9193. 'Shall be utterly destroyed' means being cast out. This is clear from the meaning of 'being utterly destroyed', when it refers to people whose worship is that of falsities arising from evil, as being cast out, that is to say, cast out of the Church. The fact that casting such falsities out of the Church, and so rooting them out, is meant by their being 'utterly destroyed', is evident in Moses,

If men of belial ¹ have gone out of your midst, and have urged the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, whom you have not known - if it is true and certain, ² that [this] abomination has been committed in the midst of you - you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword. You shall utterly destroy it and everyone who is in it, and also the beasts in it, with the edge of the sword. You shall bring together all the spoil from it into the middle of the street, and shall burn the city with fire, and all the spoil from it, the whole of it, to Jehovah your God, so that it may be a heap forever and not be built ever again. Do it so thoroughly that nothing of what is given to utter destruction sticks in your hand. Deuteronomy 13:13-17.

[2] The fact that falsity arising from evil is what 'that which is given to utter destruction' means is evident from the details of these verses in the internal sense. 'Cities' which were to be utterly destroyed are religious teachings, in this instance false teachings, 2712, 2943, 3216. 'The edge of the sword' with which they were to strike man and beast is truth fighting against and destroying falsity that arises from evil, 2799, 4499, 7102, 8294. 'The street' into the middle of which the spoil was to be brought is truth presented by religious teachings and in the contrary sense falsity presented by them, 2336. 'Fire' with which the spoil was to be burned along with the city is the evil of self-love, 1297, 2446, 5071, 5215, 6314, 6832, 7324. From all this it is evident that 'utter destruction' means being cast out of the Church and being rooted out. Therefore also it was commanded that the nations in the land of Canaan should be utterly destroyed, Deuteronomy 7:2, 24-26. For the nations had originally constituted the Church in that land, which also was why they had altars and in addition offered sacrifices, 3686, 4447, 4516, 4517, 5136, 6306, 6516, 8054. But when they turned representative worship - the worship of the Ancient Church - into idolatrous worship, and in so doing falsified truths and adulterated forms of good, 8317, the command came for them to be given to utter destruction, not only people but also cities and what was in them.

[3] The command came because everything there represented falsities arising from evil. The cities represented the actual teachings presenting falsity; the beasts represented evil affections; the gold and silver of those people represented evils and falsities; and so on with everything else. The worship of the Ancient Church had consisted first and foremost in worshipping God in human form, that is, in worshipping the Lord. But then they turned aside from good to evil and began to worship the actual objects that had served to represent Him, such as the sun, moon, and stars, also groves and pillars, and God in the form of various kinds of idols. Thus they worshipped external objects separated from anything of an internal nature; and this is brought about when the internal man has been closed. What closes the internal man is a life of evil; for good is that through which the Lord flows in and opens the internal man, and therefore evil is that which closes this. Once the internal man has been closed truths are turned into falsities; and when they remain they serve solely the evils of self-love and love of the world. Internal worship consists first and foremost in acknowledging the Lord, the one and only God, and in acknowledging that He is the source of everything good and true. People in the Church who do not acknowledge Him cannot be governed by good, nor thus by truth; and the ones to acknowledge Him are those who possess faith and at the same time lead a good life, but not those who lead a bad life, 8878. Acknowledging and worshipping the Lord consists in living according to His commandments, that is, leading the life of faith and of charity, see 8252-8257. The life of faith lies in doing His commandments in a spirit of obedience, and the life of charity lies in doing them out of love.

Poznámky pod čarou:

5072. Genesis 40

1. And so it was after these words, ¹ that they sinned - the cupbearer of the king of Egypt, and the baker - against their lord the king of Egypt.

2. And Pharaoh was incensed with his two courtier-ministers, with the chief of the cupbearers and with the chief of the bakers.

3. And he put them in the custody of the house of the chief of the attendants, at the prison-house, the place where Joseph was bound.

4. And the chief of the attendants set Joseph over them and he ministered to them; and they were in custody for days. ²

5. And they both dreamed a dream, each his dream in one night, each according to the interpretation of his dream, the cupbearer and the baker to the king of Egypt, who were bound in the prison-house.

6. And Joseph came to them in the morning, and he saw them, and behold, they were troubled.

7. And he asked Pharaoh's courtier-ministers who were with him in the custody of his lord's house, saying, Why are your faces sad ³ today?

8. And they said to him, We have dreamed a dream and there is no interpreter for it. And Joseph said to them, Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, I beg you.

9. And the chief of the cupbearers told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, and behold, a vine before me.

10. And on the vine three shoots, and it was as though budding; its blossom came up, and its clusters ripened into grapes.

11. And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and put the cup onto Pharaoh's palm.

12. And Joseph said to him, This is the interpretation of it: The three shoots are three days.

13. In yet three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and will restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh's cup into his hand, according to the former manner when you were his cupbearer.

14. But remember me when it is well with you, and show, I beg you, mercy to me, and make mention of me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house.

15. For I have indeed been taken by theft out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have not done anything for which they should put me in the pit.

16. And the chief of the bakers saw that he had interpreted what was good, and he said to Joseph, I also was in my dream, and behold, three baskets with holes in them were on my head.

17. And in the highest basket there was some of every kind of food for Pharaoh, the work of the baker, and the birds were eating them out of the basket, from upon my head.

18. And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days.

19. In yet three days Pharaoh will lift up your head from upon you, and will hang you on wood; and the birds will eat your flesh from upon you.

20. And it happened on the third day, Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants, and he lifted up the head of the chief of the cupbearers, and the head of the chief of the bakers, in the midst of his servants.

21. And he restored the chief of the cupbearers to his supervision over [Pharaoh's] drink, and he put the cup onto Pharaoh's palm.

22. And the chief of the bakers he hanged, as Joseph had interpreted to them.

23. And the chief of the cupbearers did not remember Joseph, and forgot him.

CONTENTS

The internal sense of this chapter continues to deal with the state of temptations, by means of which bodily things could be brought into a state of agreement. Rightly called bodily ones, those things are the powers of the senses, of which there are two kinds, some sensory powers being subordinate to the understanding part of the mind, others to the will part. Those subordinate to the understanding part are represented by the cupbearer of the king of Egypt, and those subordinate to the will part by the baker. The eventual retention of the former but casting away of the latter is represented by the fact that the cupbearer returned to the position he had held previously, whereas the baker was hanged. Everything else will become evident from the train of thought.

Poznámky pod čarou: