9336. 'Little by little I will drive them out from before you' means a removal effected gradually according to order. This is clear from the meaning of 'little by little' as gradually, thus slowly; and from the meaning of 'driving out' - when it has reference to falsities and evils, meant by the nations of the land of Canaan - as a removal, dealt with just above in 9333. The words 'gradually according to order' are used because everything with a person who is being regenerated is rearranged in accordance with heavenly order. For a person who has been regenerated is a miniature heaven, 9276, and therefore also within that person order exists akin to that which obtains in heaven.

[2] When a person is born he is, so far as his hereditary evils are concerned, a miniature hell. He also becomes an embodiment of hell to the extent that he draws on hereditary evils and adds his own to them. This being so, the order of a person's life which exists by reason of what he receives at birth, and by reason of his own acts in life, is the opposite of heavenly order. For what is a person's own leads him to love self more than the Lord and to love the world more than heaven, whereas the life of heaven consists in loving the Lord above all things and the neighbour as oneself. From this it is evident that the first life, which is that of hell, must be completely destroyed, that is, evils and falsities must be removed, in order that the new life, which is that of heaven, may be implanted, see 4551, 4552, 4839, 6068. This cannot possibly be done hurriedly, for every deep-rooted evil, together with its falsities, is interconnected with all other evils and their falsities. Such evils and falsities are countless, and their interconnection is so complex that it cannot be comprehended, not even by angels, only by the Lord. From this it is evident that the life of hell with a person cannot be destroyed suddenly; for if it were destroyed suddenly the person too would perish. Nor can the life of heaven be implanted suddenly, for if this were implanted suddenly the person would again perish.

[3] There are thousands and thousands of hidden ways, scarcely a single one of which is known to mankind, by which the Lord leads a person from the life of hell to the life of heaven. I have been informed from heaven that this is so, and it has also been corroborated for me by many things that I have been made aware of. Since mankind knows scarcely anything at all about these things many have fallen into errors concerning human deliverance from evils and falsities, which is the forgiveness of sins. They think that the life of hell with a person can be changed to the life of heaven with him in an instant, by mercy. But in actual fact mercy lies in the whole act of regeneration; and none undergo regeneration apart from those who receive the Lord's mercy in faith and life while they are in the world, in keeping with the Lord's words in John,

As many as received Him, to them He gave power to be sons of God, to those believing in His name, who were born, not of blood ¹ , nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man (vir), but of God. John 1:12-13.

What 'blood', 'the will of the flesh', and 'the will of man', also 'born of God' mean, see 5826.

[4] The proper way to understand 'a removal from evils and falsities, effected gradually according to order' must also be stated briefly. Divine Truth which emanates from the Lord's Divine Good arranges all things into order in heaven; consequently this Divine Truth, holding good from the Lord within it, is order itself, see 1728, 1919, 2247, 2258, 5703, 6338, 8700, 8988. In accordance with that order all things there come into being, and in accordance with that same order they remain in being; for remaining in being is a constant coming into being. Therefore to enable heaven to come into being in a person, it is necessary for him to receive Divine Truth in the good he has from the Lord. This can be brought into effect only gradually, according to the order similar to that which governs the way the Lord arranges heaven; for if the essential nature of the thing is the same, then the situation on the smaller scale is the same as on the larger scale. This arranging step-by-step is what should be understood here by order brought into effect gradually. From all this it is also evident that the new creation of a person, which is his regeneration, resembles the creation of heaven and earth. For this reason also in the Word a new heaven and a new earth is used to mean a new Church, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355 (end), 4535; and the creation of heaven and earth in the first chapter of Genesis serves to mean the new creation of a celestial Church, called Man, dealt with in the explanations of that chapter.

Poznámky pod čarou:

5428. 'And they did not recognize him' means that truth from the Divine was not seen in natural light that was not yet brightened with heavenly light. This becomes clear from what has gone immediately before this, for since 'Joseph recognized his brothers' means that general truths known to the Church were seen by the celestial of the spiritual by the light this possessed, it follows that 'they did not recognize him' means that the celestial of the spiritual, which is truth from the Divine, was not seen by the general truths known to the Church while these were in natural light not yet brightened with heavenly light. This meaning may indeed be seen from what has been stated immediately above; but as it belongs among arcana let some examples be used to shed light on the matter. Take as an example the glory of heaven. Consider those who, when they think about the glory of heaven, see this in natural light that has not been brightened with heavenly light because no intermediary is present, especially if no agreement exists. Such people's idea of the glory of heaven cannot be anything different from the kind of idea they possess about the glory of the world when they read, for instance, about the revelations made to prophets, in particular those made to John and described in the Book of Revelation, in which everything is most magnificent. One may tell these people that the glory of heaven surpasses all worldly magnificence, so completely that one cannot begin to compare it with that glory. One may also tell them that even this is not really the glory of heaven, but that the glory of heaven consists in that which is of God shining out of every individual thing to be seen there, and in a perception of Divine realities and in the wisdom gained from that perception. One may tell these people too that this alone is the glory to those who are there, for they consider worldly magnificence, in comparison with such wisdom, to be nothing at all, and they attribute all wisdom to the Lord and none whatsoever to themselves. But if people behold the glory of heaven in natural light devoid of an intermediary, and especially if no agreement exists, that glory goes completely unrecognized.

[2] Take angelic power as another example. Consider those who, when they think about angelic power, in particular that of the archangels who are mentioned in the Word, do so in natural light that has not been brightened with heavenly light because no intermediary is present, especially if because no agreement exists. Such people's idea of that power cannot be anything different from the idea they have of the power wielded by powerful rulers in the world. That is to say, they think that angels have thousands upon thousands of subordinates over whom they rule, and that high positions in heaven involve that kind of domination. One may tell these people that angelic power does indeed surpass all power wielded by powerful rulers in the world and is so great that just one of the subordinate angels can drive away millions of hellish spirits and send them down into their own hells, which is why in the Word angels are called 'powers' and 'dominions'. One may also tell those people that the least of the angels is the greatest; that is, the one who believes, wishes, and perceives that all power originates entirely within the Lord and never at all within himself is a very highly powerful ruler. And therefore those who are 'powers' in heaven utterly detest any power that derives from themselves. But neither is any of this recognized when beheld in natural light devoid of the intermediary, and more so if no agreement exists.

[3] Take yet another example. Consider a person who looks at freedom from a natural idea devoid of an intermediary linking it to a spiritual one, and especially if no agreement exists between the two. He cannot see freedom as anything else than thinking and willing from what is within himself and being able to carry out without restriction whatever he so thinks and wills. More than that, to the end that he can have whatever he thinks and wills the natural man wishes to become very rich; and to the end that he can carry out whatever he thinks and wills he wishes to become very powerful. Once he has attained this he imagines that he is in perfect freedom and consequently possesses real happiness. If however one tells people like this that true freedom, called heavenly freedom, is not at all like that, but that it involves no willing from what is within oneself, only from the Lord, and does not involve any thinking from what is within oneself, only from heaven, and that feelings of pain and sorrow ensue if one is allowed to think from what is within oneself and to will from what is in oneself, nothing of this is recognized.

These examples may serve to some extent to show what is implied by truth from the Divine not being seen in natural light that has not yet been brightened with heavenly light, meant by Joseph's brothers not recognizing him.