46. That 'beasts' means affections residing with man - evil affections in evil men and good affections in good men - becomes clear from many examples in the Word, as in Ezekiel,

Behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, so that you will be tilled and sown; and I will multiply upon you man and beast, and they will be multiplied and be fruitful, and I will resettle you ¹ to be as in your ancient times. Ezekiel 36:9-11.

This refers to regeneration. In Joel,

Fear not, you beasts of My field, for the dwelling-places of the wilderness have been made green. Joel 2:22.

In David,

I was stupid, a beast ² was I with God. Psalms 73:12.

In Jeremiah,

Behold, the days are coming when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast, and I will watch over them to build and to plant. Jeremiah 31:27-28.

This refers to regeneration.

[2] 'Wild animals' (fera) has a similar meaning, as in Hosea,

I will make for them a covenant on that day, with the wild animals of the field, and with the birds of the air, ³ and with the creeping things of the earth. Hosea 2:18.

In Job,

You will not fear the wild animals of the earth, for your covenant will be with the stones of the field, and the wild beasts of the field will be at peace with you. Job 5:22-23.

In Ezekiel,

I will make with them ⁴ a covenant of peace, and I will banish the evil wild animal from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness. Ezekiel 34:25.

In Isaiah,

The wild animals of the field will honour me, for I have given water in the desert. Isaiah 43:20.

In Ezekiel,

In its branches all the birds of the air ³ made their nests and under its branches every wild animal of the field gave birth, and in its shadow dwelt all great nations. Ezekiel 31:6.

This refers to Assyria, which means the spiritual man and is compared to the Garden of Eden. In David,

Praise Jehovah, all his angels, praise Him from the earth, sea monsters, fruit trees, wild animals, and all beasts, creeping things, and flying birds! Psalms 148:2-4, 7, 9-10.

Here the list is precisely the same - sea monsters, fruit trees, wild animals, beasts, creeping things, and birds. Unless they all mean things that are alive in human beings, they cannot possibly be referred to as praising Jehovah.

[3] A careful distinction is made in the Prophets between beasts and wild animals of the earth, and between beasts and wild animals of the field. The practice of calling goods 'beasts' extends to calling people in heaven who are nearest to the Lord 'living creatures', both in Ezekiel and in John,

All the angels stood around the throne, and the elders, and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God. ⁵ Revelation 7:11; 19:4.

The expression 'creatures' is also used of people who are to have the gospel preached to them because they are to be created anew, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15.

Бележки под линия:

3399. The expression 'lying with a wife' means in the internal sense perverting and adulterating truth, here truth that is Divine, because 'a wife' - Rebekah - represents Divine Truth, as shown above. This may be seen from the consideration that instances of lying together, adultery, and prostitution in the Word do not mean anything other than perversions of good and falsifications of truth, as shown in 2466, 2729. The reason why they do so is that all adultery is absolutely contrary to conjugial love, so much so that it is destructive of it; and conjugial love originates in the marriage of good and truth, 2508, 2618, 2727-2759, 3132. Consequently things that are contrary to good and truth, or that destroy them, are in the Word called forms of adultery.

[2] But it should be realized that those who belong to the spiritual Church are not able to adulterate good to such an extent that they profane it, for the reason that they are not able to receive good so far as to perceive it, as those who are celestial do. They are able however to profane truth because they are able to acknowledge it. Yet in the final period of the Church they are not able even to acknowledge truth, because at that time universal disbelief prevails concerning the Lord, concerning life after death, and concerning the internal man. And the disbelief which reigns universally makes it impossible for them to penetrate into the interior truths of faith. That which prevails with everyone universally limits them and keeps them back from entering more deeply into such things, even when the person is unaware of that universal disbelief and also when he supposes that he does believe.

[3] But those who are able to profane good are such as belong to the celestial Church, for they are able to receive it so as to perceive it, as was done by those living before the Flood who have consequently been segregated from everyone else and are kept in a hell separated from the hells of others - regarding which see 1265-1272. The prevention of the occurrence ever again of the profanation of good is meant by the reference to Jehovah expelling man and causing cherubim to dwell away from the east towards the garden of Eden, and the flame of a sword turning this way and that to guard the way of the tree of life, Genesis 3:24. On these matters, see 308, 310.