739. Verse 9. (Revelation 12:9) And that great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, signifies that those who were in evils of life and who had thence become sensual, and had perverted all things of the Word and thus of the church, were separated from heaven and were cast down into hell. This is evident from the signification of "to be cast out," as being, in reference to the dragon, to be separated from heaven and to be cast down into hell. That these had been conjoined to heaven but were afterwards separated may be seen in a preceding article (n. 737). That they were cast down and condemned to hell is meant by "he was cast out into the earth" (of which presently). Also from the signification of "the great dragon," as being those who are in evils of life, and yet with the mouth confess God and the Lord, and call the Word holy, and speak in favor of the church. (That such are meant by "the dragon," see above, n. 714-716, 718, 737.) This is why he is called "the great dragon," for "great" is predicated in the Word of good, and in the contrary sense, as here, of evil; while their falsities are signified by "his angels" (of which presently). Also from the signification of "the old serpent," as being those who are sensual, here that those who had perverted all things of the Word and of the church had thence become sensual. That "serpent" signifies the sensual may be seen above (n. 581, 715 at the end). The serpent is called "old," because in olden times there were those who perverted all things of the Word and the church. According to the historical sense of the letter "the old serpent" means the serpent that seduced Eve and Adam in paradise, but both by that serpent and by this all such are meant as seduce the whole world, as can be seen from what follows in this paragraph. From this it is clear that "that great dragon was cast out, that old serpent," signifies that those who were in evils of life, and who had perverted all things of the Word, and thus of the church, were separated from heaven and were cast down into hell.

[2] That all who are in evils of life become sensual, and that those who thus become sensual pervert all things of the church, can be seen from this, that there are with men three degrees of life, an inmost, a middle, and an ultimate, and that these degrees with man are opened successively as he becomes wise. Every man at his birth is altogether sensual, so that even the five senses of his body must be opened by use; he next becomes sensual in thought, since he thinks from the objects that have entered through his bodily senses; afterwards he becomes more interiorly sensual; but so far as by visual experiences, by knowledges [scientiae], and especially by the practices of moral life, he acquires for himself natural light [lumen], he becomes interiorly natural. This is the first or ultimate degree of man's life.

[3] And as at this time from parents, masters, and preachers, and from reading the Word and books thence, he imbibes knowledges of spiritual truth and good, and stores them up in his memory like other knowledges [scientifica], he lays the foundations of the church with himself; and yet if he goes no further he continues natural. But if he goes on further, namely if he lives according to these knowledges from the Word, the interior degree is opened in him and he becomes spiritual, but only so far as he is affected by truths, understands them, wills them, and does them; and for the reason that evils and the falsities thence which by heredity have their seat in the natural and sensual man, are removed and as it were scattered in this and in no other way. For the spiritual man is in heaven and the natural in the world, and so far as heaven, that is, the Lord through heaven, can flow in through the spiritual man into the natural, so far evils and the falsities thence, which, as was said, have their seat in the natural man, are removed; for the Lord removes them, as he removes hell from heaven. The interior degree with man can be opened in no other way, because the evils and falsities that are in the natural man keep it closed up; for the spiritual degree, that is, the spiritual mind, contracts itself against evil and the falsity of evil of every kind as a fibril of the body does at the touch of a sharp point; for like as the fibers of the body contract themselves at every harsh touch, so does man's interior mind, which is called the spiritual mind, at the touch or breath of evil or the falsity thence. But on the other hand, when things homogeneous, which are Divine truths from the Word that derive their essence from good, approach that mind, it opens itself; yet the opening is effected not otherwise than by the reception of the good of love flowing in through heaven from the Lord, and by its conjunction with the truths that man has stored up in his memory, and this conjunction is only effected by a life according to Divine truths in the Word, for when these truths come to be of the life they are called goods. Thence it may be clear how the second or middle degree is opened.

[4] The third or inmost degree is opened with those who apply Divine truths at once to life, and do not reason about them from the memory, and thus bring them into doubt. This is called the celestial degree. As there are these three degrees of life with every man, which yet are opened in diverse ways, thence there are three heavens. In the third or inmost heaven are those with whom the third degree is opened; in the second or middle heaven those with whom the second degree only is opened; and in the first or lowest heaven those with whom the interior natural man, which is also called the rational man, is opened; for this man, if truly rational, receives influx from the Lord through heaven. All these come into heaven. But those who have received Divine truths in the memory only, and not at the same time in the life, continue natural and even become sensual; and for the reason that the evils into which man is born have their seat, as was said above, in the natural and sensual man; and in such these evils have not been removed and as it were dispersed by the influx of good from the Lord and its reception by man; consequently with such the loves of the body rule, which in general are the love of self and the love of the world, and the consequent love and pride of self-intelligence. These loves, and the evils and their falsities that flow from them, fill the interiors of their natural mind, although these are covered without by things respectable and becoming which pertain to moral life, that are put on for the sake of the world and the laws enacted for the external man. Such although they may have filled their memory with knowledges from the Word, from the dogmas of their several religions and from the sciences, are yet natural and even sensual; for the interiors of their natural mind, which are nearest to the spiritual mind, are closed up by confirmations, even from the Word, against the spiritual life, which is a life according to Divine truths and is called charity towards the neighbor. These because they are sensual, are "the dragon," and are called "serpents," for "serpent" signifies the sensual, because the sensual is the lowest part of man's life, and as it were creeps upon the ground and licks the dust like a serpent.

[5] To illustrate this I will quote what is related in Genesis respecting "the old serpent" that seduced Eve and Adam, and will explain what it signifies in the spiritual sense:

Out of the ground Jehovah God made to grow forth every tree that is desirable to the sight and good for food, and the tree of lives in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden eating thou mayest eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou mayest not eat, because in the day thou shalt eat of it dying thou shalt die. And the serpent was more crafty than any wild beast of the field which Jehovah God made; and he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, Of the fruit of the tree of the garden we may eat, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said, Dying ye shall not die; for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil. And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to give intelligence, and she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and she gave also to her husband with her and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together and made themselves girdles. And Jehovah said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou above every beast and above every wild beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed; he shall trample on thy head, ¹ and thou shalt wound his heel. And Jehovah God sent forth the man from the garden of Eden and made to dwell from the east of the garden of Eden cherubim, and the flame of a sword turning itself to guard the way of the tree of lives (Genesis 2:8, 9, 16, 17; 3:1-7, 14, 15, 16, 23, 24).

How the historical narratives of the creation of heaven and earth that are contained in the first chapters of Genesis down to the story of the Flood, are to be understood, no one can know except from the spiritual sense that is within every particular of the sense of the letter of the Word. For these historical narratives of the creation of heaven and earth, and of the garden in Eden, and of the posterity of Adam even to the Flood, are composed historicals; and yet they are most holy, because every particular idea and every particular expression therein are correspondences, and thence signify spiritual things. Anyone of clear intelligence might discover this from the history of the creation in the first chapter, which began with light when the sun did not yet exist, and from various other things there; also from the creation of Eve the wife of Adam out of one of his ribs; also from the two trees in paradise, and from the prohibition to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and yet, although they were the wisest of all they were seduced by the serpent and did eat; and that Jehovah should place such trees in the midst of the garden and suffer them to be seduced by the serpent to eat of the forbidden tree, which yet He might have averted; and finally that the whole human race was condemned to eternal death merely because they ate of that tree. Who cannot see that these things, with other like things which an obscure understanding might believe in simplicity, would be contrary to the Divine love and contrary to the Divine Providence and foresight? And yet there is no harm while children and the simple believe these things according to the historical letter, since they serve, as well as the rest of the Word, to conjoin human minds to angelic minds, for angels are in the spiritual sense when men are in the natural sense. But what is involved in these historicals in the spiritual sense shall be told in a few words.

[6] The first chapter treats of the new creation or establishment of a church, which was the Most Ancient Church on this globe, as well as the most excellent of all, for it was a celestial church, because it was in love to the Lord; and consequently the men of that church were most wise, having almost immediate communication with the angels of heaven, through whom they received wisdom from the Lord. Because they were in love to the Lord, and had revelations from heaven, and because they at once applied to life the Divine truths revealed to them, they were in a similar state as the angels of the third heaven; consequently that heaven consists chiefly of the men of that church. That church is meant by "Adam and his wife." But "the garden in Eden" signifies their intelligence and wisdom, and this is also described by all that is told about that garden understood in the spiritual sense. Also how wisdom was lost in their posterity is described by "eating of the tree of knowledge." For the two trees placed in the midst of the garden mean perception from the Lord and perception from the world; "the tree of lives" perception from the Lord, and "the tree of knowledge of good and evil" perception from the world, which yet in itself is mere cognition and knowledge. But "the serpent" that seduced them signifies the sensual of man, which communicates immediately with the world, therefore their seduction by the "serpent" means their seduction by the sensual, which derives all it has from the world and nothing from heaven. For the men of the celestial church are such that they perceive all the truths and goods of heaven from the Lord by influx into their interiors, whence they see truths and goods inwardly in themselves as if they were innate, and they do not need to acquire them by a posterior way, and to enrich the memory with them. So neither do they reason about truths whether they are so or not; for those who see truths in themselves do not reason, since reasoning implies a doubt whether a thing is true. For the same reason they never make mention of faith, for faith implies something unknown which must be believed although it is not seen. That the men of the Most Ancient Church were such has been revealed to me from heaven, for it has been granted me to speak with them and to be informed, as can be seen from the various things related concerning the men of that church in the Arcana Coelestia.

[7] But it is to be known that they were never forbidden to acquire for themselves the knowledges of good and evil from heaven, for by these their intelligence and wisdom was perfected; neither were they forbidden to acquire for themselves the knowledges of good and evil from the world, for from this source their natural man had its knowledge [scientia]. But they were forbidden to view these knowledges by a posterior way, because it was granted them to see all things that appeared before their eyes in the world by a prior way. To view the world and the things in it and to deduce knowledges from it by a prior way is to view them from the light of heaven, and to know in that way their quality. Therefore they were also able by knowledges from the world to confirm heavenly things, and thus to strengthen their wisdom. But they were forbidden to view knowledges from the world by a posterior way, which is done when conclusions are drawn from them respecting heavenly things, which is an inverted order that is called by the learned the order of physical or natural influx, and of this there is none in things heavenly. Such did the men of the Most Ancient Church become when they began to love things worldly more than things heavenly, and to exalt themselves and to boast of their own wisdom; from this their posterity became sensual, and then their sensual, which is meant by "the serpent," seduced them; and the sensual is not willing to advance by any other than a posterior way. This, therefore, is the signification of "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil," of which they were forbidden to eat.

[8] That they were permitted to acquire knowledges from the world and to view them by a prior way is signified by "out of the ground Jehovah God made to grow every tree that is desirable to the sight and good for food;" for "trees" signify knowledges and perceptions; "desirable to the sight" signifies what the understanding desires; and "good for food" signifies what conduces to the nourishment of the mind. The knowledges of good and evil from the Lord from which is wisdom, and the knowledges of good and evil from the world from which is science, were represented by "the tree of lives" and by "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" in the midst of the garden. That they were permitted to appropriate to themselves knowledges from every source, not only from heaven but also from the world, provided they did not proceed in the inverted order, by reasoning about heavenly things from worldly knowledges, instead of thinking about worldly things from heavenly things, is signified by "Jehovah God commanded them to eat of every tree of the garden, but not of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil;" that if they did, heavenly wisdom and the church would perish with them is signified by "in the day that thou shalt eat of it dying thou shalt die," "to eat" signifying in the spiritual sense to appropriate to oneself.

[9] That they were seduced by the sensual, because it stands next to the world and thus is sensitive to every pleasure and delight from the world, and from these is in fallacies and is ignorant of and also rejects heavenly things, is signified by "the serpent;" "the serpent" means the sensual, and no other sensual than the sensual of such. The serpent is "the devil and Satan," because the sensual communicates with hell and makes one with it, for in it resides all the evil of man in the complex. And because man from the sensual reasons from fallacies and from the delights of the loves of the world and of the body, and indeed skillfully and cunningly, therefore it is said that "the serpent was more subtle than any wild beast of the field which Jehovah God had made;" "the wild beast of the field" signifying in the spiritual sense the affection of the natural man.

[10] As the sensual supposes that wisdom is acquired by means of knowledges from the world and by natural knowledges [scientiae], and not by any influx out of heaven from the Lord, therefore from such ignorance and fallacy the serpent said to the woman, "Ye shall not die; for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil;" for the sensual man believes that he knows all things, and that nothing is concealed from him; but not so the celestial man, who knows that he knows nothing from himself but only from the Lord, and that what he does know is so little as to be scarcely anything as compared with what he does not know. In fact, their posterity believed themselves to be gods, and that they knew all good and all evil; but from evil they were not capable of knowing heavenly good, but only worldly and corporeal good, and this in itself is not good; yet from heavenly good man is able to know what is evil.

[11] That the affection of the natural man persuaded by its sensual supposed that intelligence in the things of heaven and the church may be acquired through knowledge [scientia] of cognitions from the world is signified by, "the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to give intelligence;" "woman" here signifying the affection of the natural man, which draws its desires from the sensual, and that affection is such. That that affection seduced also the rational is signified by "the woman took of the fruit of the tree and did eat, and gave to her husband with her and he did eat," "the husband of the woman" signifying the rational. That they then saw themselves to be without truths and goods is signified by "then the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked;" the "nakedness that is ashamed" signifying the deprivation of heavenly love, and thence of good and truth. That they then clothed themselves with natural truths, that they might not appear to be deprived of heavenly truths, is signified by "they sewed fig-leaves together and made themselves girdles;" the "fig-tree" signifying the natural man, and "its leaf" true knowledge [scientificum].

[12] Afterwards what their sensual became, namely, that it turned itself entirely away from heaven and turned itself to the world, and thus received nothing Divine, is described by the curse of the serpent; for the sensual with man cannot be reformed, consequently when man is reformed it is simply removed, since it clings to the body and stands out before the world, and thus enjoyments from it, it calls goods, as it feels them to be. For this reason it is said that "the seed of the woman shall crush its head, and that it shall hurt His heel;" "the seed of the woman" meaning the Lord; "the head of the serpent" all evil; and "the Lord's heel" Divine truth in ultimates which with us is the sense of the letter of the Word; this the sensual man, or the sensual of man, perverts and falsifies and thus hurts. That the sense of the letter is a guard that the Lord be not approached except through the appearances of truth, and not through genuine truths, by those who are in evils, is signified by "the cherubim" which with the flame of a sword turning itself were placed at the garden of Eden to guard the way of the tree of lives. (But this and the rest of these chapters may be seen explained in the Arcana Coelestia.)

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2162. 'Wash your feet' means that they were to take on something natural so that during the state He was then passing through His perception might be improved. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'feet' as natural things, and also in a like manner from the train of thought. That arcana lie concealed here becomes clear to a certain extent from the fact that Abraham besought the three men to take a little water and wash their feet, and to relax under a tree, even though he knew that it was the Lord or Jehovah; also from the fact that if it was not so such details would not have been mentioned.

[2] That 'feet' means natural things becomes clear from the representatives in the next life, and consequently from representatives derived from these that existed among the most ancient people and so occur in the Word. Celestial and spiritual things are represented by 'the head' and the parts of the head; by 'the breast' and the parts of the breast are represented rational concepts and aspects of these; by 'the feet and the parts of the feet are represented natural things and the different kinds of these. Consequently 'the sole' and 'the heel' of the foot mean the lowest natural things, regarding which see 259, while 'a shoe' means the lowest things of all, which are filthy, regarding which see 1748.

[3] Similar things are meant by the representations in the dreams and visions in the Prophets, such as the statue seen by Nebuchadnezzar, the head of which was fine gold, the breast and arms were silver, the belly and thighs were bronze, the legs were iron, and the feet were partly iron and partly clay, Daniel 2:32-33. In this case 'the head' means celestial things, which are inmost and are 'gold', as shown in 113, 1551, 1552; 'the breast and arms' spiritual or rational things, which are 'silver', as shown in 1551; but 'the feet' means lower things, which are natural, the truths of which are meant by 'iron' and the goods by 'clay' or mud. As regards 'iron' meaning truth, see 425, 426, and 'clay' good, 1300, both of which in the present case are natural. These things come in the same order in the Lord's kingdom in heaven, and in the Church which is the Lord's kingdom on earth, and also in every individual who is a kingdom of the Lord.

[4] It is similar with the vision which Daniel himself saw, of which the following is said,

I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, a man clothed in linen whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz and whose body was like tarshish, ¹ and whose face was like the appearance of lightning, and whose eyes were like fiery torches, and whose arms and feet like the shine of burnished bronze. Daniel 10:5-6.

Specifically these words mean the interiors of the Word as to goods and truths. 'The arms and feet' are its interiors, which constitute the sense of the letter, for natural things occur there, since natural things are the source from which the exteriors of the Word are drawn. What further is meant by each of these parts, namely the loins, body, face, eyes, and many others in man, becomes clear from the representatives in the next life, which will in the Lord's Divine mercy be spoken of when the Grand Man - which is the Lord's heaven - and the representatives that originate in heaven but occur in the world of spirits are dealt with.

[5] That which one reads about Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders seeing the God of Israel, under whose feet there was so to speak a paved work of sapphire stone, like the substance of the sky for pureness, Exodus 24:9-10, means that they saw, represented in natural things, merely the external features of the Church, and also the literal sense of the Word, in which too, as has been stated, external things are represented by natural things. And these external things are 'the feet' under which there is so to speak 'a paved work of sapphire stone, like the substance of the sky itself'. It is clear that it was the Lord whom they saw, though only in those lower or natural things, since He is called 'the God of Israel', whom all things of the Church represented and whom all things of the Word in the internal sense meant. For the Lord is presented visually in accordance with the things that are meant at the time. When, for example, in John, He was seen as a Man on a white horse, the Word was in this case meant by Him, as is explicitly stated in Revelation 19:11, 13.

[6] The living creatures seen by Ezekiel, which were cherubs, are described as regards celestial and spiritual things by their faces and wings, and also many other things. But as regards natural things they are described as follows, by their feet, a straight foot, and the soles of their feet being like the sole of a calf's foot, and sparkling like the shine of burnished bronze, Ezekiel 1:7. The reason their feet, that is, natural things, are said to have sparkled like burnished bronze is that 'bronze' means natural good, dealt with in 425, 1551. It was similar when the Lord appeared to John as the Son of Man: His eyes were like a flame of fire and His feet were like burnished bronze, Revelation 1:14-15; 2:18.

[7] That 'feet' means natural things is further evident from the following places: In John, who saw,

A mighty angel coming down out of heaven, wrapped in a cloud, and a rainbow around his head, his face was like the sun and his feet like pillars of fire. In his hand he had a little book opened, and he set his right foot on the sea and his left on the land. Revelation 10:1-2.

This angel in a similar way means the Word. The nature of the Word in the internal sense is meant by 'the rainbow around his head' and by 'his face being like the sun'; but the external sense, or sense of the letter, is meant by his 'feet'. 'The sea' is natural truths, 'the land' natural goods, from which it is clear what is meant by his setting his right foot on the sea and his left on the land.

[8] Reference is made in various places in the Word to 'a footstool', but no one knows what is meant by this in the internal sense; as in Isaiah,

Jehovah said, The heavens are My throne and the earth My footstool. Where is this house which you are going to build for Me and where is this place of My rest? Isaiah 66:1.

'The heavens' means the celestial and spiritual things, and so the inmost things, both of the Lord's kingdom in heaven and of the Lord's kingdom on earth, which is the Church. Also meant by 'the heavens' are those same things as they exist with every individual who is a kingdom of the Lord or a Church. Thus 'the heavens' also means the celestial and spiritual things regarded in themselves which are matters of love and charity and of faith that springs from these, and so means all things that belong to internal worship and similarly all things that belong to the internal sense of the Word. These things are meant by 'the heavens' and are called 'the Lord's throne', but by 'the earth' are meant all lower things corresponding to those meant by 'the heavens'. By 'the earth' lower rational and natural things are meant, which from correspondence are likewise referred to as celestial and spiritual things, such as those that exist in the lower heavens and also in the Church, and those things which belong to external worship and also those present in the literal sense of the Word. In short, all things that stem from internal things and manifest themselves in external are, being natural things, called 'the earth' and 'the Lord's footstool'. What heaven and earth mean in the internal sense of the Word, see also 82, 1733. What the new heaven and new earth mean, see 2117, 2118 (end). And that man is a miniature heaven, see 911, 978, 1900.

[9] Similarly in Jeremiah,

In His anger the Lord covers the daughter of Zion with a cloud, He has cast down from heaven to earth the splendour of Israel, and has not remembered His footstool on the day of His anger. Lamentations 2:1.

Also in David,

Exalt Jehovah our God, and bow down at His footstool. Holy is He! Psalms 99:5.

Elsewhere in the same author,

We will enter His dwelling-places, we will bow down at His footstool. Psalms 132:7.

People in the representative Church - and thus the Jews - imagined that God's house and the temple were His footstool. They did not know that by the Lord's house and the temple was meant external representative worship. What the internal features of the Church were, meant by 'heaven' or God's throne, they had no knowledge at all.

[10] In the same author,

Jehovah said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand till I make your enemies a stool for your feet. Psalms 110:1; Matthew 22:44; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42-43.

Here 'footstool' in a similar way means natural things - both sensory impressions and factual knowledge, and man's rational ideas formed from these - which are called 'enemies' when worship is perverted by them (which is done from the literal sense of the Word). As a result worship exists solely in things that are external, and no internal worship - or rather only internal worship that is defiled - exists, concerning which see 1094, 1175, 1182. When these have became perverted and defiled in this manner they are called 'enemies'; but because, regarded in themselves, they have reference to internal worship, when this is restored, they become - both the things that belong to external worship and those that belong to the sense of the letter of the Word - 'a footstool', as stated already.

[11] In Isaiah,

The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the fir, the pine, and the box tree together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; and I will make the place of My feet glorious. Isaiah 60:13.

This refers to the Lord's kingdom and Church, the celestial-spiritual things of which are meant by 'the glory of Lebanon', that is, cedar trees, but the celestial-natural things of it by 'the fir, the pine, and the box', as also in other places in the Word. Thus it is the external aspects of worship that are referred to when it is said that 'I will make the place of My feet glorious'; and this cannot he made glorious by the fir, the pine, and the box, but by the things meant by these.

[12] That 'feet' means these things is also clear from the representatives in the Jewish Church, for example, by the requirement that Aaron and his sons were to wash their hands and feet before entering the tabernacle, Exodus 30:19-20; 40:31-32. No one is able to see that arcana were represented by this, for what is such washing of the hands and feet but some external act which does not do anything at all if the internal is not pure and clean? Nor can the internal be made pure and clean by such a washing. But because all the forms of ritual of that Church meant internal things that are celestial and spiritual, so it was with this form; that is to say, it meant the cleanliness of external worship, which is clean when internal worship is present within it. This explains why their lavers were made of bronze, and also the large laver which was called 'the bronze sea', together with the ten smaller ones made of bronze around Solomon's temple, 1 Kings 7:23, 38. They were made of bronze because 'bronze' represented good present in external worship, which is the same as natural good. Regarding this meaning of bronze, see 425, 1551.

[13] Similarly representative was the prohibition that no man among Aaron's descendants who had a broken foot or a broken hand should draw near to offer fire-offerings to Jehovah, Leviticus 21:19, 21. 'Broken feet and hands' represented those people whose external worship was perverted.

[14] That 'feet' means natural things is also evident from various other places in the Prophets, as in these prophetical utterances in Moses,

Blessed above sons be Asher; let him be acceptable among his brothers, and dipping his foot in oil. Your shoes will be iron and bronze. Deuteronomy 33:24-25.

These words will not be understood by anybody unless he knows what the meaning of oil, foot, iron, bronze, and shoe are in the internal sense. 'Foot' is the natural; 'shoe' the still lower natural, such as that which is connected with the senses and the body, see 1748; 'oil' is the celestial, 886; 'iron' natural truth, 425, 426; and 'bronze' natural good, 425, 1551. From these places it is evident what these words embody.

[15] In Nahum,

The way of Jehovah is in storm and tempest, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. Nahum 1:3.

Here 'the dust of the feet' means the natural and bodily things with man which give rise to clouds. The same is also meant by these words in David,

Jehovah bowed the heavens and came down, and thick darkness was under His feet. Psalms 18:9.

[16] When goods and truths of faith are perverted by natural light, as people call it, it is described in the Word as the feet and hoofs of a beast which trouble waters and trample on food, as in Ezekiel,

You have come forth into the rivers, and have troubled the waters with your feet and trampled their rivers. I will destroy all its beasts from over many waters, and the foot of man will not trouble them any longer, nor will the hoofs of beast. Ezekiel 32:2, 13.

This refers to Egypt, which meant forms of knowledge, as shown in 1164, 1165, 1462. Thus by 'feet and hoofs which trouble the rivers and water' are meant facts gained from sensory and from natural things, on the basis of which people reason about the arcana of faith and do not believe anything until they grasp it by this method. This amounts to not believing at all, for the more such people go on reasoning, the less believing they are; see what is said in 128-130, 215, 232, 233, 1072, 1385. From all these quotations it is now evident that 'feet' in the Word means natural things. But what further meaning 'feet' may have is evident from the context in which the expression occurs.

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