5536. Me have ye bereaved. That this signifies that thus the church was no more, is evident from the representation of Jacob, who says this of himself, as being the good of truth (see n. 3659, 3669, 3677, 3775, 4234, 4273, 4538); and because it is the good of truth, it is also the church, for good is the essential of the church; and therefore it is the same whether we say the good of truth, or the church, for with the man with whom is the good of truth, there is the church (that “Jacob” is the church may be seen above, n. 4286, 4520; and hence also that his sons represent the truths of the church, n. 5403, 5419, 5427, 5458, 5512); and from the signification of “bereaving,” as being to deprive the church of its truths and goods, as here of those which are represented by Joseph, Benjamin, and Simeon (of which in what follows).

[2] That “to bereave” denotes to deprive the church of its truths, is because the church is compared to a marriage, its good to the husband, and its truth to the wife, and the truths born of this marriage to sons, and the goods to daughters, and so on. When therefore “bereavement,” or “bereaving” is spoken of, it signifies that the church is deprived of its truths, and that thereby it becomes no church. In this sense the terms “bereavement,” or “bereaving,” are occasionally used elsewhere in the Word, as in Ezekiel:

I will send upon you famine and evil beast, and will make thee bereaved (Ezekiel 5:17).

And again:

When I make the evil beast to pass through the land, and it shall bereave it, so that it become a desolation, that no man may pass through because of the wild beast (Ezekiel 14:15).

In Leviticus:

I will send against you the wild beast of the field, which shall bereave you, and cut off your beast, and lessen you, that your ways shall be laid waste (Leviticus 26:22).

[3] In these passages “famine” denotes a lack of the knowledges of good and truth, and hence desolation; an “evil beast,” falsities from evils; the “land,” the church; “sending a famine and an evil beast to bereave the land” denotes to destroy the church by falsities from evils, thus to completely deprive it of truths.

In Jeremiah:

I will winnow them with a fan in the gates of the land, I will bereave, I will destroy My people (Jeremiah 15:7); where also “bereaving” denotes to deprive of truths. In the same:

Give their sons to the famine, and make them flow away by the hand of the sword; that their wives may become bereaved and widows (Jeremiah 18:21); where “their wives becoming bereaved and widows” denotes being without truths and good.

[4] In Hosea:

Of Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the belly, and from conception; because if they have brought up their sons, then will I make them bereaved of man (Hos. 9:11-12);

with a similar meaning.

In Ezekiel:

I will make man, My people, walk over you, who shall possess thee by inheritance, and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou shalt no more add to bereave them. Thus hath said the Lord Jehovih, Because they say to you, Thou art a consumer of man, and hast been a bereaver of thy peoples (Ezekiel 36:12-13); where also “bereaving” is to deprive of truths.

[5] In Isaiah:

Now hear this, O delicate one, sitting securely, saying in thine heart, I and none besides like me, I shall not sit a widow, neither shall I know bereavement; surely these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, bereavement and widowhood (Isaiah 47:8-9);

said of the daughter of Babylon and of Chaldea, that is, of those who are in a holy external and a profane internal, and by virtue of this holy external call themselves the church. “Bereavement and widowhood” denote the deprivation of good and truth. Again:

Lift up thine eyes round about, and see; all they gather themselves together, they come to thee. The sons of thy bereavement shall yet say in thine ears, The place is strait for me; go from me that I may dwell. But thou shalt say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I am bereaved and lonely, banished and far away? Who therefore hath brought up these? I was left alone; these, where were they? (Isaiah 49:18, 20-21);

said of Zion or the celestial church, and of its fruitfulness after vastation; the “sons of bereavement” denoting the truths of which she had been deprived in vastation, restored and vastly increased.

5427. And Joseph knew his brethren. That this signifies that these truths of the church appeared to the celestial of the spiritual from its light, is evident from the signification of “knowing,” as being to perceive, to see, and thus to appear; from the representation of Joseph, as being the celestial of the spiritual (of which above); and from the signification of “his brethren,” as being the general truths of the church (of which also above, n. 5409, 5419). And because by “Joseph’s knowing his brethren” is signified that the general truths of the church appeared to the celestial of the spiritual, it follows that they appeared from the light in which the celestial of the spiritual was, thus from the celestial light of the spiritual. From this light, which is truth from the Divine (n. 5417), appear all and each of the truths that are below, or that are in the natural; but not the converse unless there is an intermediate, still less unless there is correspondence and through correspondence conjunction. This may be seen from the fact that the angels who are in the heavens, and thus in the light of heaven, can see everything that is taking place in the world of spirits, which world is next beneath the heavens, and also everything that is taking place in the lower earth, and even in hell; but not the converse.

[2] It is also the case that the angels of a higher heaven can see all that is going on below them in a lower heaven; but not the converse, unless there is an intermediate. There are also intermediate spirits through whom the communication is effected to and fro. When therefore they who are below and have no intermediate, and still more if they have no correspondence, look into the light of heaven, they see nothing at all, but everything there appears in darkness; when yet they who are there are in the clearest day. This may be illustrated by this single experience. There appeared to me a great city in which were thousands upon thousands of various objects, all pleasing and beautiful. I saw them because an intermediate was given me, but the spirits who were with me, being without an intermediate, could not see the least thing there; and it was said that they who are not in correspondence, even if they are in the city, do not perceive a single thing therein.

[3] Such also is the case with the interior man, or man’s spirit, which is also called the soul, and which can see everything that exists and takes place in the exterior man; but not the converse, unless there is a correspondence and an intermediate. Consequently, to the exterior man not in correspondence the interior appears as nothing, so much so that when anything is said about the interior man, it appears to the exterior either so obscure that he is unwilling even to look in that direction, or else it appears as naught and not to be credited. But when there is correspondence, then the exterior man sees through an intermediate what is going on in the interior; for the light which the interior man has flows through the intermediate into the light which the exterior has, that is, heavenly light flows into natural light, and illumines it; from which illumining appears that which takes place in the interior man. Hence come intelligence and wisdom to the exterior or natural man. But if there is no intermediate, and especially if there is no correspondence, the interior man sees and perceives what is going on in the exterior, and in a measure leads it; but not the converse. If however there is contrariety, that is to say, if the exterior man entirely perverts or extinguishes what flows in through the interior, the interior man is then deprived of his light which is from heaven, and communication heavenward is closed to him; but communication from hell is opened toward the exterior man. On this subject more will be seen in what now follows.