10492. 'And there fell of the people on that day up to three thousand men' means a complete shutting off of what is internal. This is clear from the meaning of 'falling' or being killed as being shut off, dealt with above in 10490; and from the meaning of 'three thousand' as that which is complete. For 'three' means what is full and complete, see 2788, 4495, 7715, 8347, 9198, 9488, 9489, and 'three thousand' likewise, because every large number has a similar meaning to the smaller ones of which it is the product when they are multiplied together, 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973. All numbers in the Word mean spiritual realities or real things, see in the places referred to in 9488, and in 10127, 10217, 10253.

[2] Since then the subject here has been the shutting off of what was internal among the Israelite and Jewish nation, let something further be stated here regarding the shutting off of what is internal. Evils and falsities are what shut off the internal man, or what amounts to the same thing, worldly, earthly, and bodily kinds of love do so when they are predominant; for they are the source of all evils and falsities. The reason why what is internal is shut off by them is that those kinds of love are the opposites of heavenly kinds; or what amounts to the same thing, evils and falsities are the opposites of forms of good and truths. Therefore when opposites act against each other that which has been injured holds itself in, just as a fibre does when it is pricked, or as any other part of the human body does from pain. It is well known that injury or a depressed state of mind can put creases on a person's face, cramp the abdomen, and restrict the lungs and their breathing. So it is also with the internal man when evils and falsities enter thought and will. There is a feeling of detestation then, and a consequent holding in, which also reveal themselves in the face and in the body.

[3] This is the general reason why the internal is closed. But the specific reason is to prevent forms of good and truths from passing from heaven by way of the internal man into the external, and from their being defiled and rendered profane there. To prevent this from happening with the Israelite nation among whom the Word and the holy things of the Church existed, their internal was completely shut off. Its being completely shut off is plainly evident from the fact that although they now live among Christians, and although prophecies plainly refer to the Lord, they still do not at all acknowledge Him. Indeed they are such that they are not even able to entertain any thought that strengthens [belief in the Lord]. There is inward repudiation and revulsion, because their internal has been closed.

[4] In addition it should be recognized that in the Christian world as well the internal is closed in the case of those who know the truths of faith from the Word and do not lead a life in keeping with them. An actual life in keeping with them opens the internal man; without it those truths reside merely in the external man's memory. With those however who repudiate these truths the internal is completely closed. And astonishing though it may seem to be, the internal is closed more in the case of intelligent than in that of simple people. The reason for this is that the intelligent are ruled by desires for high position and monetary gain, and consequently by self-love and love of the world, more than the simple are. They also have a greater ability to justify evils and falsities resulting from those loves by the use of factual knowledge, which the intelligent possess more abundantly than the simple do. Added to this, the majority of them think of the soul on the basis of some hypothesis in the learned world, from which they gain no other idea than that of a breath of air or a puff of wind which perhaps contains some spark of life. The thought of simple but good people on the other hand is not based on such an idea, only on the idea that the soul is the person living after death. So it is that the internal of these simple people is open, whereas that of those intelligent ones is closed. Whether you speak of the internal being opened or closed, or you speak of heaven being so, it amounts to the same thing.

9198. 'Any widow' means those who have good that is without truth, and still have a desire for truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'a widow' as good that is without truth and nevertheless has a desire for truth. The reason why 'a widow' has this meaning is that 'a man' (vir) means truth and his 'wife' (mulier) good, so that when this man's wife has become a widow she means good that is without truth. But in an even more internal sense than this 'a widow' means truth that is without good, the reason being that in that sense 'a husband' (maritus) means good and his 'wife' (uxor) truth, see 3236, 4510, 4823. In this sense the Lord by virtue of His Divine Good is called 'Husband' and 'Bridegroom', while His kingdom and Church by virtue of its acceptance of Divine Truth that emanates from the Lord is called 'wife' and 'bride', 9182. But since the subject now is not the Lord's celestial Church but His spiritual Church, 'a widow' means one who has good but not truth, and still has a desire for truth. It is similar with 'an orphan'. In the inmost or celestial sense 'an orphan' means those who have good and a desire for truth. See what has been introduced and explained in 4844 regarding the meaning of 'a widow' and 'an orphan' in the celestial sense. To this let what the Lord says in Luke about the widow in Zarephath be added,

Truly I say to you that no prophet is accepted in his own country. In truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, while there was a great famine over the whole land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them, except to Zarephath of Sidon, to a woman - a widow. Luke 4:24-26.

[2] Since the Divine was the source of all the things spoken by the Lord they have an inner meaning; and the subject in that inner meaning is the Lord Himself, also His kingdom and the Church. Therefore what the Lord meant on that level of meaning by the things He said about the widow in Zarephath of Sidon may be seen if brought out into the open.

No prophet is accepted in his own country

This means that the Lord and Divine Truth that comes from Him are less well received and loved in people's hearts within the Church than outside it. The Lord spoke these words to the Jews, among whom the Church existed at that time; and as is well known, the Lord was less well received there than by gentiles who were outside the Church. The situation is similar in the Church at the present day, which takes its name Christian from Him. In this Church the Lord is indeed received in what it teaches; yet few accept Him by acknowledging Him in their heart, fewer still doing so with love and affection. The acceptance of Him by gentiles outside the Church who have been converted is different. They worship and adore Him as their one and only God; they declare with their lips and contemplate in their hearts that they acknowledge Him as their God, since He has appeared in human form, 5256. A contrary attitude exists within the Church. Here, because He was born a human being, there is scarcely any acknowledgement of Him as God in people's hearts. They make His Humanity like their own, even though they know that His Father was Jehovah and not a human being. All this shows what 'No prophet is accepted in his own country' has been used to mean in the internal sense. In this sense 'a prophet' means the Lord in respect of Divine Truth, and so in respect of the teachings of the Church. For the meaning of 'a prophet' as one who teaches, and in the abstract sense as doctrinal teachings, and - when it is used in reference to the Lord - as Divine Truth or the Word, see above in 9188 (end).

[3] There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah

In the internal sense this means the situation at that time, when God's truth coming from the Word was acknowledged in the Church. 'Widows' are those who have good that is without truth, as stated above; 'Elijah' is the Lord in respect of the Word, 'the days of Elijah' being the situation or state at that time, when God's truth coming from the Word was received; and 'Israel' is the Church.

'Elijah' represented the Lord in respect of the Word, see Preface to Genesis 18, and 2762, 5247 (end), 8029. 'Days' are states, 893, 2788, 3462, 3785, 4850, 6110, 8426. 'Israel' is the Church, 4286, 6426, 6637, 8805.

[4] When the heaven was closed for three years and six months

This means the internal Church completely laid waste, 'the heaven' meaning the internal aspect of the Church, and 'three years and six months' meaning to completeness. For the meaning of 'the heaven' as the internal aspect of the Church, see 1733, 1850, 3355, 4535. It is said to be 'closed' when it has been laid waste and exists no longer. As regards the meaning of 'three years and six months' as to completeness, this is clear from the meaning of '1260 days' in Revelation 11:3; 12:6 - this number of days making up three years and six months - as to completeness or right to the end. It is clear likewise from the meaning of 'three days and a half', Revelation 11:9-11, and also of 'a time and times and half a time' in Revelation 12:14, and in Daniel 12:7 too, as to completeness or right to the end.

[5] While there was a great famine over the whole land

This means the external Church also laid waste, for 'a famine' is an absence and want of truth and good, 3364, 5277, 5279, 5281, 5300, 5360, 5376, 5415, 5576, 6110, 7102, and 'the land' or 'the earth' is the external Church, 1262, 1413, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355, 4535, 5577, 8011, 8732.

Yet Elijah was sent to none of them

This means the Lord in respect of the Word, thus the Lord's Word, not sent to others, because it would not have been received elsewhere, 'Elijah' being, as stated above, the Lord in respect of the Word.

[6] Except to Zarephath of Sidon, to a woman - a widow

This means sent only to those who have good and a desire for truth. The description 'Zarephath of Sidon' is used because 'Sidon' means cognitions or knowledge of goodness and truth, 1201. The fact that 'a woman - a widow' means one who has good and a desire for truth is evident from this, and especially from what is recorded about her in the first Book of Kings,

Elijah came to Zarephath of Sidon, to a woman - a widow - to sustain him. He told her to bring him a little water to drink, and then to bring him a small piece of bread in her hand. She said that she had a tiny amount of flour in a jar, and a tiny amount of oil in a flask, to make just a cake for herself and her son. Elijah said, Make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and make one for yourself and your son after that. She did so; and the jar of flour was not used up, and the flask of oil did not fail. 1 Kings 17:9-15.

[7] Obedience, and the desire that good has for truth, is described by her giving the prophet water, as she had been commanded to do, and then by her making a cake for him first from the little she had, and for herself and her son after that. Consequent enrichment in the good of truth is meant when it says that the pot of flour was not used up and the flask of oil did not fail.

'Water' in the internal sense is truth, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, 8568. 'Flour' is truth derived from good, 2177. 'Oil is the good of love, 886, 4582, 4638. 'A cake' made from these ingredients is truth joined to its own good, 7978.

From all this it is plain that 'a widow' means one who has good and a desire for truth. Good and its desire for truth is described by her charity towards the prophet, greater than towards herself and her son, 'a prophet' being teachings that present truth, as has been shown above.

[8] All that has been said here shows what the Word is like, that it conceals within itself the arcana of heaven, which are not visible in the letter. But every detail of what the Lord spoke when He was in the world, and of what He spoke before that through prophets, contains heavenly and Divine matters on a level altogether above the sense of the letter. And not only individual words contain those matters, but even the individual letters of words, indeed the individual parts of each letter. But is there anyone who believes this to be so? Yet it is most certainly so; it has been proved to me beyond all doubt, as in the Lord's Divine mercy will be shown elsewhere.