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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9139. 'When a man devastates a field or a vineyard' means a stripping away of the Church's goodness and truth by evil desires. This is clear from the meaning of 'devastating' as a stripping away by evil desires, dealt with below in 9141; from the meaning of 'a field' as the Church in respect of good, dealt with in 2971, 3766, 4982, 7502, thus the Church's good; and from the meaning of 'a vineyard' as the Church in respect of truth, thus the Church's truth. The reason why 'a field' is the Church in respect of good is that the products of a field, such as wheat and barley, mean forms of good in the Church, internal and external ones, 3941, 7602, 7605; and the reason why 'a vineyard' is the Church in respect of truth is that 'wine', which is the product of a vineyard, means the truth of good, 1071, 6377.

[2] The origin of these meanings of 'a field' and 'a vineyard' lies in representatives in the spiritual world. For fields full of wheat and barley appear before the eyes of spirits when angels in a higher heaven are talking about an assembly of people governed by good; and vineyards full of grapes appear, together with winepresses in them, when angels are talking about an assembly of people governed by the truth of good. Those representatives are not due to the existence of such fields and vineyards on earth; rather, they are due to correspondences, in that wheat and barley, or bread made from them, nourish the body just as the good of love and charity nourishes the soul, and in that wine serving as drink nourishes the body just as the truth and good of faith nourish the soul. This is the reason why in the Word the good of love and the truth of faith are called food and drink; indeed in this sense they are heavenly food and drink, 56-58, 680, 681, 1973, 1974, 4459, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5576, 5579, 5915, 8562.

[3] The fact that 'a vineyard' means the Church in respect of the good and truth of faith, which is called a spiritual Church, is clear from places in the Word in which a vineyard is mentioned, as in Jeremiah,

Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard, they have trampled down My field; they have rendered the field of [My] delight into a lonely wilderness. They have made it (the vineyard) into a solitary place. Jeremiah 12:10-11.

Here 'vineyard' and 'field' plainly stand for the Church; and since the Church is the Church by virtue of the truth and good of faith and charity, it is evident that in these verses 'vineyard' is the Church in respect of truth and 'the field' the Church in respect of good. In Isaiah,

Jehovah enters into judgement with the elders of His people and with its princes. You set alight the vineyard. Isaiah 3:14.

Here also 'vineyard' plainly stands for the Church in respect of the good and truth of faith; for 'the elders' with whom Jehovah will enter into judgement are the Church's forms of good, 6524, 6525, and 'the princes' are its truths, 5044.

[4] In the same prophet,

I will sing to my beloved a song of my friend regarding His vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard in a horn of a son of oil, ¹ which he surrounded [with an enclosure], and planted with the choicest vine. Isaiah 5:1-2ff.

This refers to the Lord, who is the 'beloved' and 'friend'. 'The vineyard' is His spiritual Church, 'the choicest vine' is that Church's good of faith, and 'a horn of a son of oil' is that Church's good of faith growing out of the good of love. The person who knows nothing whatever about the internal sense of the Word cannot possibly know what 'a vineyard in a horn of a son of oil' means. Nevertheless this expression has a meaning lying hidden within it such as no words can express. They contain a full description of the Lord's spiritual kingdom linked to His celestial kingdom, that is, of the second heaven to the third, consequently a full description of the good of faith in the Lord, which is the spiritual kingdom's, linked to the good of love to the Lord, which is the celestial kingdom's. 'The vineyard' is the spiritual kingdom; 'in a horn' is in power, thus in that kingdom, 'a son of oil' being the external level of the good of love in the celestial kingdom. The celestial kingdom, which is the Lord's inmost heaven, is called the olive or an olive-grove, for 'oil' means the good of celestial love, 886, 4582, 4638. It should be recognized that the Lord's kingdom on earth is the Church. As regards the existence of two kingdoms, the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom, and the fact that the spiritual kingdom constitutes the second heaven and the celestial kingdom the third, see 3887, 4138, 4279, 4286; and with regard to their being linked together, 6435.

[5] In the same prophet,

On that day, a vineyard of unmixed wine; ² respond to it. I Jehovah am guarding it; every moment I will water it. Isaiah 27:2-3.

'A vineyard of unmixed wine' stands for the spiritual Church. In Amos,

In all vineyards there will be wailing; I will pass through you. Woe to you desiring the day of Jehovah! What will the day of Jehovah be for you? It will be one of darkness, and not of light. Amos 5:17-18.

This refers to the final period of the Church, when the good and truth of faith do not exist any longer, that final period being meant by 'the day of Jehovah, which will be one of darkness, and not of light'. This is why it says, 'In all vineyards there will be wailing'. In John, in Revelation,

The angel sent his sickle into the earth and harvested the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. Revelation 14:18, 19.

'Harvesting the vine of the earth' means devouring the Church's truth and good, 'the earth' being the Church. From all this one may now see why it is that the Lord likened the kingdom of heaven so many times to a vineyard, as in Matthew 20:1ff; 21:28-29, 33-41; Mark 12:1-13; and why it is that the Lord called Himself 'the vine' in John,

As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; apart from Me you cannot do anything. John 15:1ff.

'The vine' is faith in the Lord, and for that reason is the Lord in respect of faith. For the Lord is faith because faith originates in Him; no faith is faith except that which originates in Him. So it is also that 'the vine' means faith that is faith in Him.

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