In its degenerate condition, the church among men on earth is dead, in evils, falsities, and sins, because it is no longer receptive of life from the Lord. But the Lord, in His merciful love, provides a new church, in which there is life, because men are instructed in spiritual truths, and are thus enabled to re-open their minds, and to receive spiritual life from the Lord.

THE LITERAL MEANING.

The text has long been supposed to refer to a general resurrection, at some distant time, when men should awake from death, and re-enter their old physical bodies. But the text carries its own evidence that it does not refer to any such physical resurrection, but that it is a prophetic vision, intended, literally, to encourage the Jews in their existing condition of distress, on earth.

Ezekiel, the prophet, was among the captive Jews, exiles in a foreign land, whose hopes of returning to their former home were fast dying out. And the text expressly declares that the Lord would cause them to return to their own land. Held in bondage, and their dead buried in a foreign land, they despaired of reaching their old home in Judea. And they were thinking of themselves, in this world, and not of any general resurrection at some future time. In fact, many of them, with the Sadducees, did not believe in any life after physical death. And none of them had any conception of a distinctively spiritual life, or of a spiritual world, apart from the life of the natural world. And even those of them who believed in a resurrection expected to return to life in the natural world.

THE RESURRECTION.

And, in the second place, no such general physical resurrection, or return to the material body, ever took place, or ever will occur. The physical body is formed of the material substances of the physical world; and it is adapted to use on the physical plane of life. And it cannot enter into any other world. "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God," i.e., the spiritual kingdom. The death of the physical body is the end of the man's physical existence. And the material body then decays, and loses its organized form and identity.

The resurrection is not the rising of the dead body, but the rising of the living man, the spirit, from the dead body, and into the more advanced life of the spiritual world. The resurrection-body is not the old dead body revived, but it is the spiritual body, the body of the spirit of man, an inward body, in which the man was born, and which existed within his material body, while he lived on earth. But natural death takes away the outward and physical body, and allows the man to live in his inward and spiritual body, which is formed of spiritual substance, and adapted to his life and uses in the spiritual world.

But natural-minded men, who do not think spiritually, but only in the light of their natural senses, insist upon interpreting everything according to natural appearances, and from a natural-minded standpoint. And yet, even those who believe in a physical resurrection, often have a general understanding that our text refers, also, to the inward and mental resurrection from the spiritual death of evil and sin, to the new life of regeneration and righteousness.

THE SPIRITUAL MEANING.

But, in its spiritual meaning, our text illustrates the subject of regeneration. Natural death is the rejection of the lower nature of man, the external part, including the impurities of the body. And, in the resurrection of regeneration, there is a death and rejection of the impure and lower things of the natural mind.

THE VALLEY.

The prophet was given a vision of a valley full of dry bones. The earth, in its form, and in its conditions, is a symbol of the mind of man. On the earth's surface, mountains are the high places, representing the higher states of mind, higher levels of affection and of thought; while valleys are the low places, representing the lower states of mind, lower levels of mental life. Comparatively, the natural mind is like a low place, a valley, and the spiritual mind is elevated, as a mountain. Human life begins on its lowest level, its valley; and it needs to be opened upward and inward, into the higher things of more advanced manhood.

In the mental valley, our natural thought sees things as they appear before the natural senses; but, on the higher levels, things are seen as they are, in the light of spiritual truth. And so, in the progress of regeneration, our Lord is constantly calling to us, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, and to the house of the God of Jacob. And He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths. For the law shall go forth from Zion, and the Word of Jehovah from Jerusalem" (Micah 4:2).

It requires constant and considerable work to climb from the valley up to the mountain-top. And the steady climbing represents the constant effort of the regenerating man to reach higher mental levels, And this climbing is done by rejecting, and leaving behind us the lower ways of the senses, and adopting a clean and orderly life, in feeling, thought, and action. "Who shall ascend into the mountain of Jehovah ? Or who shall stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart" (Psalm 24:3-4).

BONES.

In the physical body, the bones have the least life, as compared with the other parts, especially the vital organs, the heart, the brain, the lungs, etc. And so the bones represent those things in the mind which are least receptive of life, and furthest removed from the centers of life. The bones represent the external natural mind, as compared with the internal and spiritual mind. In a particular sense, the life of the intellect, as compared with the life of the will, is like the bones, necessary and useful, but not full of life, until made alive by the inflowing loves of the will, which act upon, and within, the intellect, to use it for the work and purposes of the heart.

A bone cannot do anything, in the way of action, but it is acted upon by the muscles and nerves. And yet the bony framework affords a means by which the muscles can do their work. So our intellectual life, of itself, is cold and dead, until it is warmed by our heart's love, and put to work for our heart.

At first, we hold the truths of the church intellectually, as doctrines, which may be put to use, when our heart feels the need of them, in our practical life. But, before they are put to use, the life in them, as our mind holds them, is such life as is in the bones, very remote from the centers of life. But, as our heart puts these doctrines to use, in learning how to love goodness and truth, and to practice them in our conduct, then representatively, these bones begin to live; they begin to be clothed with flesh and nerves, and covered with skin, and thus built into a complete mental body, ready for the uses of life. The building up of the body, on its bony framework, represents the building up of the mind, in the process of regeneration, beginning with the knowledge of doctrine, and gradually covering that mental framework with the living things which make up a full man.

DRY BONES.

In the prophet's vision, the bones were seen to be very dry, i.e., very dead, very far removed from life. And so, in the unregenerate mind, even the mere knowledge of truth is very dead, because it is not intimately connected with any living principle.

In the vision, the bones were separated, and scattered about, and not even associated as a skeleton; representing the condition in the unregenerate mind, in which truths are not associated and arranged as a complete system, but are merely detached and separate notions, not brought into actual use. And, in this case, the question properly arises, "Can these bones live?" Can there be any genuine spiritual life brought into these detached notions, lying dead in the natural memory? Can there be any spiritual life in the mere knowledge of doctrines, scattered about in the memory, but not brought into use in the hearts life?

We have seen young men and women who were brought up in the Sunday Schools, and instructed in the doctrines of their churches, and in the words of the Scriptures; and we have seen these young persons bury their knowledge in the dust of sensuous life, or scatter it, like dead bones, in the valley of a low and selfish life, without any spiritual thought or noble aspiration. "Can these bones live?" No, not in their present condition.

LIVING.

But our Lord, who is life, itself, can fill them with life, if they will turn to Him, seeking life. And the way in which the Lord gives life to the bones of dead doctrine, is represented in our text. He builds them up into a full body. The application is both general and individual. At the end of every general church, or dispensation, men sink into very external conditions of mind; and even their knowledge of truth lies in scattered and dead pieces. But the Lord then establishes a new church, a different condition of the church, with such persons as can be induced to be regenerated. The Divine Truth is brought to such persons, in a different form, so that it will reach their minds, and arouse their attention. And then the old knowledges of doctrine will serve, like bones, for a framework, on which the Lord can build up the full man, with spiritual flesh and nerves; and to whom He can give spiritual life.

The prophet, prophesying to the dead bones, represents the Word of the Lord, coming to the dead mind, i.e., the unregenerate mind, with new light and life. The Lord causes breath to enter into our dead minds, when He gives us a consciousness of the spiritual quality of regenerate life, in which we can spiritually breathe the atmosphere of Divine Truth.

In the Hebrew, the words for wind, breath, and spirit are all derived from the same root-word. Breathing is a sign of life. When a man dies, we say that he expires, or breathes. out. And thus, the coming of the breath represents the coming of spiritual life into the dead mind.

Sinews (or nerves) are then given to the skeleton; for the same Hebrew word (gid) covers both sinews and nerves. The nervous system is the means of extending the brain throughout the whole body, representing the means by which the truth is carried throughout the whole mind, from the interiors of the spiritual mind, through all degrees, and to the outward natural mind. In the natural body, when there is no nerve-force, there is paralysis and deadness. And so, in the mind, the living force of living truth must circulate through all parts, or they cannot have spiritual life.

THE FLESH, ETC.

And the flesh is given. The flesh here represents the good, which comes into the will, or heart. Thus, while the nerves represent the intellectual part, the flesh represents the affectional part of the mind. And these two are necessary to any spiritual life. Putting flesh upon the bones thus represents rebuilding the spiritually dead man, by revivifying his heart, so that it may receive the regenerate life.

This is the meaning of the bread used in the holy supper, which there represents the flesh of the Lord, which means the Divine Goodness, which is the Divine Love, adapted to our reception.

When the nerves and flesh are provided for the body, it still needs to be covered by the skin, which has very important uses, in protecting all the body. The skin is exceedingly sensitive to all kinds of impressions, of heat or of cold, of danger or of delight; while, at the same time, it acts as a cleanser of the body, in carrying away the accumulating impurities.

The skin, as the external covering of the whole body, represents the outward life of conduct, the practical doings of our daily life, in which all our inward principles are carried into action; and by means of which all our mental impurities may be recognized, and rendered harmless, by being cast out, and not allowed to become a part of our actual conduct. And, as the healthy skin completes the usefulness and the symmetry of the body, so a good and useful practical life completes the manhood, whose interior life is in a good heart and a clear understanding.

And, as the skin needs constant care and cleansing, in order to protect the whole body from disease, so the cleanliness and health of our outward life are absolutely necessary in order to protect our spiritual life.

And our text declares that the resuscitated men shall know the Lord, when they are revived; representing that the man who is spiritually made alive by the Lord, then first truly knows the Lord.

THE RESTORATION.

The text describes the bringing together of the different parts of the body. "There was a noise" and "a shaking." The noise is the mental sound of the disturbance of the old conditions of the mind, and the clashing of the old dead states against the influence of the new life now beginning to operate. The shaking, or trembling, is the agitation of the mind, when made to loosen its hold upon old things, and to receive the new life.

"And the bones came together, bone to his bones" i.e., the scattered ideas of doctrine, which were lying in the memory, without cohesion or system, began to come together, into a general system of truth, covering all parts of the mind and life, and applicable to all our action. The mind perceived that all things are related and associated. This was a necessary preliminary condition, before the nerves and flesh could be added to the skeleton; i.e., before spiritual wisdom and love could be given.

And yet, there was no breath in the body, until the Lord gave it; i.e., even with good and true principles, we have no spiritual life in these things, until we recognize that they are from our Lord, and that they are the Lord's presence in us; and that they are not inherent in ourselves, nor procured by any power of our own.

THE FOUR WINDS.

The breath, or spirit, was called to "come from the four winds," to give life to the dead bones. The four winds, literally, are winds from the four points of the compass, North, South, East, and West. But, spiritually, they represent the four general states of human life, the natural understanding and the natural will, and the spiritual understanding and the spiritual will. These different phases of life are the aspects of life from four different mental standpoints, differing in quality and in degree. And, to meet the wants of men on these four different standpoints, or mental conditions, there are four different gospels in the New Testament, each peculiarly adapted to men in one of the four mental conditions. A similar idea is conveyed by the fact that the holy city, the New Jerusalem, is to be built square; i.e., with four sides.

That the breath, or spirit, is to come from the four winds, means that it is to come from all the quarters of the spiritual world, from external truth and from external good, and from internal truth and from internal good; to bring spiritual life in all its aspects, to reach and supply all forms of mind; i.e., to bring all the good and true principles of heaven, for the use of the church.

And when they received life, the bodies "stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army;" i.e., the regenerate mind begins at once to stand upon its new principles, in practical life: and, doing so, it finds such principles applicable to all the multitude of human actions. And then the regenerated mind is seen to be "the whole house of Israel," a spiritual church, looking to the Lord. Thus our Lord restores Israel to his own land, spiritually, by restoring men to a regenerate state.

APPLICATION.

Set before you a human skeleton of dry bones. And set beside it a living human body, in full health and vigorous operation. And then consider the great contrast between the two objects. And recognize the fact that there is as great a parallel contrast between yourself if unregenerate, or regenerate; if, spiritually, a mere skeleton of a man, or a full and living man, in vigorous spiritual health, and in loving, intelligent, and orderly activity. And then we shall understand what the Lord means, when He says to us, individually, "He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live" (John 11:25). For He will open the old graves of our dead hearts, and raise our souls into spiritual life. And, in this, our Lord will fulfil, spiritually, the promise of our text, "O My people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel."

2162. 'Wash your feet' means that they were to take on something natural so that during the state He was then passing through His perception might be improved. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'feet' as natural things, and also in a like manner from the train of thought. That arcana lie concealed here becomes clear to a certain extent from the fact that Abraham besought the three men to take a little water and wash their feet, and to relax under a tree, even though he knew that it was the Lord or Jehovah; also from the fact that if it was not so such details would not have been mentioned.

[2] That 'feet' means natural things becomes clear from the representatives in the next life, and consequently from representatives derived from these that existed among the most ancient people and so occur in the Word. Celestial and spiritual things are represented by 'the head' and the parts of the head; by 'the breast' and the parts of the breast are represented rational concepts and aspects of these; by 'the feet and the parts of the feet are represented natural things and the different kinds of these. Consequently 'the sole' and 'the heel' of the foot mean the lowest natural things, regarding which see 259, while 'a shoe' means the lowest things of all, which are filthy, regarding which see 1748.

[3] Similar things are meant by the representations in the dreams and visions in the Prophets, such as the statue seen by Nebuchadnezzar, the head of which was fine gold, the breast and arms were silver, the belly and thighs were bronze, the legs were iron, and the feet were partly iron and partly clay, Daniel 2:32-33. In this case 'the head' means celestial things, which are inmost and are 'gold', as shown in 113, 1551, 1552; 'the breast and arms' spiritual or rational things, which are 'silver', as shown in 1551; but 'the feet' means lower things, which are natural, the truths of which are meant by 'iron' and the goods by 'clay' or mud. As regards 'iron' meaning truth, see 425, 426, and 'clay' good, 1300, both of which in the present case are natural. These things come in the same order in the Lord's kingdom in heaven, and in the Church which is the Lord's kingdom on earth, and also in every individual who is a kingdom of the Lord.

[4] It is similar with the vision which Daniel himself saw, of which the following is said,

I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, a man clothed in linen whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz and whose body was like tarshish, ¹ and whose face was like the appearance of lightning, and whose eyes were like fiery torches, and whose arms and feet like the shine of burnished bronze. Daniel 10:5-6.

Specifically these words mean the interiors of the Word as to goods and truths. 'The arms and feet' are its interiors, which constitute the sense of the letter, for natural things occur there, since natural things are the source from which the exteriors of the Word are drawn. What further is meant by each of these parts, namely the loins, body, face, eyes, and many others in man, becomes clear from the representatives in the next life, which will in the Lord's Divine mercy be spoken of when the Grand Man - which is the Lord's heaven - and the representatives that originate in heaven but occur in the world of spirits are dealt with.

[5] That which one reads about Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders seeing the God of Israel, under whose feet there was so to speak a paved work of sapphire stone, like the substance of the sky for pureness, Exodus 24:9-10, means that they saw, represented in natural things, merely the external features of the Church, and also the literal sense of the Word, in which too, as has been stated, external things are represented by natural things. And these external things are 'the feet' under which there is so to speak 'a paved work of sapphire stone, like the substance of the sky itself'. It is clear that it was the Lord whom they saw, though only in those lower or natural things, since He is called 'the God of Israel', whom all things of the Church represented and whom all things of the Word in the internal sense meant. For the Lord is presented visually in accordance with the things that are meant at the time. When, for example, in John, He was seen as a Man on a white horse, the Word was in this case meant by Him, as is explicitly stated in Revelation 19:11, 13.

[6] The living creatures seen by Ezekiel, which were cherubs, are described as regards celestial and spiritual things by their faces and wings, and also many other things. But as regards natural things they are described as follows, by their feet, a straight foot, and the soles of their feet being like the sole of a calf's foot, and sparkling like the shine of burnished bronze, Ezekiel 1:7. The reason their feet, that is, natural things, are said to have sparkled like burnished bronze is that 'bronze' means natural good, dealt with in 425, 1551. It was similar when the Lord appeared to John as the Son of Man: His eyes were like a flame of fire and His feet were like burnished bronze, Revelation 1:14-15; 2:18.

[7] That 'feet' means natural things is further evident from the following places: In John, who saw,

A mighty angel coming down out of heaven, wrapped in a cloud, and a rainbow around his head, his face was like the sun and his feet like pillars of fire. In his hand he had a little book opened, and he set his right foot on the sea and his left on the land. Revelation 10:1-2.

This angel in a similar way means the Word. The nature of the Word in the internal sense is meant by 'the rainbow around his head' and by 'his face being like the sun'; but the external sense, or sense of the letter, is meant by his 'feet'. 'The sea' is natural truths, 'the land' natural goods, from which it is clear what is meant by his setting his right foot on the sea and his left on the land.

[8] Reference is made in various places in the Word to 'a footstool', but no one knows what is meant by this in the internal sense; as in Isaiah,

Jehovah said, The heavens are My throne and the earth My footstool. Where is this house which you are going to build for Me and where is this place of My rest? Isaiah 66:1.

'The heavens' means the celestial and spiritual things, and so the inmost things, both of the Lord's kingdom in heaven and of the Lord's kingdom on earth, which is the Church. Also meant by 'the heavens' are those same things as they exist with every individual who is a kingdom of the Lord or a Church. Thus 'the heavens' also means the celestial and spiritual things regarded in themselves which are matters of love and charity and of faith that springs from these, and so means all things that belong to internal worship and similarly all things that belong to the internal sense of the Word. These things are meant by 'the heavens' and are called 'the Lord's throne', but by 'the earth' are meant all lower things corresponding to those meant by 'the heavens'. By 'the earth' lower rational and natural things are meant, which from correspondence are likewise referred to as celestial and spiritual things, such as those that exist in the lower heavens and also in the Church, and those things which belong to external worship and also those present in the literal sense of the Word. In short, all things that stem from internal things and manifest themselves in external are, being natural things, called 'the earth' and 'the Lord's footstool'. What heaven and earth mean in the internal sense of the Word, see also 82, 1733. What the new heaven and new earth mean, see 2117, 2118 (end). And that man is a miniature heaven, see 911, 978, 1900.

[9] Similarly in Jeremiah,

In His anger the Lord covers the daughter of Zion with a cloud, He has cast down from heaven to earth the splendour of Israel, and has not remembered His footstool on the day of His anger. Lamentations 2:1.

Also in David,

Exalt Jehovah our God, and bow down at His footstool. Holy is He! Psalms 99:5.

Elsewhere in the same author,

We will enter His dwelling-places, we will bow down at His footstool. Psalms 132:7.

People in the representative Church - and thus the Jews - imagined that God's house and the temple were His footstool. They did not know that by the Lord's house and the temple was meant external representative worship. What the internal features of the Church were, meant by 'heaven' or God's throne, they had no knowledge at all.

[10] In the same author,

Jehovah said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand till I make your enemies a stool for your feet. Psalms 110:1; Matthew 22:44; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42-43.

Here 'footstool' in a similar way means natural things - both sensory impressions and factual knowledge, and man's rational ideas formed from these - which are called 'enemies' when worship is perverted by them (which is done from the literal sense of the Word). As a result worship exists solely in things that are external, and no internal worship - or rather only internal worship that is defiled - exists, concerning which see 1094, 1175, 1182. When these have became perverted and defiled in this manner they are called 'enemies'; but because, regarded in themselves, they have reference to internal worship, when this is restored, they become - both the things that belong to external worship and those that belong to the sense of the letter of the Word - 'a footstool', as stated already.

[11] In Isaiah,

The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the fir, the pine, and the box tree together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; and I will make the place of My feet glorious. Isaiah 60:13.

This refers to the Lord's kingdom and Church, the celestial-spiritual things of which are meant by 'the glory of Lebanon', that is, cedar trees, but the celestial-natural things of it by 'the fir, the pine, and the box', as also in other places in the Word. Thus it is the external aspects of worship that are referred to when it is said that 'I will make the place of My feet glorious'; and this cannot he made glorious by the fir, the pine, and the box, but by the things meant by these.

[12] That 'feet' means these things is also clear from the representatives in the Jewish Church, for example, by the requirement that Aaron and his sons were to wash their hands and feet before entering the tabernacle, Exodus 30:19-20; 40:31-32. No one is able to see that arcana were represented by this, for what is such washing of the hands and feet but some external act which does not do anything at all if the internal is not pure and clean? Nor can the internal be made pure and clean by such a washing. But because all the forms of ritual of that Church meant internal things that are celestial and spiritual, so it was with this form; that is to say, it meant the cleanliness of external worship, which is clean when internal worship is present within it. This explains why their lavers were made of bronze, and also the large laver which was called 'the bronze sea', together with the ten smaller ones made of bronze around Solomon's temple, 1 Kings 7:23, 38. They were made of bronze because 'bronze' represented good present in external worship, which is the same as natural good. Regarding this meaning of bronze, see 425, 1551.

[13] Similarly representative was the prohibition that no man among Aaron's descendants who had a broken foot or a broken hand should draw near to offer fire-offerings to Jehovah, Leviticus 21:19, 21. 'Broken feet and hands' represented those people whose external worship was perverted.

[14] That 'feet' means natural things is also evident from various other places in the Prophets, as in these prophetical utterances in Moses,

Blessed above sons be Asher; let him be acceptable among his brothers, and dipping his foot in oil. Your shoes will be iron and bronze. Deuteronomy 33:24-25.

These words will not be understood by anybody unless he knows what the meaning of oil, foot, iron, bronze, and shoe are in the internal sense. 'Foot' is the natural; 'shoe' the still lower natural, such as that which is connected with the senses and the body, see 1748; 'oil' is the celestial, 886; 'iron' natural truth, 425, 426; and 'bronze' natural good, 425, 1551. From these places it is evident what these words embody.

[15] In Nahum,

The way of Jehovah is in storm and tempest, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. Nahum 1:3.

Here 'the dust of the feet' means the natural and bodily things with man which give rise to clouds. The same is also meant by these words in David,

Jehovah bowed the heavens and came down, and thick darkness was under His feet. Psalms 18:9.

[16] When goods and truths of faith are perverted by natural light, as people call it, it is described in the Word as the feet and hoofs of a beast which trouble waters and trample on food, as in Ezekiel,

You have come forth into the rivers, and have troubled the waters with your feet and trampled their rivers. I will destroy all its beasts from over many waters, and the foot of man will not trouble them any longer, nor will the hoofs of beast. Ezekiel 32:2, 13.

This refers to Egypt, which meant forms of knowledge, as shown in 1164, 1165, 1462. Thus by 'feet and hoofs which trouble the rivers and water' are meant facts gained from sensory and from natural things, on the basis of which people reason about the arcana of faith and do not believe anything until they grasp it by this method. This amounts to not believing at all, for the more such people go on reasoning, the less believing they are; see what is said in 128-130, 215, 232, 233, 1072, 1385. From all these quotations it is now evident that 'feet' in the Word means natural things. But what further meaning 'feet' may have is evident from the context in which the expression occurs.

Imibhalo yaphansi: