54. 26. (In Hosea from beginning to end falsification is treated of, which is described by whoredom and Ephraim.)

[The sons of Israel shall abide many days: there shall be no king, no prince, no sacrifice, no image, no ephod, and no teraphim.] Then shall the sons of Israel return and seek Jehovah their God, and David their king, and come with fear to Jehovah, and to His goodness, in the last days (Hosea 3:4-5).

(I will return to my place, and they will seek Me in the morning (Hosea 5:15). Jehovah will revive us after three days, in the third day He will raise us up so that we shall live before Him; His going forth is prepared as the dawn (Hosea 6:2-3).)

(Woe unto them because they have wandered away from Me! destruction unto them! because they have transgressed, and I have redeemed them (Hosea 7:13).)

Devastation shall stand among thy people, there shall be laying waste, as in the day of battle (Hosea 10:14).

Ephraim feedeth on wind and followeth after the east wind, every day he increaseth lies and desolation, they make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt (Hosea 12:2).

As the finest of the grains, wheat fittingly represents the finest of spiritual food, what Swedenborg calls "the good of love and charity" – which is the desire for good that springs from love of the Lord and love of serving others.

From a nutritional standpoint, wheat is packed with complex carbohydrates, a good source of lasting energy – and the desire for good from love of the Lord and love of the neighbor is a good source of lasting spiritual energy. Yet the carbohydrate-rich heart of each grain of wheat is covered by a hull rich with vitamins, protein and fiber, building blocks for the body – much as the desire for good is clothed in ideas of how to put good into action.

(Odkazy: Apocalypse Explained 374; Apocalypse Revealed 315; Arcana Coelestia 3941 [1-9], 7605, 9995)