus said, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow out from within him.* John 7:37, 38.
* lit. out of his abdomen
[2] With regard to ‘glory’ meaning the spiritual heaven, the situation is this: There are two kingdoms that form heaven – the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom. The celestial kingdom is the inmost or third heaven, and the spiritual kingdom is the middle or second heaven. Good as it exists among celestial angels is called celestial good, and good as it exists among spiritual angels is called spiritual good. Celestial good is the good of love to the Lord, while spiritual good is the good of love towards the neighbour. As for what joins the two kingdoms together, the good of charity towards the neighbour does so. For with members of the celestial kingdom love to the Lord is what is internal and charity towards the neighbour what is external; but with members of the spiritual kingdom charity towards the neighbour is what is internal and faith deriving from it what is external. From this one may see that what joins the two kingdoms is charity towards the neighbour; for charity is that in which the celestial kingdom ends and the spiritual kingdom begins. What comes last in the one comes first in the other, and is thus where they receive each other.
[3] Now let what ‘glory’ is be stated. In the highest sense ‘glory’ is the Lord in respect to Divine Truth; thus it is Divine Truth that goes forth from the Lord. But in the representative sense ‘glory’ is the good of love towards the neighbour or charity, which is the external good of the Lord’s celestial kingdom and the internal good of His spiritual kingdom; for in the genuine sense this good is Divine Truth in heaven. Now since reference is made at this point in the story to Israel, who is spiritual good or charity which makes the spiritual kingdom in heaven and the spiritual Church on earth, Joseph’s ‘glory’ here which they were to tell Israel about means the spiritual heaven. The spiritual heaven is called ‘glory’ because things there are seen in light, brilliance, and radiance.
[4] Glory is attributed to Divine Truth that comes forth from the Lord’s Divine Human, and it is ascribed to the Lord as King; for in the internal sense kingship means Divine Truth, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068. This is clear in John,
What is more, 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 1:14.
‘The Word’ is Divine Truth. Since it goes forth from the Lord it is the Lord Himself, and for that reason ‘glory’ is attributed to Divine Truth.
[5] In Luke, when Jesus was transfigured on the mountain,
Behold, two men talked to Him, who were Moses and Elijah, who were seen in glory. Luke 9:30, 31.
There the Lord showed Peter, James, and John what His Divine Human was like and what it looked like in Divine light. The form in which they saw Him at that time demonstrated what the Word is like in its internal sense, and so what Divine Truth in heaven is like; for the Word is Divine Truth provided for the Church’s use. This also explains why at the same time the scene presented Moses and Elijah talking to Him; for ‘Moses’ represents the Law, by which one means the books by him together with the historical ones, while ‘Elijah’ represents the Prophets or prophetical part of the Word. For more about Moses’ representation of the Law, see Preface to Genesis 18, and also 4859 (end); and for more about Elijah’s representation of the prophetical part of the Word, see the same Preface, and also 2762, 5247 (end).
[6] In Matthew,
They will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory. Matt. 24:30.
The literal sense of the Word is meant by ‘the clouds’, while the internal sense, consequently Divine Truth as this exists in heaven, is meant by ‘glory’; see Preface to Genesis 18. ‘Glory’ also means the intelligence and wisdom that flow from Divine Truth, 4809. So far as its external sense is concerned the Word exists ‘in a cloud’, for the reason that people’s minds dwell in darkness. Therefore if the Word did not dwell ‘in a cloud’ scarcely anyone would understand it, and also the sacred contents of the internal sense would be rendered profane by wicked people in the world. This is why the Lord says in Isaiah,
Jehovah will create over every habitation of Mount Zion, and over her assemblies, a cloud by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a covering. And there will be a tabernacle for shade by day. Isa. 4:5, 6.
[7] It was for the same reason that over the tabernacle a cloud was seen by day and a fire by night. The tabernacle represented the Lord’s Divine Human, consequently Divine Truth which goes forth from Him, and so the Word, which is Divine Truth for the Church, see 3210, 3439. The same is meant by the following in Moses,
The cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of Jehovah filled the dwelling-place. Exod. 40:34.
In the same author,
The glory of Jehovah appeared in the tent of meeting before all the children of Israel. Num. 14:10.
And in another place,
The cloud covered the tent, and the glory of Jehovah appeared. Num. 16:42.
[8] A cloud and glory appeared in a similar way over Mount Sinai, which are spoken of in Moses as follows,
When Moses went up into the mountain the cloud covered the mountain. And the glory of Jehovah dwelt over Mount Sinai and covered it six days. Exod. 24:15, 16.
The same representations occurred then because the Law, which is Divine Truth, was delivered from that mountain. The reason why the cloud was seen and the glory of Jehovah when Moses went up into the mountain was that in this he represented the Law, that is, the historical section of the Word. This explains why on several occasions the expression ‘Moses and the Prophets’ or else ‘the Law and the Prophets’ is used. ‘The Law’ is in this case used to mean the books by him together with all the other historical books, but not the Prophets because that part of the Word was represented by Elijah and Elisha. For as is well known, the Word has a historical section and a prophetical part, and therefore when the Word is called ‘the Law and the Prophets’, ‘the Law’ is used to mean the historical section and ‘the Prophets’ the prophetical part.
[9] Divine Truth was also represented by a brightness, like a rainbow in the cloud, that surrounded the cherubs and was up above them – in Ezekiel, where those things are described as follows,
I saw the appearance of fire, like a brightness round about, like the appearance of a rainbow which is in the cloud on a day of rain. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Jehovah. Ezek. 1:26-28.
Divine Truth is also called the glory of Jehovah, and the glory of the God of Israel in Ezekiel 8:4; 10:18, 19; 11:21, 23. It is called ‘the glory of Jehovah’ in reference to the inmost heaven, and ‘the glory of the God of Israel’ in reference to the middle or spiritual heaven. The reason why in heaven Divine Truth appears in glory is that truth itself in the spiritual heaven appears before one’s eyes as a shining cloud, which I too have been allowed to see several times, while the good held within that truth appears there as a fieriness. The cloud which is given diverse colourings by the fire presents amazing sights, which are ‘glory’ in the external sense. But the glory in the internal sense is intelligence and wisdom, which are also what those sights represent.
[10] The fact that Divine Truth, the source of all wisdom and intelligence, is ‘the glory’, as is the diversely coloured cloud appearing before one’s external sight, is also clear from the following places: In Moses,
Jehovah said, I am the Living One, and the whole earth will be filled with the glory of Jehovah. Num. 14:21.
This was said by Jehovah when the Israelite people were rejected by Him. He said that only their young children would enter the land of Canaan, at which time the whole earth would be filled with the glory of Jehovah. The meaning of this was that the glory of Jehovah would be present in the representatives of the Church existing among them, and in the Word which referred for the most part to them, and that all heaven and consequently the holy things of the Church would be filled with this glory.
[11] In Isaiah,
The seraphim kept calling out, Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah Zebaoth; the whole earth is full of His glory. Isa. 6:3.
In the same prophet,
The glory of Jehovah will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together. Isa. 40:5.
In the same prophet,
Therefore in the Urim give glory to Jehovah, in the isles of the sea to the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel. Isa. 24:15.
‘The Urim’ stands for the light that is received from Divine Truth going; forth from the Lord. ‘The isles of the sea’ stands for those who are further away from the truth, 1158.
[12] In the same prophet,
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. Isa. 35:2.
‘Lebanon’ stands for the spiritual Church, Carmel and Sharon’ for the celestial Church. ‘The glory of Jehovah’ is attributed to the latter when celestial truth, which is charity, is meant, and ‘the majesty of the God of Israel’ to the former when spiritual good, which also is charity, is meant.
[13] In the same prophet,
Arise, shine, for Your light has come, and the glory of Jehovah has risen upon You. For behold, darkness is covering the earth, and thick darkness the peoples. But Jehovah will arise upon You, and His glory will be seen over You. Isa. 60:1, 2.
This refers to the Lord, who is called the Light, as in John 1:4, 9. It also says that ‘the glory of Jehovah will arise upon Him’, meaning that Divine Truth belongs to Him. Similarly in the same prophet,
For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it; for how should it be profaned? My glory I do not give to another. Isa. 48:11.
This too refers to the Lord, ‘glory’ in the highest sense standing for the Divine Human, and so also for Divine Truth since this comes forth from it. ‘Not giving glory to another’ is imparting it solely to the Divine Human, which is one with Himself.
[14] In John,
The holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven, having the glory of God, and its light was like a most precious stone. Rev. 21:10, 11.
‘The holy city Jerusalem’ is the Lord’s spiritual kingdom in heaven and His spiritual Church on earth, to both of which glory is attributed. Its light is truth radiating from the Divine.
[15] Since Divine Truth is what kingship in the Word represents – even as the Lord in respect to His Divine Truth was represented by kings, see the places listed just above – glory was therefore ascribed to Him as King, as in David,
Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted , O ancient doors,* so that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? Jehovah strong and mighty, Jehovah mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates, lift up. O ancient doors,* that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? Jehovah Zebaoth, He is the King of glory. Ps. 24:7-10.
In Isaiah,
Jehovah Zebaoth will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before His elders, glory. Isa. 24:23.
‘Glory’ stands for Divine Truth. Jehovah is called ‘Jehovah Zebaoth’ – that is, Jehovah of Hosts or of Armies – when the subject is Divine truth; for truths are meant by ‘armies’, 3448.
[16] Also, because Divine Truth was represented by kingship, the throne on which kings sat when they made judgements was called a throne of glory, Isa. 22:27; Jer. 14:21; 17:12. And in Matthew,
The Son of Man will sit on the throne of His glory. Matt. 19:28.
In the same gospel,
When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. And the King will say to them . . . Matt. 25:31, 34, 40.
The throne was called ‘a throne of glory’ for the further reason that truth was the basis on which judgements were made. In the same gospel,
The Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father together with His angels, and at that time He will repay everyone according to his deeds. Matt. 16:27.
[17] From all this one may now see what is meant by ‘the glory’ in the Lord’s Prayer,
Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever. Matt. 6:13.
The Lord’s spiritual kingdom in heaven and His spiritual Church on earth is in addition referred to by another word for ‘glory’ (decus) in Isa. 60:7; 63:15; 64:11; Dan. 8:9-11; 11:16, 41, 45.
Joseph too therefore speaks of his glory, for Joseph himself in the highest sense represents the Lord’s Divine Spiritual or His Divine Truth, and in the internal sense His spiritual kingdom, also the good of faith, see 3969, 4669, 4723, 4727.
* lit. doors of the world
‘And he fell on the neck of Benjamin’ means an inmost joining to the intermediary. ‘And wept’ means an expression of mercy. ‘And Benjamin wept on his neck’ means an acceptance and reciprocal response. ‘And he kissed all his brothers’ means a linking together through grace. ‘And wept on them’ means an expression of affection. ‘And after that his brothers talked to him’ means a reciprocal communication because there was acceptance.
* lit. necks
[2] The expression ‘through grace’ is used, and not ‘through mercy’, because truths that are more remote and not in full agreement are not equipped with the kind of humility that enables people to plead for mercy. Indeed they are unable in their hearts even to use the word mercy, only the word grace. The reason for this is that the discordant features that cling to those truths arise from self-love, and one who loves only himself cannot at heart possibly humble himself. Rather, he exalts himself, for in every single thing he regards only himself and has little concern for anything outside himself.
‘And a voice was heard in Pharaoh’s house’ means that it filled the entire natural. ‘Saying, Joseph’s brothers have come’ means a perception that the truths of the Church within the natural were present. ‘And it was good in Pharaoh’s eyes’ means joy everywhere there. ‘And in the eyes of his servants’ means including what occupied the lowest position there. ‘And Pharaoh said to Joseph’ means a perception received by the natural from the internal celestial. ‘Say to your brothers’ means regarding the truths of the Church within the natural. ‘Do this: Load your animals’ means that they were to fill every truth with good. ‘And go, get you to the land of Canaan’ means their dwelling-place. ‘And take your father and your households, and come to me’ means the drawing of spiritual good and of the truths of the Church nearer to factual knowledge in the natural. ‘And I will give you the good of the land of Egypt’ means the possession of factual knowledge. ‘And you will eat the fat of the land’ means making the good there their own. ‘And now carry out this command’ means an act of will. ‘Take for yourselves from the land of Egypt carts’ means matters of doctrine belonging to factual knowledge. ‘For your young children and your wives’ means for those who as yet have no knowledge. ‘And bring your father, and come’ means their service and their drawing nearer. ‘And do not let your eye be sparing over your household utensils’ means let no concern be shown for anything that serves instrumentally. ‘For the good of all the land of Egypt is yours’ means that which in the natural mind is of primary importance to them.
[2] Let a brief statement appear here about what perception, referred to so many times, is. Everyone possesses the ability to perceive whether something is true or not. The ability he has within himself, within his mind, to draw conclusions is what enables him to perceive it; yet this ability cannot possibly exist in him without influx from the spiritual world. It is a gift that one person possesses in greater measure than another. Those who possess it in smaller measure are people who draw few conclusions within themselves or their minds and so have little perception; and if they say a thing is true they do so because others in whom they put their trust have said it is. Those however who possess the gift in greater measure are people who do not rely on others but see for themselves that it is true. But this kind of perception that everyone has involves worldly matters; nobody at the present day has any perception in spiritual ones. The reason for this is that what flows in from the spiritual source to produce that perception is blotted out and virtually annihilated by the delights of worldly and selfish love. As a consequence people have no interest in spiritual things except where duty or custom require it. Take away the fear that duty engenders, and the delight that custom affords, and people would scorn, turn away from, and indeed deny the existence of spiritual things.
[3] To have perception in spiritual things a person must have an affection for truth stirred by good and must have an unceasing desire to know truths. This leads to an enlightenment of the understanding part of his mind; and once it has been enlightened he is able within himself to see a thing with perception. But if a person is not stirred by an affection for truth, then he knows what he knows to be true from the teaching of the Church on which he pins his faith, something he also knows because priest, presbyter, or monk has declared it to be. From all this one may see what perception is and that it exists in worldly matters but not in spiritual ones. This is further evident from the consideration that everyone adheres to the system of religious belief into which he was born; this includes those who were born Jews and those outside the Church, even though they live in places where the Church is situated. The same goes for the adherents to any heresy. If utter truths were stated and also proved to them they would still be totally incapable of perceiving that they were truths; they would be seen by them as falsities.
Say to your brothers, Do this, and take your father, and take for yourselves from the land of Egypt carts for your young children and your wives, and bring your father, and come. But just above Joseph invites his father, not his brothers except as his father’s sons, for he says,
Go up to my father, and say to him, Come down to me, do not delay. And you shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your sons, and the sons of your sons, and everything that belongs to you. Make haste, and cause my father to come down here.
The reason Pharaoh invited the sons of Jacob while Joseph invited his father is not evident except from the internal sense, which is this: The natural in general, which is represented by ‘Pharaoh’, has a direct communication with the truths of the Church within the natural, which are represented by ‘the sons of Jacob’. Hence Pharaoh speaks about them. But the internal celestial, which is represented by ‘Joseph’, does not have a direct communication with the truths of the Church within the natural, which are ‘the sons of Jacob’. The communication in this case is through spiritual good, which is ‘Israel’ their father. Hence Joseph speaks about their father.
[2] ‘Fat’ was representative of celestial good, thus of love received from the Lord, as is clear from the burnt offerings and sacrifices in these all the fat had to be burned on the altar, thereby providing ‘an odour of rest to Jehovah’; and the children of Israel were forbidden because of this to eat fat. From these regulations, as from all the rest, it may be plain to see that the observances established among the Israelites were representative of celestial and spiritual realities and thus held what was holy within them. If this had not been so there would have been no Divine purpose at all behind the requirements to sacrifice all the fat of an animal, making this ‘an odour of rest to Jehovah’, or behind the Prohibition that forbade the eating of fat, and also of blood. It would surely be a stupid way of thinking about the Divine if one were to believe that He could take pleasure in fat or that Jehovah should make a requirement that did not conceal something deeper. Furthermore a person would be far too earthly – and bodily-minded if he had no interest at all in knowing the real meaning of such requirements; it would be a sign that he had no desire to know anything about the Word and eternal life.
[3] Regarding ‘the fat’ the following is stated in Moses,
You shall take all the fat covering the entrails, and the omentum over the liver, and the fat on the kidneys; and you shall burn them on the altar. Exod. 29:13, 22.
See also Lev. 3:4, 5, 9, 10, 14, 15; 4:8, 9, 19, 26, 31, 35; 7:3, 4. They were also required to sacrifice the fat on the breast, Lev. 7:30, 31. The phrase ‘an odour of rest to Jehovah’ occurs in the following places,
This is the bread of Jehovah’s fire-offering for an odour of rest. Lev. 3:16. The priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of Jehovah, and shall offer the fat for an odour of rest to Jehovah. Lev. 17:6.
And elsewhere,
The fat of the firstborn of an ox and of a sheep must be burned on the altar as an odour of rest to Jehovah. Num. 18:17.
‘An odour of rest’ means the pleasure gained from the good of love.
[4] As regards the non-eating of fat by the children of Israel, Let all the fat be for Jehovah. Therefore this is a perpetual statute throughout your generations, in all your dwelling-places: You shall not eat any fat or any blood. Lev. 3:16, 17.
And elsewhere,
Speak to the children of Israel, saying, You shall not eat any fat, neither of ox, nor sheep, nor she-goat. Everyone who eats the fat from a beast, from one offered as a fire-offering to Jehovah, that soul eating it will be cut off from his peoples. Nor shall you eat any blood Lev. 7:23-26.
[5] Burnt offerings and sacrifices were the main form taken by Divine worship among those people, 923, 2180. For this reason worship is meant by ‘burnt offerings and sacrifices’ in general, while the essential nature of worship is meant by what was offered in sacrifice and by the whole procedure followed then. ‘The fat and the burning of it’ meant the very Divine celestial itself, namely the good of love received from the Lord, as may also be seen in the following places: In Isaiah,
Jacob, you have not bought Me [sweet] cane with silver, and you have not satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices; you have wearied Me so much with your sins.* Isa. 47:24.
‘You have not bought [sweet] cane with silver’ stands for, You have not acquired the truths of faith for yourself; and ‘you have not satisfied Me with the fat of sacrifices’ stands for, Nor [have you offered] the good of love.
[6] In David,
I will offer You burnt offerings of fat ones, with the incense of rams. Ps. 66:15.
‘Burnt offerings of fat ones’ stands for worship fired by love. In Moses,
When it will be said, Where are their gods, the rock in which they trusted, who ate the fat of their sacrifices, [who] drank the wine of their drink-offering? Deut. 32:37, 38.
This would have been said by gentiles who imagined that the gods were fed especially by such offerings. They were totally unaware of the fact that ‘the fat of sacrifices’ was what was celestial, or the good of love, within worship, and that ‘the wine of a drink-offering’ was the truth of faith derived from that good. These offerings, when they were made, stirred the affections of the angels and were therefore prescribed so that through representatives and correspondences heaven might be near to man.
[7] In David,
Jehovah will remember all your offerings, and will make your burnt offering fat. Ps. 20:3.
‘Making a burnt offering fat’ stands for making worship good. In Isaiah,
Jehovah Zebaoth will make for all peoples on this mountain a feast of fat things, a feast of lees,** of fat things full of marrow, of sedimentary lees.*** He will swallow up death for ever, and the Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from upon all faces. Isa. 25:6, 8.
‘A feast’ stands for heaven and being joined to angels there through love and charity, 3596, 3832, 5161, ‘fat things’ being forms of the good of love and charity. In the same prophet,
Why do you spend money on that which is not bread, and your labour on that which does not satisfy? Attend diligently to Me and eat what is good, that your soul may delight itself in fatness. Isa. 55:2.
[8] In Jeremiah,
I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and will give them gladness instead of their sorrow. And I will fill the soul of the priests with fat, and My people will be satisfied with My goodness. Jer. 31:13, 14.
‘Fat’ plainly stands for what is good, for it is said that ‘the soul will be satisfied’ with it and it is referred to as ‘Jehovah’s goodness’, meaning nothing else than what is celestial, which is received from Him. In David,
My soul will be satisfied as with fatness and fat, and my mouth will praise You with joyful lips.**** Ps. 63:5.
Here the meaning is similar. In the same author,
You have crowned the year of Your goodness, and Your tracks drip with fatness. Ps. 65:11
In the same author,
The sons of man put their trust in the shadow of Your wings. They will be filled with the fat of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your delights. Ps. 36:7, 8.
In Isaiah,
Then Jehovah will give rain for your seed with which you will sow the land, and bread of the produce of the earth; and there will be fatness and wealthiness. Isa. 30:23.
[9] In John,
All things fat and splendid have gone away, and you will find them no more. Rev. 18:14.
This refers to Babylon. ‘All things fat and splendid have gone away’ stands for the departure of all forms of the good of love and truth of faith. In Moses,
He caused him to suck honey out of the crag and oil out of the stony rock – butter from the herd, and milk from the flock, with the fat of lambs and of rams, the breed***** of Bashan, and of goats, with the kidney-fat of wheat; and of the blood of the grape you drink unmixed wine. Deut. 32:13, 14.
This refers to the spiritual Ancient Church, whose various kinds of good – meant by ‘honey’, ‘oil’, ‘butter’, ‘milk’, and ‘fat’ – are enumerated.
[10] Because ‘fat’ meant good, the word was also applied to the kinds of things that had no fat in them but nevertheless had good as their meaning, so that ‘fat’ and ‘good’ were so to speak one and the same. An example of this is the fat of wheat in the verses quoted immediately above, and similarly in David,
I would feed them with the fat of wheat. Ps. 81:16.
And elsewhere,
He is the one who makes peace your border, and with the fat of wheat He satisfies you. Ps. 147:14.
Also in Moses,
Because all the fat of the pure oil, and all the fat of the new wine and of the grain, which were the first fruits, were Jehovah’s, they were given to Aaron. Num. 18:12.
* lit. so much have you made Me serve through your sins
** i.e. sweet wines
*** i.e. well-refined, very mature wines
**** lit. lips of songs
***** lit. sons
[2] In the Word instruments are called vessels, in the present context ‘household utensils’ because it is speaking about the moving of those people from one place to another and so about the contents of their houses. But essentials are called ‘things’ in the Word, and are what act by means of instruments. Thus because interior things act by means of exterior ones the former are essentials, in relation to the latter. When saying that no concern should be shown for anything that serves instrumentally one means that not these but the essentials should be kept as the end in view. For to the extent that the instruments are kept as the end in view the essentials withdraw and disappear from sight. If for example factual knowledge is kept in view without any concern for truths, the truths at length disappear so far from sight that one cannot tell whether they are truths. Or if truths are kept in view without any concern for good, the good at length disappears so far from sight that it no longer exists. It is the same with people who keep earthly, bodily, or worldly things in view, so that their only concern is for them and not at all for heavenly ones. The heavenly things disappear from sight till at length scarcely anything heavenly is recognized. These and other similar considerations are what are meant by ‘do not let your eye be sparing over your household utensils’.
[3] But it should be remembered that ‘the essential and the instrument’ describes a relationship. That is to say, the expression ‘essential’ is used of one thing because of its action through another serving as its instrument or organ. When however something else acts through the instrumentality of that which was the essential, this now becomes an instrument; and so on. Furthermore there is nothing in the whole of creation that is an ultimate essential; such exists solely in the Supreme Being, that is, in the Lord. Since His is the ultimate Being or Essential (Esse seu Essentiale) He is called Jehovah, a name formed from Being; and all else is merely an instrument. From all this it now follows that because, as has been stated, one should keep Essentials, not instruments, as one’s end in view, the Lord alone should be kept in view.
[2] It is like body and soul. A person should be thoroughly concerned about his body, that it should be fed, clothed, and enjoy worldly pleasures. Yet his concern for all these things should be not for his body’s sake but for his soul’s; that is to say, his concern should be that his soul may act in a harmonious and proper fashion within a healthy body, so that the body as its organ may respond in perfect obedience to it. Thus the soul must be the end. Yet the soul must not be the final end, only an intermediate one. For a person must be concerned about his soul not for its own sake but for the services it must perform in both worlds. When a person has those services as his end in view he has the Lord as his end; for the Lord fits him for those services and oversees them.
[3] Since few know what having something as one’s end in view entails, this too must be stated. Having something as one’s end in view is loving it above all else; for what a person loves he has as his end. What a person has as his end is easily recognizable, since it reigns in every part of him. Thus it is present constantly, even when it seems to him that he is giving no thought at all to it; for it resides within and composes his inner life, and thus secretly governs every single part of him. Take for example someone who at heart honours his parents. That honour is present in every single deed done when in their presence and in what he thinks about them when absent from them. It is also noticeable in his gestures and speech. So also with someone who at heart fears and honours God. That fear and honour of Him is present with each of his thoughts, words, and actions because it is contained within them. It is there even when it does not seem to be present, as when he is occupied with affairs quite remote from such fear and honour of Him; for it reigns everywhere, thus in every individual aspect of him. That which reigns in a person is clearly discernible in the next life, for the sphere of his entire life that emanates from him originates in it.
[4] From this one may now see how one is to understand the idea that a person should always have God before his eyes. It does not mean that he has to be thinking about Him all the time but that a fear or love of Him should reign everywhere in him; then in every individual aspect of himself he has God before his eyes. When this is so, that person does not think, speak, or do what is contrary and unpleasing to Him; or if he does, then what reigns everywhere in him and lies concealed within him comes out and warns him.
‘And the sons of Israel did so’ means a putting into effect by the spiritual truths within the natural. ‘And he gave them carts, according to Pharaoh’s command’ means that from the internal they received matters of doctrine as seemed pleasing to them. ‘And he gave them provision for the way’ means the support received from good and truth meanwhile. ‘And to them all he gave each one changes of garments’ means truths brought in touch with good. ‘And to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver’ means that to the intermediary a complete amount of truth from good was imparted. ‘And five changes of garments’ means much truth from the natural. ‘And to his father he sent as follows’ means what was freely given to spiritual good. ‘Ten asses carrying some of the good of Egypt’ means superior factual knowledge together with much of a subservient kind. ‘And ten she-asses carrying grain and bread’ means the truth of good and the good of truth, also together with much of a subservient kind. ‘And food for his father for the way’ means interior truth for spiritual good meanwhile.
* lit. mouth
[2] What truths, called the truths of faith, are like with those who lead lives in keeping with them, and with those who do not, has been shown to me. With people who do not lead lives in keeping with them those truths have manifested themselves as white threads; and with people who knew those truths yet did nothing good at all they were fragile ones. But with people who do lead lives in keeping with them those truths have manifested themselves as fibres extending from the brain, which were filled with spirituous fluid and were soft. Thus these latter truths had life in them, the former did not. From all this one may recognize that the nature of the truths present with people depends on the individual’s state of life. The truths which ‘the sons of Jacob’ represent are not as yet spiritual truths because they have not as yet been made matters of life. But the truths represented by those men as ‘the sons of Israel’ are spiritual ones because, having been made matters of life, the good of love and charity has entered them. Such truths are meant here because now the subject is the initial stage in the joining of the truths within the natural, which are ‘the sons of Jacob’, to internal good, which is ‘Joseph’, through the intermediary, which is ‘Benjamin’, and also through spiritual good, which is ‘Israel’.
[2] The reason why in the Word truths are meant by ‘garments’ is that truths clothe good in almost the same way as blood vessels contain blood or fibres contain spirit. ‘A garment’ also has truth as its meaning because spirits, and angels too, are seen wearing garments; and each spirit or angel is attired in a way that accords with the truths that reside with him. Those seen wearing white garments are spirits or angels whose truths of faith act as paths to good, whereas those seen wearing brightly shining garments are ones whose truths of faith radiate from good. For it is good radiated through truth that produces the shining brightness, see 5248.
[3] The wearing of garments by spirits and angels is also evident from the Word where mention is made of angels that have been seen, as in Matthew,
The appearance of the angel sitting at the Lord’s tomb was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. Matt. 28:3.
In John,
On the thrones I saw twenty-four elders seated, clad in white garments. Rev. 4:4.
In the same book,
He who sat on the white horse was clothed in a garment dyed with blood, and His name is called the Word of God. His armies in heaven were following Him on white horses, clothed in linen, white and clean. Rev. 19:11, 13, 14.
‘Garments white as snow’ and ‘white linen’ mean holy truths, for whiteness’ and ‘brightness’ have reference to truths, 3301, 3993, 4007, 5319, for the reason that they are very nearly as bright as light, and the light which radiates from the Lord is Divine Truth. This explains why, when the Lord was transfigured, His garments looked like the light, as described in Matthew,
When Jesus was transfigured His face shone like the sun, and His garments became like the light. Matt. 17:2.
It is well known in the Church that ‘the light’ is Divine Truth; but its comparison to a garment is clear in David,
Jehovah covers Himself with light, as if with a garment. Ps. 104:2.
[4] The fact that ‘garments’ are truths is evident from many places in the Word, as in Matthew,
When the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man (homo) who was not wearing a wedding garment. And he said to him, Friend, how did you come in here not having a wedding garment? Therefore he was cast out into outer darkness. Matt. 22:11-13.
Who exactly are meant by the one ‘not wearing a wedding garment’, see 2132. In Isaiah,
Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion, put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for no more may there come in to you the uncircumcised and the unclean. Isa. 52:1.
‘Beautiful garments’ stands for truths that spring from good.
[5] In Ezekiel,
I clothed you with embroidered cloth, and shed you with badger, and I swathed you in fine linen and covered you with silk. Your garments were fine linen, and silk, and embroidered cloth You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. Ezek. 16:10, 13.
This refers to Jerusalem, by which is meant at this point the spiritual Ancient Church, which was established by the Lord after the celestial Most Ancient Church breathed its last. The truths bestowed on that Church are described as ‘garments’. ‘Embroidered cloth’ is factual knowledge. When such knowledge is genuine it also manifests itself in the next life as embroidered cloth and as lace, as I have also been allowed to see. ‘Fine linen’ and ‘silk’ are truths springing from good; but in heaven those fabrics are utterly bright and transparent because they are in the light there.
[6] In the same prophet,
Fine linen with embroidered work from Egypt was your sail, and violet and purple from the islands of Elishah was your covering. Ezek. 27:7.
This refers to Tyre, by which the cognitions of truth and good are represented, 1201. When genuine ones, these are ‘fine linen with embroidered work from Egypt’. Resulting good, which is the good of truth, is meant by ‘violet’ and ‘purple’.
[7] In David,
All glorious is the king’s daughter, in her clothing with gold interweavings; in embroidered robes she will be led to the king. Ps. 45:13, 14.
‘The king’s daughter’ stands for the affection for truth. ‘Her clothing with gold interweavings’ stands for truths that have good within them. ‘Embroidered robes’ stands for the lowest truths. In John,
You have a few names in Sardis, who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with Me in white ones, for they are worthy. He who conquers will be clad in white garments. Rev. 3:4, 5.
‘Not soiling one’s garments’ stands for not defiling truths with falsities.
[8] In the same book,
Blessed is he who is awake and keeps his garments, so that he may not walk naked, and men see his shame. Rev. 16:15.
‘Garments’ in a similar way stands for truths. Truths of faith drawn from the Word are what are meant, strictly speaking, by ‘garments’. Anyone who has not acquired those truths from there – or who has not, as gentiles do, acquired truths or something like them from the religion to which he belongs – and applied them to life, is not in touch with good, no matter how much he may think that he is. For having no truths from the Word or from what his religion teaches he allows himself to be led by reasonings received as much from evil spirits as from good ones, and cannot thus be given protection by the angels. This is what is meant by being awake and keeping one’s garments, so that one may not walk naked and men see one’s shame.
[9] In Zechariah,
Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and so stood before the angel, who said to those standing before him, Remove the filthy garments from upon* him. But he said to him, See, I have caused your iniquity to pass away from you, by putting on you a change of garments. Zech. 3:3, 4.
‘Filthy garments’ stands for truths defiled by falsities deriving from evil. Once these were removed therefore and others were put on, the words ‘See, I have caused your iniquity to pass away from you’ are used. But anyone can recognize that iniquity does not pass away through a changing of garments, from which anyone may also deduce that a changing of garments was a representative act, as was also the washing of garments, which was commanded when people were purified, for example when they drew near Mount Sinai, Exod. 19:14, or when they were cleansed from impurities, Lev. 11:25, 40; 14:8, 9; Num. 8:6, 7; 19:21; 31:19-24.
[10] Cleansings from impurities are effected by means of the truths of faith since they teach what good is, what charity is, what the neighbour is, and what faith is. They also teach the existence of the Lord, heaven, and eternal life. Without truths to teach them people have no knowledge of these things or even of their existence. Who left to himself knows other than this, that the good which goes with self-love and love of the world is the only kind of good in a person? For both constitute the delight of his life. Can anyone know except from the truths of faith about the existence of another kind of good that can be imparted to a person, namely the good of love to God or the good of charity towards the neighbour? Can anyone know that those kinds of good have heavenly life within them, or that those kinds of good flow in from the Lord by way of heaven in the measure that the person ceases to love himself more than others and the world more than heaven? From all this it becomes clear that the purification which was represented by the washing of garments is effected by means of the truths of faith.
* The Latin means before but the Hebrew means upon, which Sw. has in another place where he quotes this verse.
[2] ‘Three hundred’ holds a similar meaning when mentioned elsewhere in the Word, as in Gen. 6:15, where it says that Noah’s ark was three hundred cubits long, also in the reference to the three hundred men whom Gideon used to strike a blow at Midian, spoken of in Judges as follows,
The number of those who lapped in their hand to their mouth was three hundred men. Jehovah said to Gideon, By the three hundred men who were lapping I will give Midian into your hand. Gideon divided the three hundred men into three lines of battle, and he put a trumpet into the hand of each one of them, and empty water-pots, and torches in the middle of the water-pots. When they sounded the blast on the three hundred trumpets, Jehovah set the sword of [each] man against his companion and against the whole camp. Judg. 7:6-8, 16, 22.
By ‘the three hundred men’ in this description too a complete amount is meant, and the same is meant by ‘three lines of battle’ into which the three hundred were divided. And by ‘a hundred’, the number in each line of battle, is meant much or enough, consequently that there were enough men to stand against Midian. Besides, every detail in this description was representative – the selection of those who lapped the water in their hand; the trumpet given to each man; and the water-pots with the torches inside them. This was so because ‘Midian’, whom they were opposing, represented truth that was not truth because there was no goodness of life in it. But such details will in the Lord’s Divine mercy be explained elsewhere. The fact that numbers too were representative is evident from many other places, for example the number seven in Joshua, when they were going to capture Jericho. The command was given for seven priests to carry seven trumpets of rejoicing in front of the Ark; and on the seventh day they were to go round the city seven times, Josh. 6:4.
‘And he sent his brothers away, and they went’ means a concealment from view. ‘And he said to them, Do not quarrel on the way’ means the perception imparted to them that they should be at peace. ‘And they went up out of Egypt’ means a departure from the factual knowledge which the Church possesses. ‘And came to the land of Canaan, to Jacob their father’ means the dwelling-place where natural but not spiritual good resides. ‘And they told him, saying’ means influx and discernment. ‘Joseph is still alive’ means that the internal has not been cast away. ‘And he has dominion in all the land of Egypt’ means that the natural mind is under its power and control. ‘And his heart failed, for he did not believe them’ means a lack of natural life, and a consequent lack of understanding. ‘And they spoke to him all Joseph’s words which he had spoken to them’ means an influx from the celestial of the spiritual. ‘And he saw the carts which Joseph had sent to carry him’ means matters of doctrine received from this which might prove convincing. ‘And the spirit of Jacob their father revived’ means newness of life. ‘And Israel said’ means spiritual good now. ‘Enough; Joseph my son is still alive’ means joy that the internal had not perished. ‘I will go and see him before I die’ means the desire to be joined before what is new comes in.
* lit. much
[2] Anyone who does not know the nature of the state of life experienced by spirits and angels in heaven cannot know why a concealment of truth and good is referred to now, when immediately before this they had had the light of truth and good shining on them. The heavenly state is such that spirits and angels pass through morning, midday, and evening, also twilight and morning again, and so on. For them it is morning when the Lord is present, blessing them with evident happiness; and at this time they enjoy a perception of good. Midday has come when they dwell in the light of truths; and it is evening when they are removed from them, in which case the Lord seems to them to be more remote and to be concealed from them. All in heaven undergo and pass through these alternating states; without them they cannot be led to ever greater perfection. For those alternating states establish contrasts for them, and from those contrasts they gain more perfect perception, for from those contrasts they know what does not constitute happiness since they know from them what is not good and what is not true.
[3] It is astonishing, and rightly so, that one state never is or ever will be exactly like another, also that one spirit or angel does not pass through changes of state that are the same as those of another, for the reason that with respect to good and truth one spirit or angel is not exactly like another, even as no one person’s face is identical to another’s. Even so the Lord makes a unified whole out of those varying individuals. It is a general rule that every whole which has any specific character is made up of varying parts which are brought, as if through agreement and harmony with one another, into such a state of unanimity that they all present themselves as a unified whole. In heaven the unified whole which results or rather the process of being unified is effected by means of love and charity; see also 3241, 3267, 3744, 3745, 3986, 4005, 4149, 5598. In the Word the concealment meant by ‘Joseph sent away his brothers, and they went’ is called evening, which among the angels has come when they do not perceive that the Lord is present. For heaven possesses a constant perception of the Lord’s presence; but when angels pass through a state in which they lack that perception they do not, as before, feel an affection for good or see truth. This causes them distress, but shortly after that, twilight comes, and so morning.
[2] The expression ‘spiritual’ is used to describe that which is in the light of heaven, for what is in that light has the affection for good and the perception of truth within itself. Such affection and perception make use of that light because that light comes from the Lord. People therefore who have spiritual good and truth within themselves are in the internal part of the Church, for their heads are up in heaven. But the expression ‘natural’ is used to describe that which is in the light of the world, for what is in this light does not have the affection for good or the perception of truth within itself, only outside itself. For the light of heaven flows down and shines round about it, thus outside it but not within it, with the result that the person can know that good is good or truth is truth because it is said to be good or truth but not because he perceives for himself that it is such. People therefore who have only natural good within themselves are in the external part of the Church, for their heads are not in heaven. Instead what light their heads receive from heaven comes from without. Jacob is called Jacob, not Israel, at this point for the reason that they are engrossed in external interests, as is plain from what has been stated above.
The spirit of Jacob their father revived, and Israel said, Enough; Joseph my son is still alive.
The spirit of Jacob their father revived, and Israel said . . .
Similar examples appear elsewhere, such as the following,
Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob did not send with his brothers. And the sons of Israel came to buy in the midst of others who came. Gen. 42:4, 5.
And Israel set out. God said to Israel in visions in the night, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Behold, here I am. Gen. 46:1, 2.
Jacob rose up from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father. Gen. 46:5.
All the souls of the house of Jacob as he came into Egypt were seventy. Joseph harnessed his chariot, and went up to meet Israel. And Israel said to Joseph . . . Gen. 46:26, 29, 30.
Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. And Israel’s days drew near when he must die. Gen. 47.27-29.
And someone told Jacob and said, Behold, your son Joseph has come to you; and Israel strengthened himself and sat up on his bed. And Jacob said to Joseph… Gen. 48:2, 3.
Jacob called his sons, and said, Assemble together and hear, O sons of Jacob; hear Israel your father. Gen. 49:1, 2.
Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is hard.* I will divide them in Jacob, and will scatter them in Israel. Gen. 49:7.
The arms of his hands will be made strong by the hands of the powerful Jacob; from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel. Gen. 49:24.
The same use of the two names also occurs frequently in the Prophets.
* i.e. cruel
It was shown in the section at the end of the previous chapter [in 5849] that two spirits from hell and two angels from heaven are present with each person; that they provide communication both with hell and with heaven and also enable a person to be in freedom.
[2] The truth that spirits from hell and angels from heaven are present with a person is also in some measure contained in the faith taught by Christian Churches. For their teachings state that all good comes from God, and that evil comes from the devil; and preachers reinforce it by their pulpit prayer that God may control their thoughts and words, and by their assertion that with the righteous all things, even the least of their endeavours, begin in God. Those preachers also say that when a person leads a good life he allows himself to be led by God, and in addition that angels are sent from God to help him; or they will say, when someone has performed an extremely evil deed, that he has allowed himself to be led by the devil and that any evil like that comes from hell. They would also have said that spirits from hell were flowing into the interior evils belonging to the person’s thought and will, if they had recognized those evils to be just as great.
individual’s thought and speech came from others. The experience made the spirits highly indignant, for each of them wants his thought and speech to originate in himself. But because the experience served to teach them the truth of the matter, they were told that the whole of their thought, and of their will too, is something that comes into them, for the reason that there is but one life alone, which is the source of the life those mental powers possess. That life flows in from the Lord, employing an amazing form, the heavenly form; it flows not only into all people universally but also into each individual specifically. Variation occurs in every case, determined by the form each subordinate recipient possesses, in the measure that the form agrees or does not agree with the heavenly one. From all this one may also see what the situation is with man, who will be dealt with in what follows where influx is the subject.
[2] But the Lord makes provision which prevents such spirits from entering the world of spirits; they are confined to their own hells, shut well away. This explains why there are no cases of external possession at the present day; but there are nevertheless internal cases of it, also brought about by the hellish and devilish crew. For evil persons think the kinds of things that are filthy, also those which involve cruelty to others, as well as those that are contrary and harmful to Divine ones. Unless such thoughts were curbed by fear of the loss of position, material gain, reputation on account of such position and gain, fear of punishment by the law, or loss of life, they would break out into the open and such persons would plunge, more than those who are possessed, into the ruination of others and into blasphemous utterances made against matters of faith. But those external restraints make such people seem not to be possessed; they are however subject inwardly to such possession, even though they may not be outwardly. This is plainly evident from people like them in the next life, where external restraints are removed. There they are devils, constantly delighting in and desiring the ruination of others and the destruction of anything that is a matter of faith.
[2] In particular the angels moderate affections, since they constitute a person’s life and also his freedom. The angels also notice any influence on a person from hells which are now open but were not previously so, which happens when a person goes off into some new evil. To the extent that the person allows, the angels close those hells; they also remove any spirits who may be trying to come out from there. They also dispel any strange and new influences which can produce evil effects.
[3] In particular the angels call forth the forms of good and truth residing with a person and set them opposite the evils and falsities activated by the evil spirits. As a result the person is in the middle and is not conscious of the evil or of the good; and being in the middle he is in freedom to turn towards one or towards the other. Angels from the Lord employ means like these to lead and protect a person, doing so every instant and fraction of an instant. For if the angels were to let up merely for a single moment the person would be plunged into evil from which after that he cannot possibly be brought out. The angels are motivated to do all this by a love they receive from the Lord, for nothing gives them greater delight and happiness than to remove evils from a person and lead him to heaven. This is their joy, see Luke 15:7. Scarcely anyone believes the Lord has that kind of concern for a person, a constant concern lasting from the very beginning of a person’s existence to the final moment of his life, and for evermore after that.
[2] From what has been brought forward here it is also clear that a person cannot live without communication with the hells through spirits from there, for his entire life which he derives by heredity from his parents, and all that he adds of what is his own, consists of self-love and love of the world, not of love of the neighbour, still less of love of God. And because a person’s entire life from what is properly his own consists of self-love and love of the world, it accordingly consists of contempt for others in comparison with self and of hatred felt for and revenge taken on all who do not show him favour. It therefore consists too of cruelty, for anyone harbouring hatred of others wishes to kill them, and is supremely delighted by the ruination of them. Unless spirits like this, who cannot come from anywhere but hell, were attached to those evils, and unless a person were led by those spirits in ways that accord with the delights of his life, he could not possibly be diverted towards heaven, for initially those actual delights of his are used to divert him. They are also used to place him in a state of freedom, thus finally to give him the power of choice.
46
GENESIS 46
1 And Israel travelled on and all that he had; and he came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
2 And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Behold, here I am.
3 And He said, I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid of going down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.
4 I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will certainly cause you to come up also; and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes.
5 And Jacob rose up from Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their young children, and their wives, in the carts which Pharaoh sent to carry him.
6 And they took their livestock, and the acquisitions they had made in the land of Canaan, and came to Egypt – Jacob and all his seed with him.
7 His sons and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters and his sons’ daughters, and all his seed he brought with him to Egypt.
8 And these are the names of the sons of Israel who were coming to Egypt – of Jacob and his sons: Jacob’s firstborn was Reuben.
9 And the sons of Reuben were Enoch,* and Pallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.
10 And the sons of Simeon were Jemuel and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman.
11 And the sons of Levi were Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.
12 And the sons of Judah were Er and Onan, and Shelah, and Perez, and Zerah; and Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
13 And the sons of Issachar were Tola, and Puvah, and Job, and Shimron.
14 And the sons of Zebulun were Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.
15 These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram, and Dinah his daughter. All the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty-three.
16 And the sons of Gad were Ziphion and Haggi, Shuni and Ezbon, Eri and Arodi, and Areli.
17 And the sons of Asher were Jimnah, and Jishvah, and Jishvi, and Beriah, and Serah their sister. And the sons of Beriah were Heber and Malchiel.
18 These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob. They were sixteen souls.
19 The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife, were Joseph and Benjamin.
20 And born to Joseph in the land of Egypt were those whom Asenath the daughter of Potiphera the priest of On bore to him, Manasseh and Ephraim.
21 And the sons of Benjamin were Bela and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera and Naaman, Ehi and Rosh, Muppim and Huppim, and Ard.
22 These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob. All the souls were fourteen.
23 And the sons of Dan were Hushim.
24 And the sons of Naphtali were Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.
25 And these are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob. All the souls were seven.
26 Every soul coming, that belonged to Jacob, to Egypt – those who had come out of his thigh, not counting Jacob’s sons’ wives – all the souls were sixty-six.
27 And Joseph’s sons, who were born to him in Egypt, were two souls; all the souls belonging to the house of Jacob who was coming to Egypt were seventy.
28 And he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to show [the way] before him to Goshen; and they came to the land of Goshen.
29 And Joseph harnessed his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen; and he was seen towards him,** and he fell on his neck,*** and wept on his neck*** a long while.
30 And Israel said to Joseph, Now let me die,**** after I have seen your face, that you are still alive.
31 And Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s house, I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and say to him, My brothers and my father’s house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me.
32 And the men are Shepherds of the flock, for they are keepers***** of livestock; and their flocks and their herds, and all they have, they have made to come.
33 And it may be that Pharaoh may call you and say, What are your works?******
34 And you are to say, Your servants have been keepers***** of livestock from our******* boyhoods and right up to now, both we and our fathers – so that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd of the flock is an abomination to the Egyptians.
* In most English versions this name appears as Hanoch, but in the Latin, as in the original Hebrew, the spelling is the same as that of the one mentioned in Gen. 4:17, 18; 5:18-24. Cp. Gen. 25:4.
** i.e. Joseph presented himself to his father
*** lit. necks
**** lit. Let me die this once
*****lit. men
****** i.e. What is your occupation?
******* The Latin means their, but the Hebrew means our.
This chapter deals in the internal sense with the joining of the internal celestial, which is ‘Joseph’, to spiritual good from the natural, which is ‘Israel’. Then there is a listing in their proper order of the Church’s truths and forms of good to which the internal celestial will afterwards come to be joined, those truths and forms of good being ‘Israel’s sons and grandsons who came to Egypt’.
Verse 1 And Israel travelled on and all that he had, and he came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
‘And Israel travelled on and all that he had’ means the beginning of the joining together. ‘And he came to Beersheba’ means charity and faith. ‘And offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac’ means worship springing from them, and an inflowing from the Divine intellectual.
May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor judge* between us, the God of their father. At that time Jacob swore by the Dread of his father Isaac.
It is also clear that Jacob did not initially acknowledge Jehovah, for he said,
If God will be with me, and guard me on this road on which I am walking, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and I come back in peace to my father’s house, then Jehovah will be my God. Gen. 28:20, 21.
Thus he acknowledged Jehovah conditionally.
[2] It was the custom among them to acknowledge their fathers’ gods, but their own one specifically. They derived the custom from their fathers in Syria; for Terah, Abram’s father, and even Abram himself when he was there, worshipped gods other than Jehovah, see 1356, 1992, 3667. Their descendants, who were called Jacob and Israel, were consequently of such a nature that in their hearts they worshipped the gods of the gentiles. Jehovah they worshipped solely with their lips, and in name only. The reason they were like this was that nothing but externals devoid of anything internal interested them; and people like that cannot help thinking that worship consists in nothing more than declaring God’s name and saying that He is their God, and in doing so as long as He confers benefits on them. They have no idea that worship consists in a life of charity and faith.
* The verb rendered may judge here is plural.
‘And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night’ means obscure revelation. ‘And said, Jacob, Jacob’ means made to natural truth. ‘And he said, Behold, here I am’ means discernment. ‘And He said, I am God, the God of your father’ means the Divine Intellectual, the source of what flowed in. ‘Do not be afraid of going down to Egypt’ means that natural truth and all that accompanies it must be introduced into the facts known to the Church. ‘For I will make you into a great nation’ means that truths will be made into good. ‘I will go down with you to Egypt’ means the Lord’s presence in that state. ‘And I will certainly cause you to come up also’ means a raising up after that. ‘And Joseph will put his hand on your eyes’ means that the internal celestial will impart life to it.
[2] The meaning of ‘the night’ as obscurity and also falsity may be seen in addition from the following places in the Word: In John,
Jesus said, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day he does not stumble. But if anyone walks in the night he stumbles, because the light is not in him. John 11:9, 10.
‘Twelve hours’ stands for all states of truth. ‘Walking in the day’ stands for living in the truth, and ‘walking in the night’ for living in falsity.
[3] In the same gospel,
I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; night is coming when nobody will be able to work. John 9:4.
‘Day’ stands for truth coming from good, and ‘night’ for falsity coming from evil. The first period of the Church is what is meant by ‘day’, for at this time truth is entertained by people because they are governed by good. But the final period of the Church is what is meant by ‘night’, for at that time no truth at all is entertained by its members, because they are not governed by good; and when someone is not governed by good, that is, by charity towards the neighbour, then even if told perfect truths he does not entertain them. In this situation there is no perception at all of what truth is, because the light of truth falls on matters of a bodily and worldly nature, to which alone such people give their attention and which alone they love and consider to have any reality. It does not fall on things of a heavenly nature because they are considered to be of little or no value at all compared with other things. Consequently the light of truth is swallowed up by and snuffed out in what is a mass of thick darkness, like sunlight falling on an object that is black. This is what is meant by ‘night is coming when nobody will be able to work’; and the situation is like this at the present day.
[4] In Matthew,
While the bridegroom was tarrying all the virgins were drowsy and went to sleep. But at midnight there was a shout, Behold, the bridegroom is coming. Matt. 25:5-7.
‘Midnight’ too stands for the final period of the old Church when no faith at all exists because no charity at all does so, and also for the first period of the new Church. In Luke,
I tell you, in that night there will be two upon one bed; one will be taken, the other left. Luke 17:34.
‘Night’ in the same way here stands for the final period of the old Church, and the first of the new.
[5] In Matthew,
Jesus said to the disciples, All of you will be made to stumble [by sinning] against Me this night. And to Peter, This night, before the cock crows, you will deny Me three times. Matt. 26:31, 34.
The Lord allowed Himself to be arrested at night, and this was a sign that Divine Truth dwelt for them in the obscurity of night and that falsity springing from evil existed in place of it. Peter’s denial of the Lord three times that night also represented the final period of the Church when the truth of faith is indeed taught, but no one believes it. This final period is ‘night’ because at this time people utterly deny the Lord in their hearts. For like the twelve tribes of Israel, the twelve apostles represented all the aspects of faith, 577, 2089, 2129 (end), 2130 (end), 3272, 3354, 3488, 3858, 3913, 3926, 3939, 4060; and Peter represented the faith of the Church, see Preface to Genesis 18, also Preface to Genesis 22, as well as 3750, 4738. So it was that the Lord said to Peter that he would deny Him three times that night, and to the disciples, ‘All of you will be made to stumble [by sinning] against Me this night’.
[6] In Isaiah,
One was calling to me from Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, Morning comes, and also the night.
This refers to the Coming of the Lord, which is ‘morning’. That Coming took place when spiritual truth existed no longer on earth, which is ‘the night’.
[7] In Zechariah,
There will be one day, which is known to Jehovah, not day nor night, because around evening time there will be light. It will happen, that on that day living waters will go out from Jerusalem. And Jehovah will be King over all the earth; on that day there will be one Jehovah, and His name one. Zech. 14:7-9.
This too refers to the Lord, and also to a new Church. The prophecy that Jehovah, who will be King, will be one and that His name will be one refers to the Lord’s Divine Human, which will be one with the Divine Himself, called the Father. Prior to the Lord’s Coming the Divine Human was Jehovah in the heavens; for it was by His passing through the heavens that He presented Himself as a Divine Person before the eyes of many on earth. In those times the Divine Human was not so much one with the Divine Himself, called the Father, as when the Lord had made the Divine Human within Himself completely one with the Father. Prior to His Coming the two were seemingly distinct and separate, as is evident from Gen. 19:24, where it says that Jehovah rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from* Jehovah out of heaven, 2447. A day when it will be ‘not day nor night’ is the time when the Lord was born, for then it was ‘evening’, that is, when representatives in the Church came to an end. ‘Light around evening time’ is Divine Truth which is to appear then.
[8] In Isaiah,
Surely at night Ar has been laid waste, Moab has been cut off; surely at night Kir of Moab has been laid waste. Isa. 15:1.
‘Moab’ stands for natural good, and in the contrary sense for adulterated good, 2468; in this text a laying waste of that good is referred to. Acts of laying waste are said to happen at night because they are occasions when truth is rendered obscure and falsity enters in. In Jeremiah,
The great city will weep bitterly in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks. Lam. 1:2.
This refers to a desolation of truth, ‘night’ standing for falsity.
[9] In David,
You will not be afraid of the terror of the night, of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the death that lays waste at noonday. Ps. 91:5, 6.
‘The terror of the night’ stands for falsities arising from evil that come from hell. ‘The arrow that flies by day’ stands for falsity that is taught openly and is destructive of good. ‘The death that lays waste at noonday’ is evil that is openly practised in life and is destructive of good. In John,
The gates of the holy Jerusalem will not be shut by day, for there is no night there. Rev. 21:25.
There will be no night there, nor do they need a lamp or light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. Rev. 22:5.
‘There will be no night there’ stands for no falsity there. In Daniel,
Daniel said, I saw in my vision when it was night. After this also I saw in visions of the night. Dan. 7:2, 7.
‘Visions of the night’ also stands for obscure revelation; for that chapter in Daniel describes four beasts and their horns, and gives many details belonging to revelation that was obscure. Something similar is involved with the different coloured horses that Zechariah saw at night, Zech. 1:8 and following verses.
* Two Latin words meaning from and with are in fact used here; they represent a double preposition in the Hebrew.
[2] What an introduction of truth into the facts known to the Church implies is this: The Church’s factual knowledge at that time consisted of representatives and meaningful signs contained in ritual observances, for all the ritual observances of the Church sprang from those representatives and signs, as also did the factual knowledge which helped members of the Church to understand teachings about charity. From that factual knowledge they knew who were really meant by the poor, the needy, the wretched, the afflicted, the oppressed, widows, orphans, strangers, those bound in prison, the naked, the sick, the hungry, the thirsty, the lame, the blind, the deaf, the maimed, and many others whom they identified as distinct kinds of the neighbour. By making such distinctions they taught how charity should be exercised. This was what their factual knowledge at that time was like. But at the present day that knowledge has been completely wiped out, as is evident from the consideration that where these deprived persons are mentioned in the Word scarcely anyone knows more than that those who are literally so deprived are meant, for example that those who are literally widows are meant when ‘widows’ are mentioned, those literally strangers when ‘strangers’ are mentioned, those literally in prison when they are mentioned, and so on. The kind of knowledge spoken of here flourished in Egypt, which is why ‘Egypt’ means factual knowledge. The need for natural truth, which is ‘Jacob’, to be introduced into such knowledge is represented by Jacob’s going down into Egypt with all that was his.
[3] Truths are said to be introduced into factual knowledge when they are gathered together into it so as to exist within it. This is done to the end that when some fact comes to mind the truths that have been gathered into it may be recollected at the same time. When for example someone thinks of a stranger, then because ‘a stranger’ means people who are to receive instruction, all the ways of exercising charity towards such people instantly spring to mind, which is to say that truths spring to mind. The same thing happens when he thinks of any of the other kinds of deprived persons. Once known facts have been filled with those truths any thought based on those facts expands and spreads far and wide, reaching indeed into many communities in heaven simultaneously. For since such factual knowledge consists of so many truths contained within itself, it opens out in that way without the person’s being aware of it. But they must be truths that are held within it. It is also an essential feature of Divine order that interior things should gather themselves into exterior ones, or what amounts to the same, prior things into posterior ones, so that finally everything prior should be gathered into what is last and lowest and coexist with it. This is what happens in the entire natural creation. If this were not true, no one could be fully regenerated; for such a gathering of truths within known facts enables interior things and exterior ones, which would otherwise be at variance, to exist in agreement and act as one. If they are at variance the person cannot be governed by good because he lacks sincerity. Besides, factual knowledge dwells in virtually the same inferior light as a person’s physical sight. This inferior light is such that, unless it is brightened from within by the light received from truths, it leads to falsities, especially those that are a product of the illusions of the senses, and to evils that are a product of falsities. The truth of this will be seen from my experience presented at the ends of chapters under Influx.
‘And Jacob rose up’ means an enlightening of natural truth. ‘From Beersheba’ means from the doctrine of charity and faith. ‘And the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father’ means that truths which were spiritual ones caused natural truth to move ahead. ‘And their young children’ means accompanied by aspects of innocence. ‘And their wives’ means aspects of charity too. ‘In the carts which Pharaoh sent to carry him’ means the matters of doctrine obtained from the Church’s factual knowledge. ‘And they took their livestock’ means forms of the good of truth. ‘And the acquisitions they had made in the land of Canaan’ means truths acquired from other truths which the Church already possessed. ‘And came to Egypt’ means the introduction into the Church’s factual knowledge. ‘Jacob and all his seed with him’ means of natural truth and all matters of faith belonging to that truth. ‘His sons and his sons’ sons with him’ means truths in their own order. ‘His daughters and his sons daughters’ means forms of good in their own order. ‘And all his seed’ means every integral part of faith and charity. ‘He brought with him to Egypt’ means that they were gathered together into the Church’s factual knowledge.
[2] These virtues ought to exist in the same order in man, for interiorly the human being is so created that he conforms to an image of the three heavens. This also is why a person who has been regenerated is an individual heaven or the smallest form heaven can take. But exteriorly, especially so far as his body is concerned, he is so created that he conforms to an image of the world, which was why the ancients called him the microcosm. The ear has been made to conform to the whole nature of air and sound; the eye to conform to the whole nature of the ether and light; the tongue to every perception of particles dissolved and suspended in fluids; the nostrils to the perception of particles suspended in the atmosphere; touch to the perception of cold and heat, and also of weights; and so on. Just as a person’s external senses conform to an entire image of the natural world, so his internal senses, which are those of his understanding and will, have been so created that they conform to an entire image of heaven. They have been created like this so that the human being as an individual, like heaven as a general whole, may be a recipient of Divine Good from the Lord.
The princes of Zoan are foolish, the wise counsellors of Pharaoh; counsel has become brutish. How do you say to Pharaoh, I am a son of the wise, a son of the kings of old? Isa. 19:11.
Here ‘Pharaoh’ stands for the Church’s factual knowledge in general, which was why he was called ‘a son of the wise’ and ‘a son of the kings of old’. ‘The wise’ and ‘the kings of old’ stand for the truths that the Ancient Church possessed. But that factual knowledge made nonsensical is meant, for it says ‘The princes of Zoan have become foolish; counsel has become brutish’.
[2] In the same prophet,
They depart to go down to Egypt but have not asked at My mouth, to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt. Therefore the strength of Pharaoh will become shame for you, and trust in the shadow of Egypt ignominy. Isa. 30:2, 3.
‘Strengthening themselves in the strength of Egypt, and trusting in the shadow of Egypt’ stands for relying in matters of faith on factual knowledge and having no belief in any spiritual truth unless it is what factual knowledge and sensory evidence so declare. But that is a perversion of order. The truths of faith must occupy first place, and supporting factual knowledge must take second place; for if the latter occupy first place, no belief in any truth whatever exists.
[3] In Jeremiah,
Jehovah Zebaoth, the God of Israel, said, Behold, I am making a visitation upon Amen in No, and upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt, and upon its gods, and upon its kings – especially upon Pharaoh and those trusting in him. Jer. 46:25.
Here also ‘Pharaoh’ stands for factual knowledge in general. ‘Those trusting in him’ stands for people who rely on factual knowledge but do not rely on the Word, that is, on the Lord in the Word. Such a reliance leads to a complete perversion in the things people are taught to believe, which in turn leads to falsity and also to the refusal to accept that what is Divine and heavenly is anything at all. These people in particular are all too ready to say, Let me see these things with my own eyes; or, Produce the facts to prove the truth of it, and then I will believe it. But even if they did see them or such proof was produced they would not believe, because an unaccepting attitude of mind governs everything.
[4] In the same prophet,
Against Pharaoh.* Behold, waters rising out of the north which will become a deluging stream, and they will deluge the land and all that fills it, the city and those who dwell in it, so that men cry out and every inhabitant of the land wails because of the sound of the beat of the hoofs of the horses his mighty ones and the noise of his chariot, the rumble of its wheels. Jer. 47:1-3.
It is plain from every detail stated here regarding Pharaoh that ‘Pharaoh’ is factual knowledge in general, existing in this instance in a perverted state of order, which destroys the truths of faith. ‘A deluging stream’ is factual knowledge destroying an understanding of truth, and so is knowledge that lays waste. ‘They will deluge the land and all that fills it’ is the entire Church. ‘The city and those who dwell in it’ is the truth the Church possesses, and the good this truth leads to. ‘The beat of the hoofs of the horses’ is the lowest kind of factual knowledge gained directly from sensory impressions. ‘The noise of his chariot’ is false teaching derived from that knowledge. ‘The rumble of its wheels’ is sensory impressions and the false notions going with them that advance themselves.
[5] In Ezekiel,
The Lord Jehovih said, Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster who is lying in the midst of his rivers, who has said, The river is mine and I have made myself. Therefore I will put hooks in your jaws, and cause the fish of your rivers to stick to your scales. Ezek. 29:2-4.
Here also ‘Pharaoh’ stands for factual knowledge in general, which in a similar way is evident from each detail that is stated regarding him.
[6] In the same prophet,
Raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt. You are like monsters in the seas, and you have come forth with your rivers, and have troubled the waters with your feet; you have stirred up their rivers. 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 darken over you, and I will put darkness over your land. Ezek. 32:1, 3, 7, 8.
The details of this description, like many more in the Prophets, cannot be understood by anyone, it is evident, without the internal sense. No one can understand what is meant when it says that Pharaoh is like monsters in the seas, has come forth with** his rivers, and has troubled the waters with his feet. Nor can anyone know what is meant when it says that the heavens will be covered above him, the stars will be darkened, and all the bright lights will be darkened; also that the sun will be covered with a cloud, the moon will not give its light, and darkness will be put over his land. But the internal sense shows what all these details mean; it shows that factual knowledge perverts the truths of the Church if a person uses it to enter the mysteries of faith without believing anything unless factual knowledge, indeed sensory evidence, causes him to see it. This is the internal sense of this description, as the explanation of each separate detail shows.
[7] Pharaoh is called ‘king of Egypt’ by virtue of the truth factual knowledge holds within it. For factual knowledge is truth as it exists in the natural, and ‘king’ is truth, see 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044; also, much the same is meant by the king of a people as by the people themselves, 4789, so that much the same is meant by ‘Pharaoh’ as by ‘Egypt’, but the same thing in general. (‘Egypt’ has been shown many times to mean factual knowledge.) Pharaoh is compared to ‘monsters in the seas’ because ‘a monster’ or ‘a sea monster’ means general sources of facts, 42, While ‘seas’ means gatherings together of them, 28. Then it is said that he has come forth with his rivers because ideas displaying intelligence are meant by ‘rivers’, 108, 109, 2702, 3051, but here ideas displaying insanity since they flow from sensory impressions and factual knowledge, 5196. After this it is said that he troubled the waters with his feet and stirred up their rivers because ‘waters’ means spiritual truths, 680, 739, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, and ‘feet’ things belonging to the natural, 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952, so that ‘troubling the waters with one’s feet’ is defiling and perverting the truths of faith by means of factual knowledge which the natural possesses. And ‘stirring up their rivers’ is doing the same to intelligence.
[8] Finally it is said that when he is blotted out the heavens will be covered, because ‘the heavens’ means a person’s interiors, since these are his heavens. They are ‘closed’ when factual knowledge holds sway over the truths of faith, that is, when the natural holds sway over the spiritual. When this is the situation the cognitions or knowledge of truth and good perish, meant by ‘I will darken the stars of the heavens, and all the bright lights’; for ‘the stars’ are those cognitions, see 2495, 2849, 4697, and ‘the lights’ are forms of good and truth, 30-38. The inability of the good of love to flow in any longer at that time is meant by ‘I will cover the sun with a cloud’, and the inability of the good of faith to flow in by ‘the moon will not give its light’ – ‘the sun’ being the good of love, and ‘the moon the good of faith, see 1519, 1530, 2120, 2495, 3636, 3643, 4060, 4696. The occupation therefore of the natural mind by falsities alone is meant by ‘I will put darkness over your land’ – ‘darkness’ being falsities, 1839, 1860, 4418, 4531, and ‘Pharaoh’s land’ or ‘the land of Egypt’ being the natural mind, 5276, 5278, 5280, 5288, 5701. From all this one may now see what the meaning is within the details of this prophecy. Since ‘Pharaoh’ means factual knowledge in general he also means the natural in general, 5799.
* These verses in Jeremiah 47 refer to the Philistines, though Pharaoh is mentioned in verse 1. Chapter 46 deals specifically with Egypt and Pharaoh.
** Reading cum (with) for ex (from)
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