934. 'Cold' means the absence of love, that is, of charity and faith, 'heat' or 'fire' the presence of love or of charity and faith. This becomes clear from the following places in the Word: In John, in the letter to the Church at Laodicea,

I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! But because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot I will spew you out of My mouth. Revelation 7:15, 16.

Here 'cold' stands for no charity, 'hot' for much. In Isaiah,

Thus said Jehovah, I will be still and I will behold in My place; like clear heat on the light, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. Isaiah 18:4.

The subject here is a new Church that is to be founded. 'Heat on the light' and 'the heat of harvest' stand for love and charity. In the same prophet,

Jehovah's fire is in Zion, and His furnace in Jerusalem. Isaiah 3:9.

'Fire' stands for love. Concerning the cherubim seen by Ezekiel,

As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches, moving between the living creatures. And the five was bright and out of the fire went forth lightning. Ezekiel 1:13.

[2] And concerning the Lord in the same prophet,

Above the firmament that was above the heads of the cherubim, in appearance like a sapphire stone, there was the likeness of a throne, and above the likeness of a throne, there was a likeness as the appearance of a man upon it above. And I saw as it were the shape of fiery coals, as the shape of fire, within it round about, from the appearance of His loins upwards. And from the appearance of His loins and downwards I saw as it were the appearance of fire, whose brightness was round about it. Ezekiel 1:26-27; 8:2.

Here 'fire' stands for love. In Daniel,

The Ancient of Days was seated. His throne was flames of fire, its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and came forth from before Him, a thousand thousands served Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. Daniel 7:9-10.

'Fire' stands for the Lord's love. In Zechariah,

I will be to her, said Jehovah, a wall of fire round about. Zechariah 2:5.

This refers to the New Jerusalem. In David,

Jehovah makes winds His messengers, and flaming fire His ministers. Psalms 104:4.

'Flaming fire' stands for that which is celestial-spiritual.

[3] Because 'fire' meant love, fire also became a representative of the Lord. This is clear from 'the five on the altar of burnt offering that was to be kept burning all the time', Leviticus 6:9, 12-13, representing the Lord's mercy. For this reason 'before Aaron entered the place of atonement he had to burn incense with fire taken from the altar of burnt offering', Leviticus 16:12-14. And also, to signify that worship was acceptable to the Lord, 'fire was sent down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering', as in Leviticus 9:24, and elsewhere. In the Word 'fire' also means self-love and its attendant desire. With that love heavenly love can never agree; consequently it is also said that Aaron's two sons were devoured by fire because they employed strange fire, Leviticus 10:1-2. 'Strange fire' means all self-love and love of the world, and every desire accompanying those loves. In addition heavenly love seems to wicked people like nothing else than a burning and devouring fire; and this is why in the Word devouring fire is attributed to the Lord. The fire on Mount Sinai, for example, which represented the Lord's love or mercy, was perceived by the people as a consuming fire, as a consequence of which they told Moses not to make them hear the voice of Jehovah God, or see the great Fire lest they died, Deuteronomy 18:16. This is how the Lord's love or mercy appears to people engulfed in the fire of self-love and love of the world.

5072. Genesis 40

1. And so it was after these words, ¹ that they sinned - the cupbearer of the king of Egypt, and the baker - against their lord the king of Egypt.

2. And Pharaoh was incensed with his two courtier-ministers, with the chief of the cupbearers and with the chief of the bakers.

3. And he put them in the custody of the house of the chief of the attendants, at the prison-house, the place where Joseph was bound.

4. And the chief of the attendants set Joseph over them and he ministered to them; and they were in custody for days. ²

5. And they both dreamed a dream, each his dream in one night, each according to the interpretation of his dream, the cupbearer and the baker to the king of Egypt, who were bound in the prison-house.

6. And Joseph came to them in the morning, and he saw them, and behold, they were troubled.

7. And he asked Pharaoh's courtier-ministers who were with him in the custody of his lord's house, saying, Why are your faces sad ³ today?

8. And they said to him, We have dreamed a dream and there is no interpreter for it. And Joseph said to them, Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, I beg you.

9. And the chief of the cupbearers told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, and behold, a vine before me.

10. And on the vine three shoots, and it was as though budding; its blossom came up, and its clusters ripened into grapes.

11. And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and put the cup onto Pharaoh's palm.

12. And Joseph said to him, This is the interpretation of it: The three shoots are three days.

13. In yet three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and will restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh's cup into his hand, according to the former manner when you were his cupbearer.

14. But remember me when it is well with you, and show, I beg you, mercy to me, and make mention of me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house.

15. For I have indeed been taken by theft out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have not done anything for which they should put me in the pit.

16. And the chief of the bakers saw that he had interpreted what was good, and he said to Joseph, I also was in my dream, and behold, three baskets with holes in them were on my head.

17. And in the highest basket there was some of every kind of food for Pharaoh, the work of the baker, and the birds were eating them out of the basket, from upon my head.

18. And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days.

19. In yet three days Pharaoh will lift up your head from upon you, and will hang you on wood; and the birds will eat your flesh from upon you.

20. And it happened on the third day, Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants, and he lifted up the head of the chief of the cupbearers, and the head of the chief of the bakers, in the midst of his servants.

21. And he restored the chief of the cupbearers to his supervision over [Pharaoh's] drink, and he put the cup onto Pharaoh's palm.

22. And the chief of the bakers he hanged, as Joseph had interpreted to them.

23. And the chief of the cupbearers did not remember Joseph, and forgot him.

CONTENTS

The internal sense of this chapter continues to deal with the state of temptations, by means of which bodily things could be brought into a state of agreement. Rightly called bodily ones, those things are the powers of the senses, of which there are two kinds, some sensory powers being subordinate to the understanding part of the mind, others to the will part. Those subordinate to the understanding part are represented by the cupbearer of the king of Egypt, and those subordinate to the will part by the baker. The eventual retention of the former but casting away of the latter is represented by the fact that the cupbearer returned to the position he had held previously, whereas the baker was hanged. Everything else will become evident from the train of thought.

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