9139. 'When a man devastates a field or a vineyard' means a stripping away of the Church's goodness and truth by evil desires. This is clear from the meaning of 'devastating' as a stripping away by evil desires, dealt with below in 9141; from the meaning of 'a field' as the Church in respect of good, dealt with in 2971, 3766, 4982, 7502, thus the Church's good; and from the meaning of 'a vineyard' as the Church in respect of truth, thus the Church's truth. The reason why 'a field' is the Church in respect of good is that the products of a field, such as wheat and barley, mean forms of good in the Church, internal and external ones, 3941, 7602, 7605; and the reason why 'a vineyard' is the Church in respect of truth is that 'wine', which is the product of a vineyard, means the truth of good, 1071, 6377.

[2] The origin of these meanings of 'a field' and 'a vineyard' lies in representatives in the spiritual world. For fields full of wheat and barley appear before the eyes of spirits when angels in a higher heaven are talking about an assembly of people governed by good; and vineyards full of grapes appear, together with winepresses in them, when angels are talking about an assembly of people governed by the truth of good. Those representatives are not due to the existence of such fields and vineyards on earth; rather, they are due to correspondences, in that wheat and barley, or bread made from them, nourish the body just as the good of love and charity nourishes the soul, and in that wine serving as drink nourishes the body just as the truth and good of faith nourish the soul. This is the reason why in the Word the good of love and the truth of faith are called food and drink; indeed in this sense they are heavenly food and drink, 56-58, 680, 681, 1973, 1974, 4459, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5576, 5579, 5915, 8562.

[3] The fact that 'a vineyard' means the Church in respect of the good and truth of faith, which is called a spiritual Church, is clear from places in the Word in which a vineyard is mentioned, as in Jeremiah,

Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard, they have trampled down My field; they have rendered the field of [My] delight into a lonely wilderness. They have made it (the vineyard) into a solitary place. Jeremiah 12:10-11.

Here 'vineyard' and 'field' plainly stand for the Church; and since the Church is the Church by virtue of the truth and good of faith and charity, it is evident that in these verses 'vineyard' is the Church in respect of truth and 'the field' the Church in respect of good. In Isaiah,

Jehovah enters into judgement with the elders of His people and with its princes. You set alight the vineyard. Isaiah 3:14.

Here also 'vineyard' plainly stands for the Church in respect of the good and truth of faith; for 'the elders' with whom Jehovah will enter into judgement are the Church's forms of good, 6524, 6525, and 'the princes' are its truths, 5044.

[4] In the same prophet,

I will sing to my beloved a song of my friend regarding His vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard in a horn of a son of oil, ¹ which he surrounded [with an enclosure], and planted with the choicest vine. Isaiah 5:1-2ff.

This refers to the Lord, who is the 'beloved' and 'friend'. 'The vineyard' is His spiritual Church, 'the choicest vine' is that Church's good of faith, and 'a horn of a son of oil' is that Church's good of faith growing out of the good of love. The person who knows nothing whatever about the internal sense of the Word cannot possibly know what 'a vineyard in a horn of a son of oil' means. Nevertheless this expression has a meaning lying hidden within it such as no words can express. They contain a full description of the Lord's spiritual kingdom linked to His celestial kingdom, that is, of the second heaven to the third, consequently a full description of the good of faith in the Lord, which is the spiritual kingdom's, linked to the good of love to the Lord, which is the celestial kingdom's. 'The vineyard' is the spiritual kingdom; 'in a horn' is in power, thus in that kingdom, 'a son of oil' being the external level of the good of love in the celestial kingdom. The celestial kingdom, which is the Lord's inmost heaven, is called the olive or an olive-grove, for 'oil' means the good of celestial love, 886, 4582, 4638. It should be recognized that the Lord's kingdom on earth is the Church. As regards the existence of two kingdoms, the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom, and the fact that the spiritual kingdom constitutes the second heaven and the celestial kingdom the third, see 3887, 4138, 4279, 4286; and with regard to their being linked together, 6435.

[5] In the same prophet,

On that day, a vineyard of unmixed wine; ² respond to it. I Jehovah am guarding it; every moment I will water it. Isaiah 27:2-3.

'A vineyard of unmixed wine' stands for the spiritual Church. In Amos,

In all vineyards there will be wailing; I will pass through you. Woe to you desiring the day of Jehovah! What will the day of Jehovah be for you? It will be one of darkness, and not of light. Amos 5:17-18.

This refers to the final period of the Church, when the good and truth of faith do not exist any longer, that final period being meant by 'the day of Jehovah, which will be one of darkness, and not of light'. This is why it says, 'In all vineyards there will be wailing'. In John, in Revelation,

The angel sent his sickle into the earth and harvested the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. Revelation 14:18, 19.

'Harvesting the vine of the earth' means devouring the Church's truth and good, 'the earth' being the Church. From all this one may now see why it is that the Lord likened the kingdom of heaven so many times to a vineyard, as in Matthew 20:1ff; 21:28-29, 33-41; Mark 12:1-13; and why it is that the Lord called Himself 'the vine' in John,

As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; apart from Me you cannot do anything. John 15:1ff.

'The vine' is faith in the Lord, and for that reason is the Lord in respect of faith. For the Lord is faith because faith originates in Him; no faith is faith except that which originates in Him. So it is also that 'the vine' means faith that is faith in Him.

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3941. 'Reuben went in the days of the wheat harvest' means faith in regard to its state of love and charity. This is clear from the representation of 'Reuben' as faith, which is the first stage of regeneration, dealt with in 3862, 3866; from the meaning of 'days' as states, dealt with in 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, 3462, 3785; and from the meaning of 'wheat' as love and charity, dealt with below - 'wheat harvest' therefore meaning a developing state of love and charity. Jacob's four sons by the servant-girls have portrayed the various means by which the external man is joined to the internal man. Now his remaining four sons portray the actual joining together of good and truth, on account of which reference is made first of all to 'dudaim', by which that joining together or conjugial relationship is meant. The reason why 'wheat harvest' means a developing state of love and charity is that 'the field' means the Church and so the things that constitute the Church, while the seeds sown in it mean the germs of good and truth. And what springs up from those seeds, such as wheat, barley, and many other crops, are the fruits of love and charity, and also of faith. The states of the Church so far as those things are concerned are therefore compared to seedtime and harvest, and are also actually called seedtime and harvest, as in Genesis 8:22 - see 932.

[2] That 'wheat' means the things which constitute love and charity may also be seen from the following places: In Moses,

Jehovah causes him to ride over the heights of the land and He feeds [him] with the produce of the fields, causes him to suck honey out of the crag, and oil out of the stony rock - butter from the cattle, and milk from the flock, with the fat of lambs and rams, the breed ¹ of Bashan, and of goats, with the kidney-fat of wheat; and of the blood of the grape you drink unmixed wine. Deuteronomy 32:13-14.

This refers in the internal sense to the Ancient Church and its state when it was established, every aspect of love and charity, and every aspect of faith there, being described by means of things that have spiritual meanings. 'The kidney-fat of wheat' means the celestial side of love and charity. And because 'fat' or 'fatness' means that which is celestial, 353, and 'wheat' means love, the two words are therefore linked together in various places in the Word, as also in David,

O that My people were obedient to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! He would feed them with the fat of wheat, and with honey out of the rock I will satisfy you. Psalms 81:13, 16.

And elsewhere in the same author,

Jehovah is the one who makes peace your border; with the fat of wheat He satisfies you. Psalms 147:14.

[3] That 'wheat' means love and charity is evident in Jeremiah,

Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard, they have trampled down the portion of My field, they have rendered the portion of My field into a lonely wilderness. On all the hills in the wilderness those who cause devastation have come, for the sword of Jehovah is devouring from one end of the land even to the other end of the land. There is no peace for any flesh. They have sown wheat and reaped thorns. Jeremiah 12:10, 12-13.

'Vineyard' and 'the field' stand for the Church, 'a lonely wilderness' for the vastation of it, 'a devouring sword' for the vastation of truth, 'no peace' for the absence of good stirring the affections, 'sowing wheat' for forms of good which are the product of love and charity, 'sowing thorns' for evils and falsities which are the result of self-love and love of the world. For 'vineyard' means the spiritual Church, 1069; 'the field' the Church as regards good, 2971; 'wilderness' vastation, 1927, 2708; 'a devouring sword' vastation of truth, 2799; 'peace' good that stirs the affections, 3780.

[4] In Joel,

The field has been laid waste, the ground has been mourning because the grain has been laid waste, the new wine has failed, the oil languishes. Farmers have been put to shame, vinedressers have wailed over the wheat and over the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished. Gird yourselves and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Joel 1:10-11, 13.

It is evident to anyone that here the state of the Church when it has been vastated is what is described, and this being so, that 'the field' and 'the ground' mean the Church, 'the grain' its good, and 'the new wine' its truth, 3580, while 'wheat' means celestial love, 'barley' spiritual love. And since the state of the Church is the subject, the call to 'gird yourselves and lament, O priests, and wail, O ministers of the altar' is used.

[5] In Ezekiel,

The Spirit of Jehovah addressing the prophet, Take for yourself wheat and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt, and put them into a single vessel, and make them for yourself into bread. With human excrement you shall make a cake before their eyes. Thus shall the children of Israel eat their unclean bread. Ezekiel 4:9, 12-13.

This refers to the defilement of good and truth. 'Wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, spelt' stands for different kinds of good and of truth derived from good. 'Bread' or a cake made from these together with human excrement stands for the defilement of them all.

[6] In John,

I saw, and behold, a black horse, and the one seated on it held a balance in his hand I heard a voice from the midst of the four living creatures saying, A choenix of wheat for a denarius, and three choenices of barley for a denarius; but do no harm to oil and wine. Revelation 6:5-6.

This too refers to the vastation of good and truth. 'A choenix of wheat for a denarius' stands for a scarcity of love, 'three choenices of wheat for a denarius' for a scarcity of charity.

[7] In Ezekiel,

Judah and the land of Israel, they were your merchants. Wheat of minnith and pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm, they exchanged for your tracings. Ezekiel 27:17.

This refers to Tyre, which means the cognitions of good and truth. The goods of love and charity, and the happiness they bring, are meant by 'wheat of minnith and pannag, and honey, oil, and balm'. 'Judah' means the celestial Church, 'the land of Israel' the spiritual, which are the source of those goods. 'Tracings' means acquisitions.

[8] In Moses,

A land of wheat and barley, and of the vine and of the fig and of the pomegranate, a land of olive oil and honey. Deuteronomy 8:8.

This is a description of the land of Canaan, which in the internal sense means the Lord's kingdom, 1413, 1437, 1585, 1607, 3038, 3705. Forms of good which are the product of love and charity in that kingdom are meant by 'wheat and barley', forms of good which are the product of faith by 'the vine and the fig'.

[9] In Matthew,

Whose fan is in His hand, and He will purge His threshing-floor and gather His wheat into the granary, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire. Matthew 3:12; Luke 3:17.

John the Baptist referred in this way to the Lord. 'Wheat' stands for the goods of love and charity, 'chaff' for those things which do not have any good at all within them. In the same gospel,

Let both grow together until the harvest; and at the time of harvest I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to burn them but gather the wheat into my barn. Matthew 13:30.

'Weeds' stands for evils and falsities, 'wheat' for goods. These are comparisons, but all comparisons in the Word are made through the use of things that carry a spiritual meaning.

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