9141. 'And causing devastation in another's field' means consuming interconnected forms of good. This is clear from the meaning of 'devastating' as a stripping away, thus a consuming, by evil desires, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'in another's field' as interconnected forms of good. 'Field' means the Church, and the crop in the field means forms of good, 9139, so that the crop 'in another's field' means forms of good which are adjacent and interconnected with one another. For the forms of good present with a person are like generations on earth, and therefore stand at different distances from one another and vary in their interconnections, 9079. Those that are not in the same household or together in the same family, but are nevertheless related, are what 'being in another's field' is used to mean.

[2] The reason why 'devastating' means a stripping away, and so a consuming, by evil desires is that the proper meaning of the actual word used in the original language to denote 'devastating' is setting alight and burning, and so also feeding on and consuming. And since this is what the word is derived from, 'causing devastation' here means consuming, which is done by evil desires; for evil desires in a person are consuming fires. There is present in everyone the fire of life and the light of life; the fire of life is his love, and the light of life is his belief. The love of good, that is, love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour, compose the fire of life in a good person and in an angel of heaven, and the love of truth and belief in truth compose the light of life in them. But the love of evil, that is, self-love and love of the world, compose the fire of life in a bad person and in a spirit in hell, and the love of falsity and belief in falsity compose the inferior light of life in them. In the Word however the love of evil is called a burning fire, because it burns up and consumes those things that are forms of the love of good and truth. For this meaning of a burning fire, see 1297, 1861, 5215, 9055.

[3] The fact that a consuming by evil desires is meant by the actual word used in the original language is evident from the following places: In Isaiah,

Jehovah will enter into judgement with the elders of His people and with their princes. You have consumed (set alight) the vineyard. Isaiah 3:14.

In the same prophet,

The breath of Jehovah like a river of brimstone consumes it (sets it on fire). Isaiah 30:33.

'A river of brimstone' means falsities streaming from the evils of self-love and love of the world, 2446.

[4] In Ezekiel,

The inhabitants of the cities of Israel will go out, and they will set alight and burn the weapons, both shield and buckler, together with bow and arrows, and hand-staff, and spear; they will set fire to them for seven years, that they may not bring wood from the field nor cut down any from the forests. Ezekiel 39:9-10.

This serves to describe the consumption and devastation of good and truth by evil desires. But is anyone going to recognize this unless he knows what is meant by the inhabitants of the cities of Israel, also what is meant by weapons, shield, buckler, bow and arrows, by hand-staff and spear, by seven years, and by wood from the field and from the forests? 'The inhabitants' are forms of good, see 2268, 2451, 2712; 'the cities' are truths, and therefore matters of doctrine drawn from the Word, 2268, 2449, 2943, 3216, 4492; and 'Israel' is the Church, 4286, 6426, 6637. Therefore 'the inhabitants of the cities of Israel' are forms of good that belong to matters of doctrine taught by the Church, and in the contrary sense these things when they have been turned into evils and falsities. 'Shield', 'buckler', and 'the bow's arrows' are truths belonging to religious teachings drawn from the Word, which serve to protect against falsities arising from evil, 2686, 2709, 6422. 'Hand-staff' is the power of truth derived from good, 4876, 7026; ¹ and 'spear' in like manner means power, though that which is more internal. 'Seven years' is a complete state, thus to completeness, 6508, 8976, so that 'setting fire to for seven years' is a complete consumption by evil desires. 'Wood from the field' is the Church's more internal forms of good, 3720, 8354, 'the field' being the Church, 2971, 3766, 7502, 7571; and 'wood from the forests' is more external forms of good, 3220, 9011 (end). When aware of all this a person can then know that these words spoken by the prophet describe the consuming of all things of the Church by evil desires, until none at all of the internal or of the external Church's good or truth is left, meant by 'they will set fire to them for seven years, that they may not bring wood from the field nor cut down any from the forests'.

[5] A further use of the same word to describe the consumption of the Church's good and truth occurs in Malachi,

Behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, in which all who are sinning insolently, and everyone who performs wickedness, will be stubble; and the day that is coming will consume (set fire to) them, said Jehovah Zebaoth, who will leave them neither root nor branch. Malachi 4:1.

'The day that is coming' is the final period of the Church, when self-love and love of the world are going to reign and to consume all the Church's truths and forms of good, until none at all is left in a person inwardly or outwardly. These things are meant by the statement that 'He will leave them neither root nor branch'; 'the root' of good and truth exists in a person inwardly, and 'the branch' in him outwardly. From all this it is now evident that 'devastating' means a consuming by evil desires, in the same way as it does elsewhere in the Word.

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3387. 'For he was afraid to say, My wife, [thinking,] The men of the place may perhaps kill me on account of Rebekah' means that it was impossible for Divine Truths themselves to be disclosed, and so for Divine Good to be received. This is clear from the meaning of 'being afraid to say' as an inability to disclose; from the meaning of 'wife', who is Rebekah here, as the Lord's Divine Rational in respect to Divine Truth, dealt with in 3012, 3013, 3077; from the meaning of 'killing me' as good not being received, for 'Isaac', to whom 'me' refers here, represents the Divine Good of the Lord's Rational, 3012, 3194, 3210 - good being said 'to be killed' or to perish when it is not received, for it ceases to exist with that person; and from the meaning of 'the men of the place' as people who possess matters of doctrine concerning faith, dealt with just above in 3385. From these meanings it is now evident what the internal sense of these words is, namely: If Divine truths themselves were disclosed they would not be received by those who possess matters of doctrine concerning faith because those truths go beyond the whole range of their rational grasp of things, and so go beyond the whole of their faith, and as a consequence of this no good at all could flow in from the Lord. For good from the Lord, or Divine good, cannot flow in except into truths, for truths are the vessels for good, as shown many times.

[2] Truths or appearances of truth are given to a person to enable Divine Good to develop the understanding part of his mind, and so the person himself, for truths exist to the end that good may flow in. Indeed without vessels or receptacles good has nowhere to go, for it can find no condition answering to itself. Where no truths exist therefore, that is, where they have not been received, neither does any rational or human good exist; and as a consequence the person does not possess any spiritual life. Therefore, so that a person may nevertheless possess truths, and from these receive spiritual life, appearances of truth are given, to everyone according to his ability to grasp them; and these appearances are acknowledged as truths because they have the capacity to hold Divine things within them.

[3] So that it may be known what appearances are and that they are what serve a person as Divine truths, let the following be used by way of illustration: If man were told that in heaven angels have no concept of place, and so no concept of distance, but that instead they have concepts of state, he could not possibly grasp it, for he would suppose from this that nothing distinct and separate existed but that everything was fused together, that is to say, all the angels were together in a single place. Yet everything there is so distinct and separate that nothing could ever be more so. Places, distances, and intervals of space which exist in the natural order exist in heaven as states, see 3356. From this it is evident that all the things that are stated in the Word about places and intervals of space between objects, also ideas that are formed from these and expressed through them, are appearances of truth; and unless everything were stated by means of those appearances it would in no way be received and would as a consequence be scarcely anything; for the concept of space and time is present in almost every single detail of a person's thought as long as he is in the world, that is, living within space and time.

[4] The fact that the Word speaks according to appearances involving space is clear from almost every single part of it, as in Matthew,

Jesus said, How is it that David says, The Lord [said] to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool? Matthew 22:43-44.

Here the expression 'sitting at the right hand' is derived from the concept of place and so according to the appearance - when in fact it is a state of the Lord's Divine power which is described by that expression. In the same gospel,

Jesus said, Hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. Matthew 26:64.

Here similarly 'sitting at the right hand' and also 'coming on clouds' are expressions derived from men's concept of place, whereas the concept angels have is one of the state of the Lord's power. In Mark,

The sons of Zebedee said to Jesus, Grant us to sit in Your glory, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left. Jesus replied, To sit at My right hand and at My left is not Mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared. Mark 10:37, 40.

From this it is evident what kind of concept the disciples had of the Lord's kingdom, that is to say, one that involved sitting on the right hand and on the left. Such being the concept they had of it the Lord also replied to them in a way they could understand and so by an appearance that could be seen by them.

[5] In David,

Like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, he rejoices as a mighty man to run the course. From the end of the heavens is His going forth, and His circuit to the ends of them. Psalms 19:5-6.

This refers to the Lord, the state of whose Divine power is described by means of such things as belong to space. In Isaiah,

How you have fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the dawn! You said in your heart, I will go up into the heavens, above the stars of God ¹ I will raise my throne. I will go up above the heights of the clouds. Isaiah 14:12-14.

'Falling from heaven', 'going up the heavens', 'raising a throne above the stars of God', 'going up above the heights of the clouds' are all expressions derived from the concept and appearance of space or a place, and are used to describe self-love profaning holy things. Since celestial and spiritual things are presented to man by means of and according to visual objects like these, heaven too is therefore described as being on high when in fact it is not on high but in that which is internal, 450, 1380, 2148.

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