9146. 'Or standing grain, or a field' means the truth and good of faith in the process of being conceived. This is clear from the meaning of 'grain' as the truth of faith, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'a field' as the Church in respect of good, thus the Church's good, dealt with above in 9139. The reason why 'grain' means the truth of faith is that grain crops, such as wheat and barley, and bread made from them, mean the Church's forms of good, 3941, 7602. The Church's forms of good are those of charity towards the neighbour and of love to the Lord. These forms of good are the being and soul of faith; for they are what cause faith to be faith and give it life. The reason why 'standing grain' is the truth of faith in the process of being conceived is that it has not yet been gathered into stacks or stored away in barns. Therefore when grain is standing or still shooting up it is the truth of faith in the process of being conceived.

[2] Much the same is meant by 'standing grain' in Hosea,

Israel has made a king, and not by Me; they have made princes, and I did not know. Their silver and their gold they have made into idols. Because they sow the wind, they will reap the whirlwind. He does not have any standing grain; the ears will yield no flour. If they do yield it, aliens will swallow it up. Hosea 8:4, 7.

This refers to the Church's truths and forms of the good of faith when they have been reduced to nothing by hollow and false ideas. The fact that these things are the subject is evident from the train of thought, but what is actually being said about them is evident only from the internal sense. For in this sense 'a king' is used to mean the Church's truth of faith in its entirety, see 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 6148, and 'princes' to mean primary truths, 1482, 2089, 5044; and from all this one may see what is meant by the words 'Israel has made a king, and not by Me; they have made princes, and I did not know', 'Israel' being the Church, 4286, 6426, 6637. By 'silver' is meant in the internal sense the truth of good, and in the contrary sense the falsity of evil, 1551, 2954, 5658, 6112, 6914, 6917, 8932, by 'gold' is meant good, and in the contrary sense evil, 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917, 8932, and by 'idols' is meant worship consisting of falsities and evils, 8941; and from all this one may see what is meant by 'their silver and their gold they have made into idols'. 'The wind' which they sow means senseless ideas; 'the whirlwind' which they will reap means the resulting turmoil in the Church; 'the standing grain' which he does not have any of means the truth of faith in the process of being conceived; 'the ears' which will yield no flour means sterility; and 'aliens' who will swallow it up means falsities that will consume it.

1728. 'And he was a priest' means the holiness of love. This is clear from the meaning of 'a priest' in the Word. Two special ways in which the Lord is characterized are as King and as Priest. A king or the office of king means holy truth, and a priest or the office of priest means holy good. The former is the Divine Spiritual, the latter the Divine Celestial. As King the Lord governs every single thing in the universe from Divine Truth; but as Priest He does so from Divine Good. Divine Truth is the order itself of His kingdom existing everywhere, all the laws of which are truths, or eternal verities. Divine Good is the very essential of order, every aspect of which is an expression of mercy. Both of these - Divine Good and Divine Truth - are attributed to the Lord. If solely Divine Truth were His, no mortal man could be saved, for truths condemn everyone to hell. But Divine Good, which is the essence of mercy, raises people up from hell towards heaven. Divine Truth and Divine Good are what kings and priests in the Jewish Church represented; and Melchizedek as king of Salem and priest to God Most High represented them too.