892. Once someone has been regenerated he enters for the first time into a state of freedom. Previously he has been in a state of slavery. It is slavery when evil desires and falsities predominate, freedom when affections for good and truth do so. As long as he is in a state of slavery, a person never perceives what his situation is. Only when he enters a state of freedom does he start to do so. When he is in a state of slavery, that is, when evil desires and falsities predominate, the person who has become subject to them imagines that he is in a state of freedom. That however is sheer falsity, for he is at that time being carried away by the delight that accompanies desires and resulting pleasures, that is, by the delight accompanying the loves that are his own. And because he is being carried away by such delight it seems to him as though he were a free man. While anyone is being led on by any kind of love, and following wherever it leads, he imagines that he is free. It is however the devilish spirits, in whose company and so to speak fast moving stream he is caught, who carry him away. This person imagines that this is absolute freedom, indeed he goes so far as to believe that if he were robbed of this state he would be entering upon a very miserable existence, in fact into no existence at all. This he believes not only because he is unaware of the existence of any other kind of life but also because he has gained the impression that nobody can enter heaven without suffering hardships, poverty, and deprivation of pleasures. That this is false however I have been given to know from considerable experience. That experience will in the Lord's Divine mercy be described later on.

[2] No one ever enters into a state of freedom until he has been regenerated and is being led by the Lord by means of the love of good and truth. When he has entered that state he is enabled to know and perceive for the first time what freedom really is, because he can at that point know and perceive what life is, what the true delight in life is, and what happiness is. Prior to this he does not even know what good is, and sometimes that which is supremely good he calls supremely evil. When persons who are in a state of freedom from the Lord see the life that goes with evil desires and falsities, and even more when they experience it, they are as appalled by it as people who see hell opened before their eyes. But because the majority of people have no knowledge at all of what a life of freedom is, let a brief mention of it be made here: A life of freedom, or freedom itself, means being led exclusively by the Lord. Quite a number of obstacles stand in the way of a person's being able to believe that that kind of life is a life of freedom. One obstacle is that people undergo temptations, which take place for the purpose of freeing them from the dominion of devilish spirits. Another is that they know of no other delight and good apart from those belonging to the desires that result from self-love and love of the world. A further obstacle is that they have formed a false impression of all the things that belong to heavenly life. Consequently they are less able to learn from descriptions than from actual experiences, which in the Lord's Divine mercy will be introduced later on.

6426. 'From there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel' means that from this springs all the goodness and truth which the spiritual kingdom possesses. This is clear from the meaning of 'the shepherd' as one who leads to the good of charity by means of the truth of faith, dealt with in 343, 3795, 6044 (here in the highest sense, since it has reference to the Lord, goodness and truth themselves are meant); from the meaning of 'the stone' as truth, dealt with in 1298, 3720, 3769, 3771, 3773, 3789, 3798; and from the representation of 'Israel' as the spiritual Church, dealt with in 3305, 4286, for 'Israel' is spiritual good or the good of truth, 4286, 4598, 5801, 5803, 5806, 5812, 5817, 5819, 5826, 5833. And since the good of truth is the essential element of the spiritual Church, 'Israel' means the spiritual Church, and in the highest sense the Lord's spiritual kingdom. From all this it is evident that 'from there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel' means that from this springs all the goodness and truth which the Lord's spiritual kingdom possesses.

[2] The reason why in the highest sense 'the stone of Israel' means the Lord with respect to the truth that His spiritual kingdom possesses is that in general 'the stone' means the temple, and specifically the foundation on which it stands. 'The temple' in turn means the Lord's Divine Human, as is clear in John 2:19, 21, and so does its 'foundation' in Matthew 21:42, 44, and in Isaiah 28:16. This meaning of 'the stone' in the highest sense - the Lord in respect to Divine Truth which His spiritual kingdom possesses - is evident in David,

The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. This has been done by Jehovah; it is marvellous in our eyes. Psalms 118:22-23.

'The stone' here is the Lord, as is made clear in Luke,

It is written, The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. Whoever falls onto that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder. Luke 20:17-18.

These things are spoken by the Lord regarding Himself. In Isaiah,

He is your fear, and He is your dread; for He will be a sanctuary, though He will be a stone to strike against and a rock to stumble over ¹ for both houses of Israel. Many among them will trip, and fall, and be broken to pieces. Isaiah 8:13-15.

Here the Lord is referred to. In the same prophet,

The Lord Jehovih said, Behold I [am He who] will lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tested stone, a precious corner-stone, surely founded. He who believes will not be hasty. Isaiah 28:16.

In Zechariah,

Jehovah Zebaoth will visit His flock, the house of Judah, and will place them as His glorious horse ² in battle. From Him comes the corner-stone, from Him the tent-peg, from Him the battle-bow. Zechariah 10:3-4.

[3] In Daniel,

You were watching, until a stone was cut out, not by means of hands, and it struck the statue on its feet, which were iron and clay, and smashed them to pieces. The stone that struck the statue became a great rock and filled the whole earth. The God of heaven will cause a kingdom to arise that will never be destroyed, and His kingdom will not be left to other people; it will crush and consume all those kingdoms, but will itself stand for ever. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the rock, not by means of hands, and it smashed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold . . . Daniel 2:34-35, 44-45.

Here 'the stone' is used in the highest sense to mean the Lord, and in the relative sense to mean His spiritual kingdom. When it says that 'the stone was cut out of the rock' the meaning is that it came out of the truth of faith, for the truth of faith is meant in the Word by 'rock'. And because the truth of faith is meant by 'the stone' and 'the rock', the Lord's spiritual kingdom is also what is meant, since the truth of faith and good ensuing from this truth prevail in that kingdom. Something similar is also meant by 'the stone' on which Jacob slept and which he afterwards set up as a pillar, described as follows,

Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, Surely Jehovah is in this place and I did not know it. And he was afraid and said, How awesome is this place! This is nothing other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And in the morning Jacob rose up early, and took the stone which he had placed as his headrest, and placed it as a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He said, This stone which I have placed as a pillar will be God's house. Genesis 28:16-18, 22.

The fact that by 'the stone' the ancients understood the Lord in the highest sense and His spiritual kingdom in the relative sense is also plain to see in Joshua,

Joshua erected the stone under the oak which was in Jehovah's sanctuary. And Joshua said to all the people, Behold, this stone will be a witness to us, for it has heard all the sayings of Jehovah which He spoke to us. And it shall be a witness against you, lest you deny your God. Joshua 24:26, 17.

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