9994. “与抹油的无酵薄饼” 表外在人里面的属天之物. 这从 “薄饼”, “无酵” 和 “油” 的含义清楚可知: “薄饼” 是指外在人里面的属天之物, 如下文所述; “无酵” 是指已洁净之物 (参看9992节); “油” 是指爱之良善 (886, 4582, 4638节). 从这些含义明显可知, “抹油的无酵薄饼” 表示外在人里面的属天之物, 这属天之物是从头两个属天层依次发出的. 经上说薄饼要 “抹油”, 而糕饼要 “调油”, 是因为薄饼排在第三位, 而糕饼排在第二位, 如刚才所述 (9993节). 排在第二位的直接从至内层发出, 因而拥有 “油” 所表示的至内在的属天层在里面; 排在第三位的间接, 也就是说, 经由排在第二位的从至内层发出, 因而不像排在第二位的那样那么拥有至内层在里面. 正因如此, 由于糕饼表示排在第二位的属天层, 所以经上说它们要 “调油”; 而薄饼表示排在第三位的属天层, 所以经上说它们要 “抹油”. 不过, 这些问题很难理解, 除非知道事物是如何按先后次序出现的; 这就像目的, 原因和结果. 至内在之物构成目的, 中间之物构成原因, 最末之物构成结果. 目的必须在原因里面, 以便它能成为这个目的的原因, 原因必须在结果里面, 以便它能成为这个原因的结果. 目的不像在原因里面那样显明在结果里面, 因为结果离目的, 比原因离目的更远. 这一切会启示心智认识到至内在之物, 中间之物和外在之物按先后次序彼此相随的性质.

9086. 'And an ox or an ass falls into it' means, which perverts good or truth in the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'falling' as perverting, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'an ox' as an affection for evil in the natural, thus evil there, dealt with above in 9065; and from the meaning of 'an ass' as truth in the natural, dealt with in 2781, 5492, 5741, 7024, 8078. The fact that 'falling into a pit' - when these words refer to good and truth in the natural, which are meant by 'an ox and an ass' - means perverting is evident from the contents of the next verse. These describe amendment made through truth, which can be accomplished with forms of good or truths that have been perverted, but not with those which have been wiped out. For when good or truth is perverted it still remains, but is misrepresented. 'Falling' also means slipping through error.

[2] Because this was meant by 'falling into a pit', the Lord therefore said,

Which of you, having an ass or an ox that has fallen into a well, will not immediately pull it out on the sabbath day? Luke 14:5.

The Lord said this when He healed someone with dropsy on the sabbath day. In that Church the sabbath day was the holiest because it was a sign of the heavenly marriage, which is the joining together of goodness and truth from the Lord, 8495, 8510. This explains why healings were performed by the Lord on the sabbath day; for healing implied the healing of spiritual life, and dropsy implied the perversion of truth and good, so that the healing of perverted truth implied amendment and restoration. All the Lord's miracles implied and were signs of states of the Church, 8364, as is true of all Divine miracles in general, 7337. So it is then that the Lord said, 'Which of you, having an ass or an ox that has fallen into a well, will not immediately pull it out on the sabbath day?' by which in the spiritual sense what has just been stated was meant. For whatever the Lord spoke He spoke from the Divine; and since it came from the Divine every detail has an internal sense within it, 9049, 9063 (end). 'A well' in what He said is similar in meaning to 'a pit', namely falsity, 1688. And since 'a pit' means falsity the Lord also said, when talking about the falsities of the Church,

When the blind leads the blind both fall into a pit. Matthew 15:14.

'The blind' is someone with wrong ideas, and 'falling into a pit' means perverting truth. These words were used to make a comparison; but all comparisons in the Word were drawn from among objects used as signs of spiritual things, 3579, 8989.

[3] There are people who believe that the Divine holiness which the Word contains lies hidden on a level no higher than the meaning apparent in the letter. Such people's vision of holiness in these words spoken by the Lord and in everything else in the Word arises solely from their belief that everything there is Divinely inspired, and that the things which no one can explain are arcana known only to God. But people who do not share that belief spurn the Word, solely because of its style, which is in appearance less polished than a style adopted to conform to the spirit of the age, such as that adopted by very many ancient and modern authors. But let these people know that Divine holiness lies in each and every detail of the Word. It consists however in this, that each and every detail has the Lord as its subject, also His kingdom and Church. All its details are extremely holy because they are Divine, received from the Lord, and so hold eternal life within them, as accords with the Lord's words in John,

The words that I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life. John 6:63.

But the things that are Divine and holy are clearly visible to angels in heaven because they do not understand the Word in a natural way according to the literal sense, only in a spiritual way according to the internal sense. The latter sense could also be understood by people in the world if they were to lead an angelic life, that is to say, a life of faith and love. The things contained in the internal sense of the Word are one and the same as those which the genuine teachings of the Church present. Those which the genuine teachings of the Church present are the Lord, faith in Him, love to Him, and a love of the good that comes from Him, which love is charity towards the neighbour, 6709, 6710, 8123. Those who lead this angelic life, and no others at all, are enlightened by the Lord and see the holy things of the Word; see Preface to Genesis 18.