9331. 'And I will send the hornet before you' means the dread felt by those who are steeped in falsities arising from evil. This is clear from the meaning of 'hornets' as falsities that are stinging and lethal and therefore cause feelings of dread. Terror is used in reference to those immersed in evils, and dread to those steeped in falsities; regarding the terror felt by the former, see above in 9327. The reason why the dread felt by those steeped in falsities is meant by 'hornets' is that these are winged creatures equipped with stings with which they can administer venomous pricks. For living creatures both great and small mean such things as compose human affections, that is, such as are connected with the will, or else they mean such things as compose human thoughts, that is, such as are connected with the understanding. For everything without exception in the human being has connection either with his will or with his understanding. Things that have no connection with one or the other do not exist in the human being, and so are not part of the human being. Creatures that walk and also ones that creep mean affections in both senses, and so mean forms of good or else evils since these belong to the affections, whereas flying creatures, including insects with wings, mean such things as belong to thought in both senses, and so mean truths or else falsities since these belong to thoughts.

Living creatures mean forms of good or else evils, see 9280. Ones that creep mean forms of good or else evils on the external level of the senses, 746, 909, 994. Flying creatures mean truths or falsities, 40, 745, 776, 778, 866, 911, 988, 3219, 5149, 7441. Consequently insects with wings mean the same things, but as they exist on the outermost levels of the human mind.

[2] But falsities, which are the subject now, are of many kinds. There are falsities which do no harm, there are falsities which do slight harm and those which do serious harm, and there are also those which are lethal. What kind they are is recognized from the evils they arise from. Every falsity that is harmful or that is lethal owes its existence to evil; for falsity arising from evil is evil revealing itself in an outward form. In the next life also, when such falsities are represented visually, they are seen as swarms of filthy insects and flying creatures, a terrifying sight that is determined by the type of evil from which the falsities derive. From all this it is evident why it is that the dread felt by those steeped in falsities arising from evil is meant by 'hornets'. Similarly in Deuteronomy,

Jehovah your God will send the hornet among them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you have perished. Deuteronomy 7:20.

[3] Throughout the Word various types of insects are mentioned, and wherever they are mentioned they mean falsities or evils in the outermost levels of the human mind, or the external level of the senses. These evils and falsities have their origin in the illusions of the senses and in various bodily pleasures and appetites, which mislead by means of their allurements and by outward appearances, and cause reason to assent to and so become immersed in falsities arising from evil. This type of falsities is meant by 'the noxious flying insects' of Egypt, see 7441, and likewise by 'the locusts' there, 7643. By 'the frogs' of Egypt reasonings arising from falsities are meant, 7351, 7352, 7384; by 'the lice' there evils of the same kind are meant, 7419; and by 'worms' falsities that devour and torment, 8481.

[4] Such evils and falsities are also meant by the various types of insects referred to in the following places: In Isaiah,

It will happen on that day, that Jehovah will whistle for the fly that is in the farthest part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Asshur. They will come and all of them will rest in the river of desolations, and in the clefts of the rocks, and in all bushes. Isaiah 7:18-19.

This refers to the Lord's Coming, and to the state of the Church then. 'The fly in the farthest part of the rivers of Egypt' is falsity on the outermost levels of the human mind, that is, on the external level of the senses, 7441. 'The bee in the land of Asshur' is falsity perverting reasonings in the mind; for 'Asshur' means reasoning, 1186. 'The river of desolations' is falsity reigning everywhere; 'the clefts of the rocks' are the truths of faith lying in obscurity, because they have been removed from the light of heaven, 8581 (end); and 'bushes' are similar but newly developing truths, 2682.

[5] In Amos,

I struck you with blight and mildew; your very many gardens, and your vineyards, and your fig trees, and your olive trees the caterpillar (eruca) devoured. Amos 4:9.

In Joel,

What the caterpillar (eruca) has left the locust will devour, and what the locust has left the beetle (melolontha) will devour, and what the beetle has left the bruchus ¹ will devour. Awake, you drunkards; and wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the new wine that has been cut off from your mouth. Joel 1:4-5.

In the same prophet,

The threshing-floors are full of clean grain; the presses overflow with new wine and oil. And I will recompense for you the years that the locust has consumed, the beetle (melolontha), and the bruchus, and the caterpillar (eruca), My great army which I sent among you. Joel 2:24-25.

Here falsities and evils on the outermost levels or the external level of the senses of a member of the Church are meant by these types of insects, as is evident from the specific details in these quotations; for they refer to the perversion of the Church's truth and good. What 'the locust' and what 'the bruchus' mean may be seen in 7643; and the fact that the Church's forms of good and its truths in general are meant by 'gardens', 'vineyards', 'fig trees', 'olive trees', 'wine', and 'new wine', which are destroyed by such creatures, has been shown often in explanations.

[6] In David,

He caused frogs to crawl forth onto their land, into the chambers of their kings. He spoke, that a swarm might come, lice in all their borders. Psalms 105:30-31.

This refers to Egypt. What is meant by 'frogs' there, see 7351, 7352, 7384; and what by 'lice', 7419. In Moses,

You will plant and dress vineyards, but not drink wine nor gather [the fruit]; for the worm will eat it. Deuteronomy 28:39.

'The worm' stands for all such falsity and evil in general.

[7] In Isaiah,

Do not fear the reproach of man (homo), and do not be dismayed by their slanders. For the moth will devour them as a garment, and the grub will devour them as wool. Isaiah 51:7-8.

'The moth' stands for falsities on the outermost levels of the human mind, and 'the grub' for evils there. For 'a garment' which the moth will devour means the lower or more external truths that belong to the sensory level of the human mind, 2576, 5248, 6377, 6918, 9158, 9212; and 'wool' which the grub will devour means the lower or more external forms of good that belong to the sensory level of the human mind, as is evident from many places in the Word, and also from the meaning of 'a sheep', from which wool is obtained, as the good of charity, 4169. What exactly are the outermost levels of the natural man, which are called those of the senses, and what they are like, see 4009, 5077, 5081, 5084, 5089, 5094, 5125, 5128, 5580, 5767, 5774, 6183, 6201, 6310-6318, 6564, 6598, 6612, 6614, 6622, 6624, 6844, 6845, 6948, 6949, 7442, 7645, 7693, 9212, 9216.

Poznámky pod čarou:

5125. '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. This is clear from the representation of 'the cupbearer', regarding whom these words are said, as the powers of the senses subject to the understanding part, dealt with in 5077, 5082, and therefore the impressions received through the senses in the external natural (for it is not the actual powers of the senses that are restored to order but the impressions which have come through the senses into the person's false notions); and from the meaning of 'restoring to a position' as restoring to order. And because sensory impressions, that is, images which have come in from the world by way of the external sensory organs, occupy the lowest position, where they minister to or serve more interior things, those impressions too are meant. In the case of regenerate persons sensory impressions do occupy the lowest position, but in the case of those who are not regenerate they occupy the first, see 5077, 5081, 5084, 5089, 5094.

[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.