9755. 'And the breadth of the court on the side of the sea' means the state of that heaven in respect of truths on the level of factual knowledge. This is clear from the meaning of 'the breadth' as truth, dealt with in 1613, 3433, 3434, 4482, 9487; from the meaning of 'the court' as the lowest heaven, dealt with above in 9741; and from the meaning of 'the sea' as the place where items of knowledge on which reasoning about truths is based are gathered together, thus also the natural level and the sensory level of the mind, for these are containers. Here 'the side of the sea' is an expression denoting the west side, and by 'the west' good dwelling in obscurity is meant. However, since the words 'the west' are not used but 'the sea', factual knowledge is meant, which too dwells in comparative obscurity because factual knowledge belongs to the natural or external man, and the natural or external man dwells in the light of the world. This light, compared with the light of heaven in which the internal man dwells, is like the shade when the sun is going down in the west.

[2] This may also be recognized from things as they appear in the next life. The Sun of heaven, which is the Lord, appears there midway above the horizon in the direction of the right eye. It is for the angels of heaven the Source of all light, and with the light the Source of all intelligence and wisdom. The sun of the world however does not appear as such when they think about it, but instead as a gloomy object in the opposite direction behind the back. That is also where the west is, in the heavens; for the Lord there as the Sun is the east. From all this it becomes clear that 'the west' means good dwelling in obscurity, and that this is the good that governs the external or natural man. The natural man, as has been stated, dwells in the light of the world, and this light in comparison with the light of heaven is like the shade when the sun is going down in the west. The natural man's truth however is meant by the water of the sea. This truth consists in factual knowledge, for truth in the natural or external man is truth present in knowledge, whereas truth in the spiritual or internal man is truth present in faith. And truth present in knowledge comes to be truth present in faith when it is raised from the natural or external man to the spiritual or internal man. So it is that truths with a person in childhood are truths present in knowledge; but in adult life, if the person allows himself to be regenerated, they come to be truths present in faith. For the internal man is being opened gradually as the person advances into adult life.

[3] The reason why 'the sea' means a place where items of knowledge are gathered together is that truths are meant by 'waters', 'springs', and 'rivers', so that gatherings of them are meant by 'seas'. That this is so is also clear from places in the Word where 'the sea' and 'the seas' are mentioned, as in David,

The earth is Jehovah's and the fullness of it, the world and those who dwell in it. He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the rivers. Psalms 24:1-2.

'The earth' and 'the world' stand for the Church. 'The seas' on which He has founded the world are truths on the level of factual knowledge, 'the rivers' on which He has established it are the truths of faith. The fact that the earth, world, seas, or rivers should not be understood here is self-evident; for the world has not been founded upon the seas, nor has it been established upon the rivers.

[4] In the same author,

You broke up the sea by Your strength, You broke the heads of the monsters upon the waters. You broke in pieces the heads of Leviathan; You gave him as food to the people, the Ziim. You dried up the rivers of strength. Psalms 74:13-15.

This refers in the internal sense to knowledge that destroys the truths of faith. 'The monsters' whose heads will be broken are factual knowledge in general, 42, 7293; and 'Leviathan' has a similar meaning, 7293. 'The people, the Ziim', to whom it was to be given as food, are those steeped in falsities, or actual falsities. From this it is evident what 'the sea' means, namely factual knowledge misapplied in order to weaken and destroy truths. In Habakkuk,

You trampled the sea with Your horses, the mud of many waters. Habakkuk 3:15.

'Trampling the sea with horses', when said to have been done by Jehovah, stands for teaching the natural man, where factual knowledge belongs.

[5] In Zechariah,

On that day living waters will flow out from Jerusalem, part of them to the eastern sea, and part of them to the western ¹ sea. Zechariah 14:8.

'Living waters from Jerusalem' are truths of faith that receive their life from the good of love, 'the eastern sea' and 'the western sea' being the natural level and the sensory level of the mind where items of knowledge reside, that is, truths that have been gathered together. In Hosea,

They will go after Jehovah, and respectfully [His] sons from the sea ² will draw near; respectfully they will come like a bird from Egypt. Hosea 11:10-11.

'Sons from the sea' are truths on the level of factual knowledge which belong to the natural man. This explains why it says that 'they will come like a bird from Egypt', for 'Egypt' in the Word means factual knowledge, 9340, 9391.

[6] In Ezekiel,

All the princes of the sea will step down from their thrones, and will cast away their robes and strip off their embroidered clothes. They will clothe themselves with tremblings, they will say, How you have perished, O one inhabited in the seas, O praised city which was powerful in the sea. Ezekiel 26:16-17.

This has to do with the ruination of the cognitions of good and truth, meant by Tyre, to which the words here refer, 1201, cognitions of good and truth being items of knowledge which the Church possesses. 'The princes of the sea' are leading cognitions, 1482, 2089, 5044; and 'casting away robes and embroidered clothes' means removing truths as they exist on the level of factual knowledge, 9688. Since such truths are meant by 'Tyre', Tyre is called 'one inhabited in the seas' and 'a city powerful in the sea'.

[7] In Jeremiah,

The sea has come up over Babel, she has been covered with the multitude of its waves; her cities have been reduced to a desolation. Jeremiah 51:42-43.

'Babel' stands for worship which to outward appearances is holy but inwardly is unholy, 1182, 1326. 'The sea' spread over Babel is falsity rising up from factual knowledge; 'its waves' are reasonings that consist of that knowledge, and the resulting denials; 'cities' which were turned into a desolation are matters of doctrine.

[8] Something similar occurs in the Book of Revelation,

Every shipmaster, and everyone on board ships, and sailors, and all who trade on the sea, stood at a distance [and were crying out] as they saw the smoke of Babylon's burning, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who have ships on the sea have been made rich by her wealth. ³ Then an angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, Thus with vehemence will Babylon be thrown down. Revelation 18:17-21.

'Ships' are teachings drawn from the Word, 6385, and from this it is evident what 'shipmaster' means, and 'sailor', also 'the sea', and 'those who trade on it'. 'A stone like a millstone' is truth through which faith develops; 'being thrown into the sea' means being consigned to the falsity of factual knowledge. In the next life seas appear, and also ships on them; I have often been allowed to see such ships and seas. The seas there are in a bad sense a sign of the falsities of factual knowledge, and people on ships a sign of those who traffic in and supply such falsities.

[9] In Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah who gives the sun for light by day and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea that its waves may roar, ... Jeremiah 31:35.

'The sun for light by day' is the good of love from which light comes to truths. 'The ordinances of the moon and of the stars for light by night' are forms of the good of faith and of cognitions from which truth has light in darkness. 'Stirring up the sea that its waves may roar' means dispelling the falsities of factual knowledge on which mere reasonings about truths are based.

[10] In Isaiah,

Has My hand been altogether shortened, that it cannot redeem? Or is there no power in Me to deliver? Lo, by My rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a desert. Their fish will putrify because there is no water and they die of thirst. Isaiah 50:2.

'Drying up the sea' stands for doing away with the good and truth of factual knowledge, 'making the rivers a desert' for laying actual truths waste. 'The fish' which will putrify means the factual knowledge that the natural man possesses, 40, 991; 'because there is no water' means the non-existence of truth, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, 8568; 'dying of thirst' means owing to the lack of truth, 8568.

[11] Something similar occurs elsewhere in the same prophet,

The waters will fail from the sea, and the river will be parched and dry; and the streams will recede, the rivers of Egypt will diminish and dry up. Isaiah 19:5-6.

'The waters will fail from the sea' stands for the departure of truths in the place where they are gathered together; 'the rivers of Egypt' which are going to dry up are factual knowledge. In the same prophet,

The earth is full of the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters cover the sea. Isaiah 11:9.

'The waters' stands for truths, 'the sea' for a gathering together of them, that is, for knowledge of them, which is why it speaks of the earth's being full of 'the knowledge of Jehovah'.

[12] In John,

The second angel sounded, and so to speak a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea. And a third part of the sea became blood resulting in the death of a third part of the creatures which had their being in the sea. ⁴ And a third part of the ships was destroyed. Revelation 8:8-9.

'A great mountain burning with fire' is self-love; 'the sea' into which it was thrown is factual knowledge in general; 'blood' which it became is truth that has been falsified and made profane, 4735, 4978, 7317, 7326; and 'the creatures' which died as a result are those in possession of teachings which present the truth.

[13] Something similar occurs elsewhere in the same book,

The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of one dead, from which every living soul died in the sea. Revelation 16:3-4.

Factual knowledge serving evils in the destruction of truths and in the substantiation of falsities is meant here by 'the sea'. In the same book,

... a beast coming up out of the sea, speaking blasphemies. Revelation 13:1ff.

'A beast out of the sea' is factual knowledge destroying the truths of faith. From all this it becomes clear that 'the sea' means a place where factual knowledge is gathered together and is the resource which reasoning about the truths of faith makes use of.

[14] Since 'the sea' has this meaning Zebulun is spoken of as dwelling at the shore of the seas and at the haven of ships, Genesis 49:13, and in another place as one who 'will suck the plentifulness of the sea, and the hidden treasures of the sand, Deuteronomy 33:19. Zebulun is used in the representative sense to mean those who make use of factual knowledge to arrive at conclusions about the truths of faith; this is why it says that he was going to dwell 'at the shore of the seas'.

[15] In the contrary sense however 'the sea' means factual knowledge which has the world as the end in view; in this case its 'waves' are reasonings that are the product of worldly notions about Divine matters. Consequently 'being immersed in the sea' means being immersed so thoroughly in factual knowledge which is the product of worldly and earthly notions that there is no belief whatever in God's truth, as in Matthew,

Whoever causes one of the little ones believing in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if an ass's millstone ⁵ were hung onto his neck and he were plunged into the depth of the sea. Matthew 18:6.

'A millstone' is truth which is of service to faith, 4335, 7780, 'an ass' is the natural because it is a servant, 2781, 5741, 5958, 6389, 8078, so that 'an ass's millstone' is natural and worldly knowledge. 'The neck' means the joining of interior things to exterior ones, 3542; 'being hung on it' means a blocking and cutting off of good and truth, 3542, 3603; 'being plunged into the depth of the sea' means sinking into what is merely worldly and bodily, thus into hell. These words, like all others spoken by the Lord, are accordingly such as carry a spiritual meaning.

[16] But [the nature of] the factual knowledge meant by 'the sea' depends altogether on the density and blackness of its waters, or conversely on the clearness and transparency of them. So it is that factual knowledge looking towards heaven, which is the spiritual dimension within the natural man, is called the glassy sea in Revelation 15:1-2. A time when no one will use factual knowledge to reason about the truths of faith, but truths will be imprinted on people's hearts is meant by the sea will be no more in Revelation 21:1.

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9741. 'And you shall make the court of the dwelling-place' means the lowest heaven. This is clear from the meaning of 'the court of the dwelling-place' as the external part of heaven, thus the lowest heaven; for there are three heavens, the inmost, the middle, and the lowest. The inmost was represented by the inmost part of the dwelling-place, where the ark of the Testimony was; the middle one by the dwelling-place outside the veil; and the lowest by the court, which is the subject now. This heaven is called the court because they who are there are those who are governed by the good of faith and not as yet by the good of charity towards the neighbour - they who are governed by the good of charity being those who are in the middle heaven. Those in the lowest heaven, which is called the court, are called angelic spirits; those in the middle heaven are called spiritual angels; but those in the inmost heaven are called celestial angels.

[2] The good of faith itself too, which is the good of the lowest heaven, is meant by 'the court', because it is through this good that a person is led on into the good of charity towards the neighbour, which is the good of the middle heaven. It should be remembered that the good present with a person constitutes his heaven and that the kind of heaven that is his is determined by the kind of good that is his. There are three kinds of good that follow one another in order - the good of faith, the good of charity towards the neighbour, and the good of love to the Lord. The good of faith constitutes the lowest or first heaven, as stated above; the good of charity towards the neighbour constitutes the middle or second heaven; and the good of love to the Lord constitutes the inmost or third heaven.

[3] A little more needs to be said to give people an even better knowledge of the arrangement of the heavens. The heavens are divided into two kingdoms, the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom; and in each kingdom there is an internal part and an external. The internal part of the celestial kingdom is inhabited by those who are governed by the good of love to the Lord, and the external part of it by those who are governed by the good of mutual love; but the internal part of the spiritual kingdom is inhabited by those who are governed by the good of charity towards the neighbour, and the external part of it by those who are governed by the good of faith, see 9680. The external part of each kingdom ¹ is what is called the lowest or first heaven and was represented by the court. This explains why there were two courts around the temple, an outer and an inner, the outer court standing for those who inhabit the external parts of the spiritual kingdom and the inner court for those inhabiting the external parts of the celestial kingdom.

[4] Regarding these two courts of the temple in Jerusalem, see 1 Kings 6:3, 36; 2 Kings 21:5. Regarding the outer court of the new temple in Ezekiel, see Ezekiel 40:17, 31, 34; Ezekiel 42:1-end; and regarding the inner court there, Ezekiel 40:23, 28, 32, 44; 42:3; 43:5. From all this it is evident that the lowest heaven which was represented by the outer court of the temple is composed of the good of faith, and the lowest heaven which was represented by the inner court is composed of the good of mutual love. Those governed by the good of mutual love are governed by an affection for good for goodness' sake, whereas those governed by the good of faith are governed by an affection for truth for truth's sake. For good has dominion in the celestial kingdom, whereas truth has it in the spiritual kingdom.

[5] The fact that the lowest heaven is meant by 'the courts' is evident from places in the Word where they are mentioned, as in Ezekiel,

The glory of Jehovah rose ² from above the cherub over the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud; and the cloud filled the inner court. ³ And the court was full of the brightness of the glory of Jehovah, and the sound of the wings of the cherubs was heard as far as the outer court. Ezekiel 10:3-5.

The court was representative of the lowest heaven, and that was why it was filled, as was the house itself, with the cloud and the brightness of the glory of Jehovah, for 'the cloud' and 'the glory' mean Divine Truth. As regards 'the cloud', that it has this meaning, see 5922, 6343 (end), 6752, 8106, 8443, and also 'the glory', 8267, 8427, 9429. 'The sound of the wings' means the truth of faith derived from good, 8764, 9514.

[6]In the same prophet,

The spirit lifted me up and led me into the inner court of the temple; and behold, the glory of Jehovah filled the house. And I heard Him speaking to me from the house, saying, Son of man, [this is] the place of My throne, and the place of the soles of My feet, where I shall dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. Ezekiel 43:4-7.

Here the temple and the court are called 'the place of Jehovah's throne, and the place of the soles of His feet' because the temple and the court represented heaven, 'Jehovah's throne' being the spiritual heaven, 5313, 8625, 'the place of the soles of His feet' the lowest heaven.

[7] The lowest heaven is also meant by 'court' and 'courts' in the following places: In David,

Blessed is [anyone] whom You choose and cause to come near; he will dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, with the holiness of Your temple. Psalms 65:4.

'Dwelling in those courts', as is self-evident, means dwelling in heaven. In the same author,

A day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I have chosen to stand at the door in the house of My God rather than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. Psalms 84:10.

In the same author,

Planted in the house of Jehovah, they will flourish in the courts of our God. Psalms 92:13.

In the same author,

Give to Jehovah the glory of His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts. Psalms 96:8.

In the same author,

Praise the name of Jehovah, praise [Him], O servants of Jehovah who are standing in the house of Jehovah, in the courts of the house of our God. Psalms 135:1-2.

In Isaiah,

They will collect the grain and new wine, they will eat [it] and praise Jehovah; and those who will have gathered it together will drink [it] in the courts of My holiness. Isaiah 62:9.

In these places 'courts' stands for the lowest heavens; for the more internal heavens are called Jehovah's house and His temple, 3720.

[8] In John,

The angel said, Rise and measure the temple and the altar, and those who worship in it. But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations, ⁴ who will trample the holy city for forty-two months. Revelation 11:1-2.

'The temple and the altar, and those who worship in it' are the Church and its worship. 'The court outside the temple' is the good of mutual love, as stated above. 'The nations to whom the holy city has been given to trample' are the evils of self-love and love of the world, which destroy the Church, 6306. 'Forty-two months' is similar in meaning to six weeks, and 'six weeks' is similar in meaning to six days of a week; for six multiplied by seven makes forty-two. A week means a whole period, long or short, 2044, 3845; the six days which come before the seventh or sabbath mean a former Church through to its end, and the establishment of a new Church. For 'the sabbath' means goodness and truth joined together, and so means the Church, 8495, 8510, 8890, 8893, 9274.

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