9335. And the wild beast of the field be multiplied upon thee. That this signifies a flowing in of falsities from the delights of the loves of self and of the world, is evident from the signification of “being multiplied,” when said of the hasty removal of evils and falsities, as being a flowing in; and from the signification of “the wild beast of the field,” as being falsities from the delights of the loves of self and of the world. By “beasts” of various kinds mentioned in the Word are signified good and evil affections (see n. 9280); consequently by “wild beasts” are signified the affections of falsity that arise from the delights of the loves of self and of the world. Moreover, these affections are represented in the other life by wild beasts, as by panthers, tigers, wild boars, wolves, and bears. They are also like wild beasts, for those who are in these loves are in evils of every kind and in the derivative falsities, and like wild beasts do they look at and act toward their associates. (That all evils and falsities spring from these loves, see n. 2041, 2045, 2057, 2363, 2364, 2444, 4750, 4776, 6667, 7178, 7255, 7364, 7366-7377, 7488, 7490-7494, 7643, 8318, 8487, 8678)

[2] That through the hasty removal of evils and falsities, the falsities from these loves would flow in, is because goods and truths must remove the evils and falsities by being successively implanted; for falsities can only be removed by truths; and evils can only be removed by goods. If this is not done successively and according to order, the falsities which favor these loves will flow in; for before he has been regenerated these loves reign in every man, and when falsities flow in, truths are no longer acknowledged. Moreover, the man who is being regenerated is kept in the affection of truth, and while he is in this affection he seeks on all sides for truths among the memory-knowledges in the natural; and the fallacies of the external senses then present themselves there—for they are very abundant there—and when the delights of the loves of self and of the world breathe on the man, he infers from these fallacies nothing but falsities, which follow on, and fill the mind, if the falsities of evil are suddenly removed. These are the things which are meant in the internal sense by “I will not drive him out from before thee in one year, lest the land be desolate, and the wild beast of the field multiply upon thee; by little and little I will drive him out from before thee, until thou be fruitful and inherit the land.”

[3] That “a wild beast” denotes falsity and evil springing from the loves of self and of the world, is plain from the passages in the Word where it is mentioned; as in Isaiah:

A path shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass through it, nor shall any ravenous wild beast go up thereon (Isaiah 35:8-9).

I will send upon thee famine, and an evil wild beast, and they shall bereave thee (Ezekiel 5:17).

When I cause the evil wild beast to pass through the land, and it bereave it, and it become a desolation, so that no one passeth through because of the beast (Ezekiel 14:15).

Thou shalt fall upon the faces of the field; I will give thee for food to the wild beast of the earth, and to the bird of the heaven (Ezekiel 29:5).

Then I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will make the evil wild beast to cease out of the land; that they may dwell securely in the wilderness. They shall no more be a prey to the nations, and the wild beast of the field shall no longer devour them (Ezekiel 34:25, 28).

[4] I will lay waste her vine and her fig-tree, and I will make them into a forest, and the wild beast of the field shall devour them (Hos. 2:12).

The land shall mourn, and everyone that dwelleth therein shall waste away, because of the wild beast of the field, and because of the bird of the heavens (Hos. 4:3).

The boar out of the wood doth trample it, and the wild beast of the fields doth consume it. Turn again, O God Zebaoth, and visit Thy vine (Psalms 80:13-14).

Thou makest darkness that it may be night; wherein every wild beast of the forest doth come forth (Psalms 104:20).

If ye shall walk in My statutes, and keep My commandments, and do them, I will cause the evil wild beast to cease out of the land. But if ye shall reject My statutes, I will send against you the wild beast of the field, which shall lay you waste (Leviticus 26:3, 6, 15, 22).

Jehovah thy God will drive out those nations before thee by little and little, lest perchance the wild beast of the field multiply against thee (Deuteronomy 7:22).

In these passages “the wild beast of the field,” “the wild beast of the earth,” and “the wild beast of the forest” denote the falsities and evils which are of the loves of self and of the world.

[5] As by “a wild beast” is signified falsity, and falsity is from a double origin, namely, from what is evil, and from what is upright (n. 9258), therefore by “wild beasts” in the Word are also signified the upright Gentiles, who although in falsity, are yet in uprightness of life. In this sense the term “wild animal” ¹ is used in David:

Every wild animal of the forest is Mine, and the beasts upon a thousand mountains. I know every bird of the mountains; and the wild animal of My fields is with Me (Psalms 50:10-11).

Praise ye Jehovah, ye wild animal, and every beast (Psalms 148:7, 10).

Every wild animal of My fields, come ye to devour, every wild animal in the forest (Isaiah 56:9).

All the birds of the heavens made their nests in the branches of the cedar, which is Asshur, and under his branches every wild animal of the field brought forth, and in his shadow dwelt all great nations (Ezekiel 31:6).

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8487. And the sun grew hot, and it melted. That this signifies that it vanishes away according to the degree of the increase of concupiscence, is evident from the signification of “the sun growing hot,” as being increasing concupiscence (of which in what follows); and from the signification of “melting,” as being to vanish away. That “the sun grew hot,” denotes increasing concupiscence, is because “the sun” in a good sense signifies heavenly love, for the reason that the Lord is the Sun in the other life, and that the heat which is from it is the good of love, and the light is the truth of faith. (That the Lord is a sun, and that heavenly love is therefrom, see n. 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 2120, 2441, 2495, 3636, 3643, 4060, 4321, 4696, 5084, 5097, 5377, 7078, 7083, 7171, 7173, 7270.) Consequently in the opposite sense “the sun” denotes the love of self and of the world, and “the heat” or “growing hot of the sun” denotes in this sense concupiscence.

[2] How the case herein is, that the good of truth, which is signified by “the manna,” vanished according to the degree of increasing concupiscence, which is signified by its “melting when the sun grew hot,” shall be briefly told. The good of truth, or spiritual good, is indeed given to the man of the spiritual church when he is being regenerated; but as all the delight of the love of self and of the world, which had previously constituted his life extinguishes this good (because they are opposites), therefore the pure good of truth cannot long abide with that man, but it is tempered by the Lord by means of the delights of the loves which had belonged to his previous life; for unless this good were so tempered, it would become undelightful to him, and thus would be loathed. Such is heavenly good at first with those who are being regenerated. Insofar therefore as the delights of the loves of self and of the world rise up, so far the good of heavenly love vanishes away, for as before said they are opposites; and it is the same the other way about.

[3] Hence it is that in heaven there are alternations of states, to which correspond the alternations of times in the world (n. 8426), and that thus by means of alternations they are remitted into the delights of natural pleasures; for without a change of the states the good of heavenly love would become as it were dry, and of slight estimation; but it is otherwise when it is tempered by means of natural delights at the same time, or successively. From this it is that at first when the manna was given to the sons of Israel every morning, the quail was also given in the evening; for by “the quail” is signified natural delight, and also the delight of concupiscence (n. 8452).

[4] But be it known that the concupiscences into which they who are in heaven are remitted when it is evening with them, are not concupiscences that are opposite to heavenly good, but those which in some measure agree with this good; for they are the delights of conferring benefits in a large way, and consequently something of glory, in which nevertheless there is benevolence and a study to be of service; they are also the delights of magnificence in the embellishments of home and the ornaments of dress, and many other similar delights. Such are the delights which do not destroy the good of heavenly love (but still they hide it), and at last, according to the degree of the man’s regeneration, they become the ultimate planes of heavenly good, and then they are no longer called “concupiscences,” but “delights.” That without a tempering by means of such things the good of heavenly love becomes as it were dry, and afterward is loathed as a thing of no value, is signified by the sons of Israel calling the manna dry food, and vile food, as we read when the quail was no longer given them, in Moses:

The rabble that was in the midst lusted a lust, whence the sons of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall feed us with flesh? now our soul is dry, our eyes have not anything [to look at] except the manna (Numbers 11:4, 6).

The people spake against God, and against Moses: Wherefore have ye made us come up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? there is no bread, nor water; now doth our soul loathe this most vile bread (Numbers 21:5).

Jehovah afflicted thee, and made thee hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that He might teach thee that man doth not live by bread alone, but by every utterance of the mouth of Jehovah doth man live (Deuteronomy 8:3).

[5] In like manner as by “the manna,” so also by “the unleavened bread,” there is signified good pure from falsities (n. 8058), which bread is for a similar reason called “the bread of misery” (Deuteronomy 16:3). From all this it can now be seen what is meant by the good of truth vanishing away according to the degree of the increasing concupiscence, which is signified by “the manna melting when the sun grew hot.”