5120. And I gave the cup upon the palm of Pharaoh. That this signifies appropriation by the interior natural, is evident from the signification of “giving the cup” (thus wine to drink), as being to appropriate (that “drinking” is the appropriation of truth may be seen above, n. 3168); and from the representation of Pharaoh, as being the interior natural (n. 5080, 5095, 5118). As is evident from what goes before, the subject here treated of is the regeneration of that sensuous which is subject to the intellectual part of the interior man (which sensuous is signified by the “butler”), and consequently the influx of truth and good and their reception in the exterior natural; but as these things are far removed from the apprehension of those who have not any distinct idea about the rational and the natural, or about influx, no further explication is given.

[2] Moreover, a “cup” is often mentioned in the Word, and by it in the genuine sense is signified spiritual truth, that is, the truth of faith which is from the good of charity-the same as by “wine;” and in the opposite sense is signified the falsity by which comes evil, and also falsity from evil. That a “cup” signifies the same as “wine” is because a cup is what contains, and wine is what is contained, and hence they constitute one thing, and therefore the one is meant by the other.

[3] That such is the signification of “cup” in the Word, is plain from the following passages:

Jehovah, Thou wilt set in order a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; Thou wilt make fat my head with oil; my cup will run over (Psalms 23:5);

“to set in order a table and anoint the head with oil” denotes being gifted with the good of charity and love; “my cup will run over” denotes that the natural is thence filled with spiritual truth and good. Again:

What shall I render unto Jehovah? I will take the cup of salvations, and call upon the name of Jehovah (Psalms 116:12-13);

“to take the cup of salvations” denotes the appropriation of the goods of faith.

[4] In Mark:

Whosoever shall give you drink in a cup of water in My name, because ye are Christ’s, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward (Mark 9:41);

“to give drink in a cup of water in My name” denotes instructing in the truths of faith from a little charity.

[5] In Matthew:

Presently, taking the cup, and giving thanks, He gave to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is My blood, that of the New Testament (Matthew 26:27-28; Mark 14:23-24; Luke 22:20).

It is said the “cup” and not the “wine,” because “wine” is predicated of the spiritual church, but “blood” of the celestial church, although both of these signify holy truth proceeding from the Lord; but in the spiritual church the holy of faith from charity toward the neighbor, and in the celestial church the holy of charity from love to the Lord. The spiritual church is distinguished from the celestial in this, that the former is in charity toward the neighbor, while the latter is in love to the Lord; and the Holy Supper was instituted to represent and signify the Lord’s love toward the whole human race, and the reciprocal love of man toward Him.

[6] As by “cup” was signified that which contained, and by “wine” that which was contained, consequently by “cup” man’s external, and by “wine” his internal, therefore the Lord said:

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but the inner parts are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the platter, and the outside will also become clean (Matthew 23:25-26; Luke 11:39);

by a “cup” here also is meant in the internal sense the truth of faith, to cultivate which without its good is to “cleanse the outside of the cup,” especially when the interiors are full of hypocrisy, deceit, hatred, revenge, and cruelty; for then the truth of faith is only in the external man, and nothing at all of it is in the internal; and to cultivate and to become imbued with the good of faith causes truths to be conjoined with good in the interior man, in which case even fallacies are accepted as truths, as is signified by “cleansing first the inside of the cup, and the outside will also become clean.”

[7] Likewise in Mark:

Many other things there are which the Pharisees and the Jews have received to hold, as the baptizings of cups, and pots, brazen vessels, and couches. Forsaking the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the baptisms of pots and cups; and many other like things ye do. Ye renounce the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition (Mark 7:4, 8-9).

[8] That by “cup” is signified in the opposite sense that falsity from which is evil, and also the falsity which is from evil, is evident from the following passages:

Thus hath said Jehovah the God of Israel unto me, Take this cup of wine of anger from My hand, and cause all the nations to whom I send thee to drink it. And they shall drink, and reel to and fro, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them. Therefore I took the cup from Jehovah’s hand, and made all the nations to drink unto whom Jehovah had sent me (Jeremiah 25:15-17, 28).

The “cup of wine of anger” denotes the falsity by which is evil. The reason why the falsity by which is evil is signified, is that as wine intoxicates and makes insane, so does falsity, spiritual intoxication being nothing else than insanity brought on by reasonings about what is to be believed, when nothing is believed that is not apprehended; hence come falsities, and from falsities evils (n. 1072); and therefore it is said that “they shall drink, and reel to and fro, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send.” The “sword” is falsity fighting against truth (see n. 2799, 4499).

[9] In the book of Lamentations:

Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup shall pass through unto thee also; thou shalt be drunken and shalt be uncovered (Lam. 4:21);

“to be drunken from the cup,” denotes to be insane from falsities, and “to be uncovered, or naked, without shame,” the evil thence derived (see n. 213, 214).

[10] In Ezekiel:

Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore I will give her cup into thy hand. Thus hath said the Lord Jehovih, Thou shalt drink of thy sister’s cup, which is deep and wide; thou shalt be for laughter and mockery, large for holding; thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of devastation and desolation, the cup of thy sister Samaria, thou shalt both drink and press out, and thou shalt pulverize the potsherds thereof (Ezekiel 23:31-34);

said of Jerusalem, by which is signified what is spiritual of the celestial church. “Cup” here denotes falsity from evil; and because this vastates or destroys the church, it is called the “cup of devastation and desolation.”

In Isaiah:

Awake, awake, rise up, O Jerusalem, who hast drunk from the hand of Jehovah the cup of His anger; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling (Isaiah 51:17).

In Habakkuk:

Drink thou also that thy foreskin be uncovered; the cup of Jehovah’s right hand shall come round unto thee, that shameful vomit be upon thy glory (Hab. 2:16).

In David:

In the hand of Jehovah there is a cup, and He hath mixed with wine, He hath filled with the mixture, and hath poured out therefrom; but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall suck them out, and drink them (Psalms 75:8).

[11] In these passages also a “cup” denotes insanity from falsities and the evils thence derived. It is called the “cup of the anger of Jehovah,” and also “of the right hand of Jehovah,” for the reason that the Jewish nation, like the common people, believed evils and the punishment of evils and falsities to come from no other source than Jehovah, when yet they are from the man himself, and from the infernal crew with him. It is often stated in this way from the appearance and consequent belief; but the internal sense teaches how it should be understood, and what should be believed (as may be seen above, n. 245, 592, 696, 1093, 1683, 1874, 1875, 2335, 2447, 3605, 3607, 3614).

[12] As a “cup,” like “wine,” signifies in the opposite sense the falsities through which come evils, and also falsities from evils, a “cup” signifies temptation also, because this takes place when falsity fights against truth, and consequently evil against good. A “cup” is used to express and describe temptation in the following passage:

Jesus prayed, saying, If Thou wilt that this cup pass from Me! nevertheless not My will, but Thine, be done (Luke 22:42; Matthew 26:39, 42, 44; Mark 14:36).

The “cup” here denotes temptation. Likewise in John:

Jesus said to Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath; the cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it? (John 18:11).

And also in Mark:

Jesus said to James and John, Ye know not what ye ask; can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? And they said, We can. But Jesus said to them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized with shall ye be baptized (Mark 10:38-39; Matthew 20:22-23).

From this it is evident that a “cup” is temptation, because temptation arises through evils combating by means of falsities against goods and truths; for baptism signifies regeneration, and because this is effected by means of spiritual combats, therefore by “baptism” is at the same time signified temptation.

[13] In the directly opposite sense a “cup” signifies falsity from evil with those who are profane, that is, who inwardly are in what is contrary to charity, and outwardly counterfeit holiness; in which sense it is used in Jeremiah:

Babylon hath been a golden cup in Jehovah’s hand, making the whole earth drunken; all nations have drunk of her wine, therefore the nations are mad (Jeremiah 51:7);

“Babylon” denotes those who are in external sanctity, and inwardly in what is profane (n. 1182, 1326); the falsity which they veil over with sanctity is the “golden cup;” “making the whole earth drunken” denotes that they lead those who are of the church (which is meant by the “earth”) into errors and insanities. The profane things which they hide under external sanctity are that they strive after nothing else than to be the greatest and wealthiest of all, and to be worshiped as gods, possessors of heaven and earth, by thus having dominion over the souls and bodies of men, and this by means of the Divine and holy things of which they make pretense. Hence as to the external man they appear like angels, but as to the internal they are devils.

[14] The like is said of Babylon in Revelation

The woman was arrayed in crimson and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and filthiness of her whoredom (Revelation 17:4).

Again:

Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become a habitation of demons. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the fury of her whoredom, and the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her. I heard a voice from heaven, saying, Render unto her as she rendered unto you, in the cup which she mingled, mingle to her double (Revelation 18:2-4, 6).

Again:

The great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell; remembrance of Babylon the great was made before God, to give to her the cup of the fury of God’s anger (Revelation 16:19).

Again:

The third angel said with a great voice, If anyone worship the beast and his image, he shall drink of the wine of God’s anger mingled unmixed in the cup of His anger; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone (Revelation 14:9-10).

3570. And he brought it near to him, and he did eat. That this signifies the conjunction of good first; and that “he brought him wine and he drank” signifies the conjunction of truth afterwards, is evident from the signification of “eating,” as being to be conjoined and appropriated in respect to good (concerning which just above, n. 3568); and from the signification of “wine,” as being the truth which is from good (n. 1071, 1798); and from the signification of “drinking,” as being to be conjoined and appropriated in respect to truth (n. 3168). In regard to the circumstance that the good of the rational, represented by Isaac, conjoins with itself good first, and truth afterwards, and this through the natural, which is Jacob, the case is this: When the natural is in the state in which it is outwardly good and inwardly truth (n. 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563), it then admits many things which are not good, but which nevertheless are useful, being means to good in their order. But the good of the rational does not conjoin and appropriate to itself from this source anything but that which is in agreement with its own good;, for good receives nothing else, and whatever disagrees, it rejects. The rest of the things in the natural it leaves, in order that they may serve as means for admitting and introducing more things that are in agreement with itself.

[2] The rational is in the internal man, and what is there being transacted is unknown to the natural, for it is above the sphere of its observation; and for this reason the man who lives a merely natural life cannot know anything of what is taking place with him in his internal man, that is, in his rational; for the Lord disposes all such things entirely without the man’s knowledge. Hence it is that man knows nothing of how he is being regenerated, and scarcely that he is being regenerated. But if he is desirous to know this, let him merely attend to the ends which he proposes to himself, and which he rarely discloses to anyone. If the ends are toward good, that is to say, if he cares more for his neighbor and the Lord than for himself, then he is in a state of regeneration; but if the ends are toward evil, that is to say, if he cares more for himself than for his neighbor and the Lord, let him know that in this case he is in no state of regeneration.

[3] Through his ends of life a man is in the other life; through ends of good in heaven with the angels; but through ends of evil in hell with devils. The ends in a man are nothing else than his loves; for that which a man loves he has for an end; and inasmuch as his ends are his loves, they are his inmost life (n. 1317, 1568, 1571, 1645, 1909, 3425, 3562, 3565). The ends of good in a man are in his rational, and these are what are called the rational as to good, or the good of the rational. Through the ends of good, or through the good therein, the Lord disposes all things that are in the natural; for the end is as the soul, and the natural is as the body of this soul; and such as the soul is, such is the body with which it is encompassed; thus such as the rational is as to good, such is the natural with which it is invested.

[4] It is known that the soul of man commences in the ovum of the mother, and is afterwards perfected in her womb, and is there encompassed with a tender body, and this of such a nature that through it the soul may be able to act in a manner suited to the world into which it is born. The case is the same when man is born again, that is, when he is being regenerated. The new soul which he then receives is the end of good, which commences in the rational, at first as in an ovum there, and afterwards is there perfected as in a womb; the tender body with which this soul is encompassed is the natural and the good therein, which becomes such as to act obediently in accordance with the ends of the soul; the truths therein are like the fibers in the body, for truths are formed from good (n. 3470). Hence it is evident that an image of the reformation of man is presented in his formation in the womb; and if you will believe it, it is also the celestial good and spiritual truth which are from the Lord that form him and then impart the power to receive each of them successively, and this in quality and quantity precisely as like a man he looks to the ends of heaven, and not like a brute animal to the ends of the world.

[5] That the rational as to good through the natural conjoins with itself good first, and truth afterwards, which is signified by Jacob’s bringing dainties and bread to Isaac and his eating, and bringing him wine and his drinking, may also be illustrated by the offices which the body performs for its soul. It is the soul which gives to the body to have appetite for food, and also to enjoy the taste of it, the foods being introduced by means of the delight of appetite and the delight of taste, thus by means of external good; but the foods which are introduced do not all enter the life, for some serve as menstruums for digesting; some for tempering; some for opening; some for introducing into the vessels; but the good foods selected are introduced into the blood, and become blood, out of which the soul conjoins with itself such things as are of use.

[6] The case is the same with the rational and the natural: to appetite and taste correspond the desire and the affection of knowing truth; and knowledges correspond to foods (n. 1480); and because they correspond, they are circumstanced in like manner; the soul (which is the good of the rational) gives to long for and to be affected with the things which are of memory-knowledge and of doctrine, and introduces them through the delight of the longing and the good of the affection. But the things which it introduces are not all such as to become the good of life; for some serve as means for a kind of digesting and tempering; some for opening and introducing; but the goods which are of life it applies to itself, and thus conjoins them with itself, and from them forms for itself truths. From this it is evident how the rational disposes the natural, in order that it may serve it as the soul or what is the same, may serve the end, which is the soul, to perfect itself, that it may be of use in the Lord’s kingdom.