9666. 'And the middle bar in the midst of the boards that passes through from end to end' means the chief power from which the power everywhere else extends. This is clear from the meaning of 'bar' or 'pole' as power, dealt with in 9496; from the meaning of 'middle' as what is inmost and chief, dealt with in 1074, 2940, 2973, 5897, 6084, 6103; from the meaning of 'passing through from end to end', when it refers to 'the bar' by which power is meant, as the power everywhere else that is derived and extends from it.

[2] None can have any real knowledge of these matters unless they know about the nature of things which are more internal and those which are more external in the spiritual world. Things that are the best and purest, and so more perfect than all others, exist in the inmost part. Those which are spread out from there towards more external parts are less and less perfect the further away they lie from inmost things, ending in those in the outermost parts, which are the least perfect of all, 9648. Things are said to be less perfect when they can be more easily twisted out of the shape and beauty they possess, and so out of the order that is theirs. The situation in all this is like that with fruits. Within them they have seeds, surrounded by the flesh. The seeds exist in a state more perfect than the flesh outside them, as becomes clear from the fact that when the flesh decays the seeds still remain intact. The like applies to the seeds themselves. Inmostly in these there is the reproductive germ, which exists in a perfect state compared with the parts outside it; for the germ remains in its intactness, producing a new tree or young plant when the more external parts of the seed are broken down. Things in heaven are arranged in the same way. The inmost things there, being closer to the Lord, exist in a perfect state compared with more external ones. For this reason the inmost heaven enjoys greater wisdom and intelligence, and consequently greater happiness than the heavens below. The like applies within each heaven; the inmost is more perfect than the surrounding parts. The like applies also to the person with whom the good of love and the truths of faith are present. That person's internal exists in a more perfect state than the external; for the internal man dwells in the heat and light of heaven, but the external in the heat and light of the world. In every form that is perfect the situation is the same, in that its inmost part is the best, the inmost being what is meant by 'the middle'.

[3] The reason why 'passing through from end to end', said in reference to a bar or pole, means the power everywhere else that is derived and extends from the chief power is that 'from end to end' means the first end and the final end, ¹ thus from beginning to end since the first end is the beginning. Consequently by 'the ends' all things and everywhere are meant, as in Jeremiah,

The sword of Jehovah is devouring from [one] end of the land to the [other] end of it. Jeremiah 12:12.

'The sword' stands for truth engaged in conflict against falsity and destroying it, and in the contrary sense falsity engaged in conflict against truth and destroying it, 2799, 4499, 6353, 7102, 8294. 'Devouring from [one] end of the land to the [other] end of it' stands for all things of the Church, 'the land' being the Church, 9334. In David,

From the end of the heavens is His going forth, and His circuit to the ends of them. Psalms 19:6.

Here also 'from the end of the heavens to the ends of them' stands for all things and everywhere.

[4] In Mark,

He will send His angels and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth even to the end of heaven. Mark 13:27.

'The end of the earth' and 'the end of heaven' stand for all the external and the internal things of the Church, 'the earth' being the external part of the Church and 'heaven' the internal part of it, see 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355 (end), 4535, where it explains what a new earth and a new heaven are. The plural 'ends' has the same meaning, in Isaiah,

Look to Me, that you may be saved, all ends of the earth. Isaiah 45:22.

In David,

O God of our salvation, [You are] the confidence of all the ends of the earth and of the far-off parts of the sea. Psalms 65:5.

And the singular has the same meaning in the expression 'even to the end': In Isaiah,

... [that] you may be ² My salvation even to the end of the earth. Isaiah 49:6.

In the same prophet,

Jehovah will cause it to be heard even to the end of the earth, Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your salvation will come. Isaiah 62:11.

In Jeremiah,

A clamour will come even to the end of the earth. Jeremiah 25:31.

'Even to the end' implies from end to end.

[5] But when 'end' is used to denote solely what is outermost or last and lowest it means that which is the lowest part of heaven or of the Church, as in Isaiah,

Sing to Jehovah a new song; [sing] His praise, you end of the earth falling away to the sea, and you fullness of it (the islands and their inhabitants). Isaiah 42:10.

'You end of the earth falling away to the sea' stands for the last and lowest part of the Church where goodness and truth dwell in obscurity. For this meaning of 'the sea', see 9653. 'The islands' stands for those more remote from truths, and consequently from [true] worship, 1158.

[6] In the same prophet,

Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the end of the earth. Isaiah 43:6.

'Sons from afar' are those who dwell in obscurity in respect of truths, 'daughters from the end of the earth' those who do so in respect of forms of good, as gentile nations did. By 'sons' those in possession of truths are meant, and in the abstract sense truths themselves, see 264, 489, 491, 1147, 2623, 2803, 2813, 3373, 3704, and by 'daughters' those with whom forms of good exist, and in the abstract sense the forms of good themselves, 489-491, 2362, 3963, 8994. From this it is also evident that 'end' has regard to good and 'afar' to truth, as also in Psalms 65:5 and Isaiah 13:5. But it should be remembered that by 'the end of heaven' not an end that is spatial but a state of goodness and truth should be understood; for there is no space in heaven, only an appearance of it that is determined by states of goodness and truth.

Poznámky pod čarou:

3963. 'Afterwards she bore a daughter' means the affection for all these, and also means the Church of faith in which good is present. This is clear from the meaning of 'a daughter' as an affection, and also as a Church, dealt with in 2363. But as to what the object of the affection is, or what kind of Church is meant, this is evident from whatever is added on to the word 'daughter'. For example, it is evident from the addition of 'Zion' after 'daughter' that the celestial Church, which is called 'the daughter of Zion', is meant; from the addition of 'Jerusalem' that the spiritual Church, which is referred to as 'the daughter of Jerusalem', is meant, and so on. In the present verse, in which nothing is added on to it, 'daughter' means the Church of faith in which good is present. For up to this point the subject has been the general truths which constitute faith in which good is present, and the reception and acknowledgement of those truths, that is to say, the truths that were meant, as has been shown, by the ten sons of Jacob dealt with above. And since immediately after these sons reference is made to the birth of a daughter it is evident from the train of thought that a Church is meant in which all these truths are present.

[2] Whether you call it the Church of faith in which good is present, or you call it the spiritual Church, it amounts to the same; or again if you call it the affection for all these, that is, all these general truths. For it is from the affection for truth in which good is present, and the affection for good from which truth springs, that the Church has its being, not from the affection for truth in which good is not present or the affection for good from which truth does not spring. People who are governed by an affection for truth but not by the good from which truth springs, that is, who do not live according to truths, are much mistaken when they say that they belong to the Church. Though within a congregation, they are outside the Church, for they are governed by the affection for evil to which truth cannot be joined. Their affection for truth does not originate in the Lord but in themselves, for they have themselves in view, their intention being by means of the truth they know to earn repute, and thereby important positions and wealth. But they do not have the Church in view, or the Lord's kingdom, let alone the Lord. But people governed by the affection for good from which truth does not spring do not belong to the Church even though they are within a congregation, for they are governed by natural good, not by spiritual, and allow themselves to be led into every kind of evil and also of falsity, provided that evil is made to look like good and falsity to look like truth, see 3470, 3471, 3518.