71. And His voice as the voice of many waters, signifies Divine truth in ultimates. This is evident from the signification of a "voice" when it is from the Lord, as being Divine truth (See Arcana Coelestia 219, 220, 3563, 6971, 8813, 8914, and above, n. 55); and from the signification of "waters," as being the truths of faith, and also the knowledges of truth (of which see n. 2702, 3058, 5668, 8568, 10238); and since the knowledges of truths are in ultimates, "the voice as the voice of many waters," because it is said of the Lord, signifies Divine truth in ultimates. (That knowledges and scientifics are of the external or natural man, because they are in the light of the world, thus in ultimates, see Arcana Coelestia 5212, and in general, in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, n.51.) As it is not yet known that "waters" in the Word signify the truths of faith and the knowledges of truth, I would like, since this signification may possibly appear remote, to show here briefly that this is what is meant in the Word by "waters." This, moreover, is necessary, because without a knowledge of what "waters" signify, it cannot be known what baptism signifies, nor the "washings" in the Israelitish church so frequently referred to. "Waters" signify the truths of faith, as "bread" signifies the good of love. "Waters" and "bread" have this signification because things that pertain to spiritual nourishment are expressed in the sense of the letter by such things as belong to natural nourishment; for bread and water, which include in general all food and drink, nourish the body, while the truths of faith and the good of love nourish the soul. This also is from correspondence, for when "bread" and "water" are read of in the Word, angels, because they are spiritual, understand the things by which they are nourished, which are the goods of love and the truths of faith.

[2] But I will cite some passages from which it may be known that "waters" signify the truths of faith, likewise the knowledges of truth. Thus in Isaiah:

The earth is full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:9).

In the same:

Then with joy shall ye draw waters out of the fountains of salvation (Isaiah 12:3).

In the same:

He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly, bread shall be given him, and his waters shall be sure (Isaiah 33:15-16).

In the same:

The poor and the needy seek water, but there is none; their tongue faileth for thirst. I will open rivers upon the heights, and will place fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness into a pool of waters, and the dry land into a going forth of waters; that they may see, and know, and consider, and understand (Isaiah 41:17, 18, 20).

In the same:

I will pour waters upon him that is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground; I will pour My spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring (Isaiah 44:3).

In the same:

Thy light shall arise in the darkness, and thy thick darkness be as the noonday; that thou mayest be like a watered garden, and like a going forth of waters, whose waters shall not prove false (Isaiah 58:10-11).

In Jeremiah:

My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew out for themselves pits that hold no water (Jeremiah 2:13).

In the same:

Their nobles sent their little ones for water; they came to the pits and found no waters; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded (Jeremiah 14:3).

In the same:

They have forsaken Jehovah, the fountain of living waters (Jeremiah 17:13).

In the same:

They shall come with weeping, ¹ and with supplications will I lead them; I will lead them unto fountains of waters, in the way of right (Jeremiah 31:9).

In Ezekiel:

I will break the staff of bread, and they shall eat bread by weight and with carefulness; and they shall drink water by measure and with astonishment; that they may want bread and water, and be desolated, a man and a brother, and pine away for their iniquities (Ezekiel 4:16-17; 12:18-19; Isaiah 51:14).

In Amos:

Behold the days come, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but for hearing the Word of Jehovah. They shall wander from sea to sea, they shall run to and fro, to seek the Word of Jehovah, and shall not find it; in that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst (Amos 8:11-13).

In Zechariah:

In that day living waters shall go out from Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:8).

In David:

Jehovah is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He will lead me to the waters of rest (Psalms 23:1-2).

In Isaiah:

They shall not thirst, He will cause waters to flow out of the rock for them, and He will cleave the rock, that the waters may flow out (Isaiah 48:21).

In David:

O God, early will I seek Thee; my soul thirsteth, I am weary without waters (Psalms 63:1).

In the same:

Jehovah sendeth His word, He maketh the wind to blow, that the waters may flow (Psalms 147:18).

In the same:

Praise Jehovah, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens (Psalms 148:4).

In John:

When Jesus came to the fountain of Jacob, a woman of Samaria came to draw water; Jesus said to her, Give Me to drink. If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith unto thee, Give Me to drink, thou wouldest ask of Him, and He would give thee living water. The woman said unto Him, From whence hast Thou living water? Jesus said to her, Everyone that drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever shall drink of the water that I shall give him shall not thirst for ever; and the water that I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up unto everlasting life (John 4:7-15).

In the same:

Jesus said, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture saith, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (John 7:37-38).

In Revelation:

I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely (Revelation 21:6).

And in another place:

The angel showed unto him a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb (Revelation 22:1).

And again:

The spirit and the bride say, Come. He that heareth, let him say, Come. And he that is athirst, let him come. And he that wisheth, let him take the water of life freely (Revelation 22:17).

[3] These passages have been cited that it may be known that in the Word "waters" signify the truths of faith, consequently what is meant by the water of baptism, about which the Lord thus teaches in John:

Except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:5).

"Waters" here are the truths of faith, and "spirit" a life according to them (See New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine, n. 202-209 seq.). Because it had not been known that "waters" signified the truths of faith, and that all things that were instituted among the sons of Israel were representative of spiritual things, it was believed that by the washings that were prescribed for them their sins were wiped away; yet this was not at all the case; those washings only represented purification from evils and falsities by means of the truths of faith and a life according to them (See Arcana Coelestia 3147[1-10], 5954, 10237, 10240). From this it is now clear that by "the voice," which was "as the voice of many waters," is meant Divine truth; as likewise in Ezekiel:

Behold the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east, and His voice was like the voice of many waters; and the earth was enlightened by His glory (Ezekiel 43:2).

And in David:

The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters, Jehovah upon many waters (Psalms 29:3).

And in the following words in Revelation:

I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters (Revelation 14:2).

[4] I know that some will wonder why "waters" are mentioned in the Word, and not the truths of faith, since the Word is to teach man about his spiritual life; and since, if the expression the truths of faith had been used, instead of "waters," man would have known that the waters of baptism and of washings contribute nothing to the purifying of man from evils and falsities. But it is to be known, that the Word in order to be Divine, and at the same time useful to heaven and the church, must be wholly natural in the letter, for if it were not natural in the letter there could be no conjunction of heaven with the church by means of it; for it would be like a house without a foundation, and like a soul without a body, for ultimates enclose all interiors, and are a foundation for them (See above, n. 41). Man also is in ultimates, and upon the church in him heaven has its foundations. For this reason the style of the Word is such as it is; and as a consequence, when man from the natural things that are in the sense of the letter of the Word thinks spiritually, he is conjoined with heaven, and in no other way could he be conjoined with it.

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5120. 'And put the cup onto Pharaoh's palm' means that the interior natural made these its own. This is clear from the meaning of 'putting the cup' to drink (and so the wine in the cup) as making one's own, for 'drinking' means making truth one's own, see 3168; and from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as the interior natural, dealt with in 5080, 5095, 5118. As is evident from what has gone before, the subject here is the regeneration of the sensory power meant by 'the cupbearer' which is subject to the understanding part of the interior man; consequently the subject is also the influx of truth and good and their reception in the exterior natural. But since these matters are quite beyond the understanding of those who do not have any distinct idea about the rational and about the natural, or any about influx, all further explanation is therefore abandoned.

[2] But there is more to be said about 'a cup' mentioned very many times in the Word - about how in the genuine sense it has the same meaning as wine, namely spiritual truth or the truth of faith which is derived from the good of charity, and about how in the contrary sense it means falsity which produces evil, and also falsity which is a product of evil. The reason 'a cup' has the same meaning as 'wine' is that the cup is the container and the wine the content and therefore the two constitute a single entity, with the result that one is used to mean the other. This meaning of 'a cup' in the Word is evident from the following places:

[3] In David,

O Jehovah, You will spread a table before me in the presence of enemies and will make my head fat with oil; my cup will overflow. Psalms 23:5.

'Spreading a table' and 'making the head fat with oil' stand for being endowed with the good of charity and love. 'My cup will overflow' stands for the fact that the natural will thereby be filled with spiritual truth and good. In the same author,

What shall I render to Jehovah? I will take the cup of salvation and call on the name of Jehovah. Psalms 116:11, 17.

'Taking the cup of salvation' stands for making the goods of faith one's own.

[4] In Mark,

Whoever gives you drink from a cup of water in My name, because you are Christ's, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward. Mark 9:41.

'Giving drink from a cup of water in My name' stands for imparting the truths of faith from a small measure of charity.

[5] In Matthew,

Then taking a cup, and giving thanks, He gave it to them, saying, Drink from this, all of you; for this is My blood - that of the New Testament. Matthew 26:17, 28; Mark 14:27, 24; Luke 22:20.

The word 'cup' is used, not wine, because 'wine' has reference to the spiritual Church but 'blood' to the celestial Church. Both wine and blood however mean holy truth going forth from the Lord, though in the spiritual Church the holiness of faith springing from charity towards the neighbour is meant, whereas in the celestial Church the holiness of charity springing from love to the Lord is meant. The spiritual Church differs from the celestial in that the spiritual is moved by charity towards the neighbour, whereas the celestial is moved by love to the Lord. Furthermore the Holy Supper was established to represent and be a sign of the Lord's love towards the whole human race and man's reciprocal love towards Him.

[6] Because 'a cup' meant that which served to contain and 'wine' that which was contained, 'the cup' consequently meaning the external aspect of man and 'wine' the internal aspect of him, the Lord therefore said,

Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the exterior of the cup and of the plate but the interiors are full of pillage and lack of restraint. Blind Pharisee! cleanse first the interior of the cup and of the plate and the exterior will be made clean also. Matthew 23:25, 16; Luke 11:39.

Here also 'cup' is used to mean in the internal sense the truth of faith. Cultivating the truth of faith without the good of faith is 'cleansing the exterior of the cup', the more so when the interiors are full of hypocrisy, deceit, hatred, revenge, and cruelty; for in this case the truth of faith exists solely in the external man and not at all in the internal, whereas cultivating and embracing the good of faith causes truths to be joined to good in the interior man. Furthermore when the truth of faith is cultivated without the good of faith, false ideas are accepted as truths; this is meant by 'cleansing first the interior of the cup, and the exterior will be made clean also'.

[7] It is similar with matters recorded in Mark,

There are many other things which the Pharisees and Jews have received carefully, the washing ¹ of cups and of pots, and of bronze vessels, and of beds. Forsaking the commandment of God you keep to human tradition, the washing' of pots and of cups; and many other similar things you do. You reject the commandment of God, so that you may keep to your tradition. Mark 7:4, 8-9.

[8] As regards 'a cup' meaning in the contrary sense falsity which produces evil and also falsity produced by evil, this is clear from the following places: In Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah, the God of Israel, to me, Take this cup of the wine of anger from My hand, and make all the nations to which I send you drink it, in order that they may drink and stagger, and go mad because of the sword which I am going to send among them. So I took the cup from Jehovah's hand, and made all the nations drink to whom Jehovah sent me. Jeremiah 25:15-17, 28.

'The cup of the wine of anger' stands for falsity that produces evil. The reason falsity producing evil is meant is that as wine can make people drunk and make them of unsound mind, so too can falsity. Spiritual drunkenness is nothing other than unsoundness of mind caused by reasonings regarding matters of belief when a person does not believe anything which he does not apprehend - which unsoundness of mind leads to falsities and to evils that are the product of falsities, 1072. Hence the statement 'in order that they may drink and stagger, and go mad because of the sword which I am going to send'. 'Sword' means falsity at war against truth, 2799, 4499.

[9] In the Book of Lamentations,

Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom. dweller in the land of Uz; to you also the cup will pass, you will be made drunk and uncovered. Lamentations 4:21.

'Being made drunk by the cup' stands for being made unsound in mind by falsities. 'Being uncovered', or shamelessly laid bare, stands for resulting evil, 213, 214.

[10] In Ezekiel,

You have walked in the way of your sister, therefore I will give her cup into your hand. Thus said the Lord Jehovih, You will drink your sister's cup, which is deep and wide; you will be laughed at and mocked, as an ample recipient. You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of devastation and desolation. You will drink the cup of your sister Samaria, and crush it and crumple the pieces. Ezekiel 27:31-34.

This refers to Jerusalem, by which the spiritual aspect of the celestial Church is meant. 'The cup' in this case stands for falsity that is a product of evil; and because such falsity lays waste or destroys the Church, the expression 'the cup of devastation and desolation' is used.

In Isaiah,

Stir, stir, surge up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of Jehovah the cup of His anger; you have drunk the dregs of the cup of consternation. Isaiah 51:17.

In Habakkuk,

Drink, you also - that your foreskin may be revealed. The cup of Jehovah's right hand will come round to you, so that disgusting vomit may be upon your glory. Habakkuk 2:16.

In David,

A cup is in the hand of Jehovah; and He has mixed the wine, filled it with the mixed, and poured out from it. But they will suck out the dregs of it; all the wicked of the earth will drink from it. Psalms 75:8.

[11] In these places 'a cup' also stands for the insanity caused by falsities and resulting evils. It is called 'the cup of Jehovah's anger' and also 'of His right hand' for the reason that the Jewish nation believed, as the common people believe, that evils, and the punishments of evils and falsities, had no other origin than Jehovah, though in fact they originate in man and in the hellish crew who are present with him. From the appearance, and from a belief based on it, such statements occur many times; but the internal sense teaches how one ought to understand them and what to believe. On these matters, see 245, 592, 696, 1093, 1683, 1874, 1875, 2335, 2447, 3605, 3607, 3614.

[12] Since 'a cup', like 'wine', in the contrary sense means falsities that produce evils, and also falsities produced by evils, cup, as a consequence also means temptation, for temptation arises when falsity conflicts with truth and therefore evil with good. The word cup is used instead of and in reference to such temptation in Luke,

Jesus prayed, saying, If You are willing, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done. Luke 22:42; Matthew 26:39; Mark 14:36.

'Cup' here stands for temptation. Similarly in John,

Jesus said to Peter, Put your sword into its sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it? John 18:11.

And also in Mark,

Jesus said to James and John, You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? They said, We are able. But Jesus said to them, The cup indeed that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized you will be baptized. Mark 10:38-39; Matthew 20:21, 13.

From this it is evident that 'cup' means temptation, for temptation comes about when evils use falsities to enter into conflict with goods and truths. 'Baptism' means regeneration which, being effected by means of spiritual conflicts, consequently means temptation also.

[13] In the completely contrary sense 'cup' means falsity that is a product of evil among those who are profaners, that is, with whom inwardly the exact opposites of charity are present but who put on an outward show of holiness. The word is used in this sense in Jeremiah,

Babel was a golden cup in Jehovah's hand, making the whole earth drunken. All nations have drunk of her wine, therefore the nations are mad. Jeremiah 51:7.

'Babel' stands for people with whom there is holiness outwardly but unholiness inwardly, 1182, 1326. The falsity which they veil with holiness is meant by 'a golden cup'. 'Making the whole earth drunken' stands for the fact that they lead those who belong to the Church, meant by 'the earth', into erroneous and insane ways. The profanities which they conceal beneath outward holiness involve nothing else than this - their intention to become the greatest and the wealthiest of all, to be worshipped as gods, the possessors of heaven and earth, and so to have dominion over people's souls as well as their bodies. And the means Used by them is their outward display of respect for Divine and holy things. Consequently they look, so far as their external man is concerned, like angels; but so far as their internal man is concerned they are devils.

[14] A similar description of Babel exists in John,

The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and covered ² with gold and precious stones and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup, full of abominations and the uncleanness of her whoredom. Revelation 17:4.

In the same book,

It has fallen, Babylon the great has fallen and become a dwelling-place of demons; for she has given all nations drink from the wine of the fury of her whoredom; and the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her. I heard a voice from heaven, saying, Render to her as she has rendered to you; in the cup which she mixed, mix double for her. Revelation 18:2-4, 6.

In the same book,

The great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. The remembrance of Babylon the great was established before God, to give her the cup of the fury of the anger of God. Revelation 16:19.

In the same book,

The third angel said with a loud voice, If anyone worships the beast and his Image, he will drink from the wine of God's anger, poured unmixed as it is in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone. Revelation 14:9-10.

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