1164. That 'Cush' or Ethiopia means interior cognitions of the Word by which people confirm false assumptions is clear in Jeremiah,

Egypt comes up like the river, and like the rivers the waters are tossed about; and he said, I will go up, I will cover the earth, I will destroy the city and those who dwell in it. Go up, O horses, and rage, O chariots, and let the mighty men go forth, Cush and Put that handle the shield. Jeremiah 46:8-9.

In this case 'Egypt' stands for people who believe nothing they do not grasp through facts. As a result everything is subject to doubt, denial and falsification, meant by 'rising up, covering the earth, and destroying the city'. Here 'Cush' stands for the more universal and interior cognitions of the Word by which they confirm accepted false assumptions. 'Put' stands for cognitions drawn from the literal sense of the Word which are based on sensory appearances.

[2] In Ezekiel,

A sword will come upon Egypt, and there will be grief in Cush when the slain ¹ falls in Egypt; and they will take her multitude, and her foundations will be destroyed. Cush and Put and Lud and all of Ereb ² and Kub, and the sons of the land of the covenant will fall with them by the sword. Ezekiel 30:4-6.

Except from the internal sense nobody could possibly know what these statements mean. And if the names did not mean real things, these verses would have practically no meaning at all. In this case however 'Egypt' means the knowledge by means of which they wish to enter into the mysteries of faith. 'Cush and Put' are called 'her foundations' because they are cognitions drawn from the Word.

[3] In the same prophet,

On that day messengers will go forth from before Me in ships to terrify overconfident Cush, and there will be grief among them as in the day of Egypt. Ezekiel 30:9.

'Cush' stands for cognitions drawn from the Word which confirm falsities hatched out of facts. In the same prophet,

I will make the land of Egypt into waste places, an utter desolation, from the tower of Seveneh as far as the border of Cush. Ezekiel 29:10.

In this case 'Egypt' stands for facts, 'Cush' for cognitions of the interior things of the Word, which are 'the borders' beyond which knowledge does not go.

[4] In Isaiah,

The king of Asshur will lead away the captives of Egypt and the captives of Cush, boys and old men, naked and barefoot, and with buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt. And they will be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope, and because of Egypt their glory. Isaiah 20:4-5.

Here 'Cush' stands for cognitions drawn from the Word by which falsities obtained through facts are confirmed. 'Asshur' is reasoning which carries away those who are captive. In Nahum,

Cush was her strength, Egypt too, and that without limit; Put and the Libyans were your help. Nahum 3:9.

This refers to a vastated Church where in a similar way 'Egypt' stands for facts and 'Cush' for cognitions.

[5] 'Cush' and 'Egypt' stand simply for cognitions and knowledge which are truths useful to people whose faith is grounded in charity. 'Cush and Egypt' is used in this good sense in Isaiah,

Jehovah said, The labour of Egypt, and the wares of Cush and of the Sabeans, men of stature, will come over to you and will be yours. They will follow after you in fetters, they will come over and bow down to you. To you they will make the supplication, God is with you only, and there is no other besides God. Isaiah 45:14.

'The labour of Egypt' stands for knowledge, 'the wares of Cush and the Sabeans' for cognitions of spiritual things which serve those who acknowledge the Lord, for all knowledge and every cognition are theirs.

[6] In Daniel,

The king of the north will have dominion over the secret hoards of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; and the Libyans (Put) and the Cushites will follow in his ³ steps. Daniel 11:3.

'Put and Cush' here stands for cognitions drawn from the Word, 'Egypt' for facts. In Zephaniah,

From beyond the rivers of Cush are those who adore Me. Zephaniah 3:10.

This stands for those who are beyond the range of cognitions, and so for gentiles. In David,

Noblemen will come out of Egypt, Cush will hasten [to stretch out] her hands to God. Psalms 68:31.

Here 'Egypt' stands for knowledge, and 'Cush' for cognitions.

[7] In the same author,

I will mention Rahab and Babel among those who know Me; behold, Philistia and Tyre, with Cush. The latter was born here (in the city of God). Psalms 87:4.

'Cush' stands for cognitions drawn from the Word, hence the statement that he was 'born in the city of God'. Since 'Cush' means interior cognitions of the Word and intelligence acquired from these, it is therefore said that the second river going out of the garden of Eden encompassed the whole land of Cush. On this see what has appeared already in 117.

Poznámky pod čarou:

5280. 'And the abundance of corn in the land will not be known' means that no discernment at all regarding the truth present previously will exist there. This is clear from the meaning of 'being known' as being discerned; from the meaning of 'the abundance of corn' as truth that has been multiplied, dealt with above; in 5276, 5278; and from the meaning of 'the land', in this case the land of Egypt, as the natural mind, also dealt with above, in 5276, 5278, 5279. From these meanings it is evident that 'the abundance of corn in the land will not be known means that no discernment at all regarding the truth present previously will exist in the natural.

[2] This verse deals with the final state of desolation, when despair, which comes immediately before regeneration, is experienced; and this being the matter dealt with in this verse, something must be said about the nature of it. Everyone has to be reformed, and to be born anew or regenerated, so that he may enter heaven, No one, unless he is born again, can see the kingdom of God. John 3:3, 5-6.

The human being is born into sin which has increased as it has come down in a long line of descent from ancestors, grandparents, and parents; it has become hereditary and so has been handed down to offspring. At birth a person is born into so many inherited evils which have gradually increased, as described, that he is nothing but sin; therefore unless he undergoes regeneration he remains wholly immersed in sin. But to be regenerated, he must first undergo reformation, which is effected by means of the truths of faith; for he must learn from the Word, and from teaching drawn from it, what good is. Items of knowledge regarding what is good that have been acquired from the Word - that is, from teaching drawn from there - are called the truths of faith; for all truths of faith well up out of good and flow in the direction of good, good being the end they have in view.

[3] This state comes first and is called the state of reformation. Most people within the Church are introduced into it during the period from young childhood through to adolescence, though few are regenerated because most people within the Church learn the truths of faith - or religious knowledge about what is good - for the sake of reputation and position and for the sake of material gain. Since therefore the truths of faith have been introduced through his love of these things, a person cannot be born anew or be regenerated until that love has been removed. To enable such love to be removed that person is launched into a state of temptation, which takes place in the following way: His love of reputation, position, and material gain is activated by the hellish crew, for that crew's desire is to live immersed in the love of those things. But at the same time angels activate affections for what is true and good which were implanted in the state of innocence during early childhood and then stored away interiorly and preserved there for this particular purpose. As a result conflict between evil spirits and angels takes place, and this conflict taking place within a person is experienced by him as temptation. And because the action at this time involves truths and forms of good, the actual truths which were instilled initially are so to speak banished by the falsities infused by the evil spirits - so banished that they are not seen - dealt with above in 5268-5270. And as the person allows himself at this time to be regenerated, the Lord introduces through an internal route the light of truth radiated from good in the natural, in which light the truths are restored there in their proper order.

[4] This is what happens to a person who is being regenerated, but few at the present day are permitted to enter that regenerative state. So far as they allow it to happen, all people, it is true, start to be reformed through the instruction they receive in the truths and forms of good that belong to spiritual life; but as soon as they reach adolescent years they allow the world to distract them. So they turn away into those parts where hellish spirits are, who gradually alienate these people from heaven; the spirits alienate them so completely that they scarcely believe any longer in the existence of heaven. Consequently those people cannot be launched into any spiritual temptation; for if they were they would go under instantly, in which case their latter state would be worse than their former one, Matthew 12:45. From all this one may see the nature of what the internal sense contains here, namely the state of reformation and the state of regeneration. This particular verse however describes the final state in temptation, which is a state of despair - this state being dealt with immediately above in 5279.