98. 5. I will deliver thee out of the hand of the evil, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the violent (Jeremiah 15:21).

Jehovah will gather Israel, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock. For Jehovah hath redeemed Jacob, and freed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he (Jeremiah 31:10-11). Throughout the whole of this chapter, and also Chapter 33, the redemption and liberation of men of the church is treated of. But in the former chapters from the first up to this one the vastation of the church is treated of.

Behold the days come in which I will make a new covenant; not according to the covenant that I have made, for they have made void this covenant. But this shall be the covenant that I will make after those days, I will put My law in their midst, and I will write it upon their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Nor shall they teach, a man his companion, nor a man his brother; Know Jehovah: for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them (Jeremiah 31:31-34, 38). This is said of the New Church after redemption.

N. B. That is the day of the Lord Jehovih of Hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may take vengeance on His adversaries (Jeremiah 46:10).

Because the day of calamity shall come upon Egypt, the time of their visitation (Jeremiah 46:21).

Their Redeemer is strong, Jehovah of Hosts is His name (Jeremiah 50:34).

Concerning the day of the visitation upon Babylon, in which vengeance must be taken upon it (Jeremiah 50:18, 27-28, 31).

The time of the vengeance of Jehovah, and of retribution (Jeremiah 51:6).

Jehovah of Hosts is the Former of all things, and of the rod of His inheritance by which He will do judgment (Jeremiah 51:19-23).

It is also called the time of the harvest of Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel (Jeremiah 51:33).

The day of the vengeance of Jehovah, the vengeance of His temple (Jeremiah 51:11).

The days in which He will visit upon Babylon (Jeremiah 51:44, 47, 52).

It is called the day of evil (Jeremiah 51:2).

90. "'Which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.'" This symbolically means, inwardly in the truths of wisdom and faith.

In the midst means, symbolically, the inmost (nos. 44, 383), here within or inwardly. The Paradise of God symbolizes truths of wisdom and faith. Consequently the tree of life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God symbolizes the Lord accompanied by the goodness of love and charity inwardly in the truths of wisdom and faith. Good also exists inwardly within truths, for good is the essence of life, and truth is the consequent expression of life, as we showed many times in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom.

That the Paradise of God is the truth of wisdom and faith is apparent from the symbolic meaning of a garden in the Word. A garden there symbolizes wisdom and intelligence, because trees symbolize the people of the church, and their fruits goods of life. That is what the Garden of Eden symbolizes, for it describes the wisdom of Adam.

[2] The garden of God in Ezekiel has the same meaning:

With your wisdom and your understanding you have gained riches for yourself... You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering... (Ezekiel 28:4, 13)

The subject is Tyre, which symbolizes the church in respect to its concepts of truth and good, thus in respect to its intelligence. Accordingly it is said, "With your wisdom and your understanding you have gained riches for yourself." The precious stones which served as its covering symbolize truths of intelligence.

[3] In the same book:

Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon... The cedars in the garden of God did not hide it... No tree in the garden of God was like it in beauty... All the trees of Eden envied it... in the garden of God. (Ezekiel 31:3, 8-9)

This is said of Egypt and Assyria, because Egypt symbolizes knowledge, and Assyria rationality, which leads to intelligence. A cedar has a similar symbolism.

But because Egypt's rationality led also to a conceit in its own intelligence, therefore it is said of it,

To which of the trees in Eden were you then likened in glory and greatness, when you were brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth below, and you lay in the midst of the uncircumcised...? (Ezekiel 31:18)

The uncircumcised are people who lack the goodness of charity.

[4] In Isaiah:

...Jehovah will comfort Zion..., and make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Jehovah. (Isaiah 51:3)

Zion there is the church. The wilderness and desert are a deficiency of truth and ignorance of it. Eden and the garden of God are wisdom and intelligence.

Wisdom and intelligence are also symbolically meant by a garden in Isaiah 58:11; 61:11, Jeremiah 31:12, Amos 9:14, and Numbers 24:6.

[5] A person of the church is also like a garden in respect to his intelligence when he possesses goodness of love from the Lord, because the spiritual warmth that enlivens him is love, and spiritual light is the resulting intelligence.

People know that these two, warmth and light, cause gardens in the world to bloom. It is the same in heaven. Paradisal gardens are seen in heaven, with trees bearing fruit in accordance with the inhabitants' wisdom that springs from their goodness of love from the Lord. But around people who possess intelligence without the goodness of love, no gardens are seen, but grass, while around those whose faith is divorced from charity, not even grass is seen, but sand.