1082. And shall eat her flesh. That this signifies rejection of the evils thereof, which are adulterated goods, and then manifestation that they were destitute of all good, is evident from the signification of flesh, as denoting the good of the Word and of the church, and, in the opposite sense, the evil thereof. In the present case flesh denotes evils, which are adulterated goods. And from the signification of eating, as denoting to consume, but, in this case, to reject altogether, because the Reformed are treated of, who have rejected the works or goods of Babylon, which chiefly consist in gifts to the idols of their saints, to their sepulchres, also to monasteries, and to the monks themselves, for various expiations.

[2] That by the same words is also meant manifestation that they were destitute of all good follows; for when spurious and meritorious goods are rejected, signified by the flesh which they should eat, then it is made evident that they are destitute of all good. Flesh, in the Word, signifies various things. It signifies man's proprium, thus, either his good or evil, and thence it signifies the whole man. But in the highest sense, it signifies the Lord's Divine Human, specifically the Divine Good of Divine Love proceeding from Him.

That flesh signifies the Divine Human as to the good of love is evident in John:

"Jesus said, I am the living bread, which came down from heaven; if any one eat of this bread, he shall live for ever. The bread which I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews, therefore, strove amongst themselves, saying, How can this man give his flesh to eat? Jesus therefore said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, unless ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in yourselves. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day; for my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed; he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me and I in him. This is the bread, which came down from heaven" (6:51-58).

That by flesh is here meant the proprium of the Lord's Divine Human, which is the Divine Good of Divine Love, is manifestly evident; and it is that which in the Holy Supper is called His body. That the body there or the flesh is the Divine good, and the blood is Divine truth, may be seen above (n. 329). And because bread and wine signify the same as flesh and blood - bread, Divine Good, and wine, Divine truth - therefore these were commanded in their place.

[3] Divine Good from the Lord was also signified by the flesh of the sacrifices, which Aaron, his sons, and those who sacrificed might eat, and others who were clean.

And that it was holy may be seen in Exodus (12:7, 8, 9; 29:31-34; Leviticus 7:15-21; 8:31; Deuteronomy 12:27; 16:4).

Wherefore if an unclean person ate of that flesh, he was to be cut off from his people (Leviticus 7:21).

That these things were called bread (Leviticus 22:6, 7).

That that flesh was called "the flesh of holiness" (Jeremiah 11:15; Hag. 2:12);

And "the flesh of the offering," which was to be upon the table in the Lord's kingdom (Ezekiel 40:43).

[4] The Lord's Divine Human is also called flesh in John:

"The Word was made flesh, and dwelt amongst us; and we saw his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father" (1:14).

That flesh also signified good with man, is evident from the following passages:

In Ezekiel:

"I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit in the midst of you, and I will remove the heart of stone out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh" (11:19; 36:26).

The heart of flesh is the will and love of God. In David:

"O God, Thou art my God, in the morning I seek Thee, my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh desireth thee, in a land of drought, and I am weary without waters" (Psalms 63:1).

Again:

"My soul longeth towards the courts of Jehovah; my heart and my flesh crieth out towards the living God" (Psalms 84:2).

By the flesh which longeth for Jehovah, and which crieth out towards the living God is signified man as to the good of the will. For the flesh of man corresponds to the good or evil of his will, and the blood to the truth or the falsity of his understanding; in the present case flesh denotes the good of the will, because it longeth for Jehovah, and crieth out unto God.

[5] In Job:

"I have known my Redeemer, he liveth, and at the last shall rise upon the dust, and afterwards these things shall be encompassed with my skin, and from my flesh I shall see God" (19:25-27).

To see God from his flesh signifies from his voluntary proprium made new by the Lord, thus from good.

In Ezekiel:

"I will put upon the bones, which were seen in the midst of the valley, nerves, and I will cause flesh to come up, upon them, and I will cover them with skin, and I will put spirit into them, that they may live" (37:6, 8).

Where also by flesh is signified the proprium of the will made new from the Lord, consequently good. What is there signified by bones and the rest may be seen above (n. 418, 419, 665).

In the Apocalypse:

"Come, and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God, that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of the mighty, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit upon them, and the flesh of all, free and bond, small and great" (Apoc. 19:17, 18; Ezekiel 39:17, 18, 19).

That flesh here does not mean flesh, but goods of every kind is quite clear.

[6] But, on the other hand, that by flesh is signified man's voluntary proprium, which, strictly considered, is evil, is evident from the following passages. Thus in Isaiah:

"A man shall eat the flesh of his own arm" (Isaiah 9:20).

In the same:

"I will feed thine oppressors with their own flesh" (49:26).

In Jeremiah:

"I will feed you with the flesh of their sons, and with the flesh of their daughters; and they shall devour every man the flesh of his companion" (19:9).

In Zechariah:

"The rest shall eat every one the flesh of another" (11:9).

In Moses:

"I will chastise you seven times for your sins, and ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters" (Leviticus 26:28, 29).

[7] In Jeremiah:

"Cursed is the man who trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm" (17:5).

Here by flesh is signified a man's proprium, which in itself is evil, the appropriation of which is signified by eating and feeding upon it.

Similarly man's proprium is signified by flesh in Matthew:

"Jesus said, Blessed art thou, Simon, because flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee" (16:17).

In John:

"As many as received, to them gave he power to be the sons of God, who were born not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God" (1:12, 13).

In Ezekiel:

"Jerusalem hath committed whoredom with the sons of Egypt her neighbours, great in flesh" (16:26).

In Isaiah:

"Egypt is man and not God, and his horses are flesh and not Spirit" (31:3).

In John:

"It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing" (6:63).

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the spirit is spirit" (3:6).

In David:

"God remembered that they were flesh, a breath that passeth away and returneth not again" (Psalms 78:39).

The evil of man's will, which is his proprium from birth is signified in these passages by flesh; also by:

"The flesh, which the sons of Israel lusted after in the wilderness, and on account of which they were smitten with a great plague, and from which the place was called the grave of lust" (Numbers 11:4-33).

Moreover, in the Word throughout, mention is made of "all flesh," by which is meant every man.

As in Genesis (6:12, 13, 17, 19 Isaiah 40:5, 6; 49:26; 66:16, 23, 24; Jeremiah 25:31; 32:27; 45:5; Ezekiel 20:48; 21:4, 5), and elsewhere.

Continuation concerning the Word:-

[8] The reason why the Spiritual by influx presents what is correspondent to itself in the natural is, in order that the end may become the cause, and the cause become the effect; and thus that the end, by means of the cause, in the effect, may make itself visibly and sensibly evident. This trine, namely, end, cause, and effect, exists from creation in every heaven. The end is the good of love, the cause is truth from that good, and the effect is use. Thus love is that which produces, whence the product is of love from good by means of truth. The ultimate products in our world are various; as many as the subjects in its three kingdoms of nature, the animal, the vegetable, and the mineral.

[9] All products are correspondences. Since a trine - end, cause, and effect - exists in every heaven, therefore also in every heaven there are products; and there are correspondences, which, as to form and appearance, are like the subjects in the three kingdoms of our earth. From this it is evident that each heaven, as to outward appearance, is similar to our earth, but differing in excellence and beauty, according to degrees.

Now because the Word cannot be in its fulness, that is to say, consist of effects, in which are the cause and the end, or of uses, in which truth is the cause, and good is the end, except from correspondences - and love is that which produces - it follows that the Word in each heaven is like the Word in our world, but differing in excellence and beauty according to degrees. The nature of this difference shall be explained elsewhere.

2830. 'And behold, a ram' means spiritual members of the human race. This is clear from the meaning of 'a ram', dealt with below. Within the Church it is well known that the burnt offerings and sacrifices in the representative Jewish and Israelite Church meant the Lord's Divine Human. But the burnt offerings and sacrifices of the lambs meant one thing, those of sheep and she-goats another, and those of kids, rams, and he-goats, of oxen, young bulls, and calves, and of turtle doves and young pigeons meant yet other things, as also did the minchahs and drink offerings. In general these things that were sacrificed meant the Divine celestial, Divine spiritual, and Divine natural things which are the Lord's; and from meaning these they meant celestial, spiritual, and natural things which exist from Him within His kingdom, and so within every individual who is the Lord's kingdom. This may be seen also from the Holy Supper which superseded burnt offerings and sacrifices. In it the bread and the wine mean the Lord's Divine Human - the Bread His Divine celestial, the Wine His Divine spiritual - and consequently mean His love towards the whole human race, and in turn the love of the whole human race for the Lord, 2343, 2359. From this it is evident that burnt offerings and sacrifices contained within them celestial worship springing from love to the Lord, and spiritual worship springing from charity towards the neighbour, and therefore from faith in the Lord, 922, 923, 1823, 2180. What the celestial is and what the spiritual is, that is, who constitute the celestial members and who the spiritual within the Lord's kingdom or Church, has been stated rather often, see 1155, 1577, 1824, 2048, 2088, 2184, 2227, 2669, 2708, 2715.

[2] That 'a ram' then means the Lord's Divine spiritual, and so that which is spiritual with man, or what amounts to the same, spiritual members of the human race, may become clear from the burnt offerings and sacrifices that were made from rams. For example, when Aaron and his sons were consecrated to the function they performed, that is, when they were inaugurated, they were to offer one young bull for a sin offering, sprinkle its blood over the horns of the altar, and pour the remainder at the base of it. Also they were to slaughter one ram and to sprinkle its blood around the altar, and after that they were to burn the ram - the whole of it - as a burnt offering. And the blood of the second ram which had been slaughtered was to be sprinkled over the tip of Aaron's ear, and over his thumb and big toe, and after that they were to make a wave offering of it and burn it on top of the burnt offering, Exodus 29:1-35; Leviticus 8:1-end; 9:2 and following verses. Clearly all these observances were holy, but they were holy for the reason that they represented and meant holy things. Other than for this reason, none of these observances - slaughtering a young bull, sprinkling its blood over the horns of the altar and pouring the remainder at the base of it, slaying one ram and sprinkling its blood around the altar and after that burning it, and sprinkling the blood of the second ram over the tip of Aaron's ear and over his thumb and big toe and also making a wave offering of it and burning it on top of the burnt offering - would have possessed any holiness, nor thus any worship, unless they had represented holy things. But what each observance represented does not become clear to anyone except from the internal sense. That the young bull offered as a sin offering meant the Lord's Divine natural, and the ram His Divine spiritual, and at the same time spiritual members of the human race, may become clear from the meaning of a young bull and of a ram in the Word. Inaugurations into the priesthood were effected by means of spiritual things, for by means of spiritual things man is initiated into those which are celestial, or what amounts to the same, by means of the truths of faith he is initiated into good that stems from love. In a similar way when Aaron entered the Holy Place he was to offer a young bull as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering, Leviticus 16:2-3.

[3] When a Nazirite was completing the period of his Naziriteship he was to offer one male lamb a year old without a blemish as a burnt offering, and one ewe-lamb a year old without a blemish as a sin offering, and one ram without blemish as a peace offering, Numbers 6:13-14, 16-17. The reason for these observances was that a Nazirite represented the celestial man, who is the likeness of the Lord, 51, 52, 1013. The celestial man is such that he is moved by celestial love, that is, by love to the Lord, and from this by celestial truth, 202, 337, 2069, 2715, 2718. This was why the Nazirite was required to sacrifice a male lamb and a ewe-lamb, meaning that which is celestial, and also to sacrifice a ram, meaning that which is spiritual. Young bulls, rams, and lambs were sacrificed at festivals. For example, on the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, two young bulls, one ram, and seven lambs, together with their minchah, were to be offered as a burnt offering, Numbers 28:18-20. On the day of the firstfruits too, two-young bulls, one ram, and seven lambs, together with their minchah, were to be offered as a burnt offering, Numbers 28:26-28. At new moons two young bulls, one ram, and seven lambs, together with their minchah, were to be offered as a burnt offering, Numbers 28:11-12; in the seventh month, on the first of the month, one young bull, one ram, seven lambs, together with their minchah; and on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, thirteen young bulls, two rams, fourteen lambs; and so on, see Numbers 29:1-2, 12-14, 17-18, 20-24, 26-36. Young bulls and rams meant spiritual things, while lambs meant celestial. For at festivals it was required that those taking part were to be sanctified and were brought into that condition by means of spiritual things.

[4] Since 'rams' meant the Divine spiritual of the Lord's Divine Human, and also spiritual things residing with man, it is therefore said in Ezekiel, where the New Temple and the New Jerusalem, that is, the Lord's spiritual kingdom, are referred to, that when they had finished cleansing the altar they were to offer a young bull as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering; and for seven days they were to provide daily a he-goat for a sin offering, and a young bull and a ram, Ezekiel 43:23-25. Also 'on that day' the prince on behalf of all the people was to provide a young bull for a sin offering, and on the seven days of the feast seven young bulls and seven rams, together with the minchah, as a burnt offering, Ezekiel 45:22-24; and on the sabbath day he was to provide six lambs and a ram, Ezekiel 46:4; 6.

[5] As regards the New Temple and the New Jerusalem, these in the universal sense mean the Lord's kingdom, see 402, 940, and in particular a new Church, 2117. There neither burnt offerings nor sacrifices are offered, as may be well known to all; and from this it is evident that burnt offerings and sacrifices mean the celestial things of love and the spiritual things of faith; for these things belong to the Lord's kingdom, and so are akin to the things meant here by young bulls, rams, and lambs. As regards the young bulls and rams, these mean spiritual things, as is clear from each detail in this part of Ezekiel in the internal sense - in general from the fact that specifically the New Temple and the New Jerusalem mean the Lord's spiritual kingdom, while Zion means the celestial kingdom.

[6] That 'a ram' means that which is spiritual, or what amounts to the same, those who are spiritual, is also evident in Daniel. Daniel saw a ram with two horns which was standing before the river; and then he saw a he-goat which struck the ram, broke its horns, and trampled on it, Daniel 8:3-4, and following verses. Here 'the ram' is used to mean nothing else than the spiritual Church, and 'the he-goat' to mean those who are governed by faith separated from charity, that is, by truth separated from good, and who step by step rise up against what is good, and finally against the Lord - as is also described. In Samuel,

Samuel said to Saul, Does Jehovah delight as greatly in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in hearkening to the voice of Jehovah? Behold, to hearken is better than sacrifice, and to obey than the fat of rams. 1 Samuel 15:22.

Here, since it is obedience - and so truth, which is spiritual - that is spoken of, and since what was said was addressed to the king - who also means truth, 1672, 2015, 2069 - the words used are not therefore 'better than the fat of oxen (or of lambs)' but 'better than the fat of rams'.

[7] In David,

When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a foreign people, Judah became His sanctuary, Israel His dominions. The sea looked and fled, and Jordan turned itself backwards. The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like the young of the flock. What ails you, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn yourself backwards? O mountains, that you skip like rams? O hills, like the young of the flock? At the presence of the Lord, you are in labour, O earth; at the presence of the God of Jacob, who turns the rock into a pool of water, and the flint into a fountain of water. Psalms 114:1-end.

This refers in the internal sense to spiritual good following regeneration and describes the nature of that good. The celestial-spiritual nature of it is described as the mountains skipping like rams, and the celestial-natural as hills doing so like the young of the flock - 'mountains' meaning the celestial things of love, see 795, 1430. Anyone may see that these words, like all the rest of David's, contain matters that are holy, but within the internal sense, and that something spiritual is meant by the mountains skipping like rams, and the hills like the young of the flock, and by the earth going into labour at the presence of the Lord. Without the internal sense they would be expressions devoid of any real meaning.

[8] Much the same applies to the following in Moses,

He will cause him to ride over the heights of the land, and will cause him to eat the produce of the land, and will cause him to suck honey out of the crag, and oil out of the flinty rock - butter from the cattle, and milk from the flock, with the fat of lambs and rams, the breed ¹ of Bashan, and of goats, with the kidney-fat of wheat; and of the blood of the grape you will drink unmixed wine. Deuteronomy 32:13-15.

'Rams, the breed of Bashan' stands for celestial-spiritual things. As to what celestial-spiritual things are, see 1824. In David,

I will offer to You burnt offerings of things full of marrow, with the incense of rams; I will provide ox with he-goats. Psalms 66:15.

'Burnt offerings of things full of marrow' stands for the celestial things of love, 'incense of rams' for the spiritual things of faith.

[9] In Ezekiel,

Arabia and all the princes of Kedar, these were the merchants of your hand in lambs, in rams and he-goats. Ezekiel 27:21.

This refers to Tyre, which means those with whom cognitions of good and truth exist, 1201. 'Arabia' stands for their wisdom, 'princes of Kedar' for their intelligence, 'lambs' for celestial things, 'rams' for spiritual things, 'he-goats' for natural things, which come in order one after another. In Isaiah,

The whole flock of Kedar will be gathered to You, the rams of Nebaioth will minister to You; they will come up with acceptance on My altar, and I will beautify My beautiful house. Isaiah 60:7.

This refers to the Lord's Divine Human. 'The flock of Kedar' stands for Divine celestial things, 'the rams of Nebaioth' for Divine spiritual things. From all these references it may now become clear that 'a ram' in the internal sense means the Lord's Divine spiritual; and from this it means that which is spiritual with man, or what amounts to the same, it means spiritual members of the human race.

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