8408. When we sat by the flesh-pot. That this signifies a life according to what they like, and as they had desired, is evident from the signification of a “pot,” as being a containant of good, and in the opposite sense a containant of evil (of which below); and from the signification of “flesh,” as being the heavenly own, thus good, and in the opposite sense man’s own, thus evil (of which also below); and as by “flesh” is signified one’s own, so by “sitting by the flesh-pot” is signified a life according to what they like, and as they desire, for this life is the life of one’s own. A “pot” denotes a containant of good, and in the opposite sense a containant of evil, for the reason that by the flesh which is boiled in it is signified good, and in the opposite sense evil. As a “pot” has this signification, therefore by it is also signified the corporeal or natural of man, because these are the containants of good or of evil. Therefore in the universal sense by a “pot” is signified a man, and in a still more universal sense a people or a city, and then “flesh” signifies the good or the evil therein; as in Ezekiel:

The men that devise iniquity, and that give wicked counsel in this city, saying, It is not near, itself is the pot, We are the flesh; therefore thus said the Lord Jehovih, Your slain whom ye have put in the midst of it, these are the flesh, but itself is the pot (40:2, 3, 7);

here “the pot” denotes the city, or the people there; and “the flesh” denotes evil; for “the slain,” who are called “the flesh,” denote those with whom good and truth have been extinguished (see n. 4503).

[2] Again:

Utter a parable against the house of rebellion, and say unto them, Thus said the Lord Jehovah, Set on the pot, set it on, and also pour the pieces into it, every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice of the bones; said the Lord Jehovih, Woe to the city of bloods, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it (Ezekiel 24:3-4, 6);

here “the pot” denotes a city, or the people there, in whom is the evil of the profanation of good; the good which is “the flesh” there, is “the thigh and the shoulder,” the evil is “the scum” therefrom; the profanation of good is the remaining “scum;” therefore also it is called “the city of bloods.”

[3] In Jeremiah:

Jehovah said unto Jeremiah, What seest thou? I said, I see a pot that is boiling, whose face is toward the north; then Jehovah said, From the north evil shall be opened upon all the inhabitants of the land (1:13-14);

here a “boiling pot” denotes a people whom falsities have taken possession of; “the north” denotes the sensuous and corporeal of man from which evil springs. The end of the church is here treated of, when the external, consequently the sensuous and corporeal, and with these falsity and evil, rule; for the Lord’s church goes successively from internal to external, and then expires.

[4] In Zechariah:

In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, Holiness to Jehovah; and the pots in the house of Jehovah shall be like the bowls before the altar; and every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness to Jehovah Zebaoth, and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them and shall boil in them (14:20-21).

The salvation of the faithful is here treated of; the faithful are “the pots,” so called from the reception of good from the Lord, and from this the pot is called “Holiness to Jehovah;” “the bells of the horses upon which is Holiness” denote truths corresponding to good. As “pots” denote recipients and containants of good, therefore also these together with the rest of the vessels of the altar were made of brass (Exodus 38:3); for “brass” signifies the good of the natural (see n. 425, 1551).

[5] Moreover by “a pot” is signified doctrine, because of its containing the good and truth of the church. Doctrine is signified by “the pot” in which by command of Elisha pottage was boiled for the sons of the prophets of which we read in the second book of Kings:

Elisha returned to Gilgal when there was a famine in the land, when the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: he said to his lad, Set on the great pot, and boil pottage for the sons of the prophets: one went out into the field to gather vegetables, and found a vine of the field, and gathered from it wild gourds of the field, and shred them into the pot of pottage: while they were eating of the pottage they cried, Death in the pot, O man of God! but he said that they should take meal, which he threw into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, and let them eat; then there was no evil thing in the pot (4:38-41);

be it known that all Divine miracles involve such things as are of the Lord’s kingdom and church (n. 7337, 8364), and that Elisha represents the Word of the the Lord, (n. 2762), and the prophets the doctrines therefrom (n. 2534, 7269); whence it is evident what of the church was represented by this miracle, namely, that the good of the church which has been falsified becomes good by means of truth from the Word; “famine” denotes a lack of the knowledges of truth and of good; “the pot,” doctrine; “pottage,” the good of the external rituals of the Jewish church; “wild gourds from the vine of the field,” falsification; “meal,” truth from the Word (n. 2177), whereby that which has been falsified, and which is “death in the pot,” becomes good. That “pots” signify containants of good, is because they were among the useful vessels in which food was prepared, and by food and all kinds of it are signified such things as nourish the soul, thus affections of good and of truth (n. 681, 1480, 3114, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5576, 5915).

2177. That the “meal of fine flour” denotes the spiritual and the celestial which were then with the Lord, and that “cakes” denote the same when both are conjoined, is very evident from the sacrifices of the Representative Church, and from the meat-offering then made use of, which consisted of fine flour mingled with oil and made into cakes. The chief part of representative worship consisted in burnt-offerings and sacrifices. What these represented has already been stated, where bread is treated of (n. 2165), namely, the celestial things of the Lord’s kingdom in the heavens and of the Lord’s kingdom on the earth (that is, in the church), and also those of the Lord’s kingdom or church with each person; and in general all the things of love and charity, because these are celestial. All these offerings and sacrifices were at that time called “bread,” and to them was adjoined the meat-offering also, which, as already said, consisted of fine flour mingled with oil, to which frankincense was likewise added, as well as a libation of wine.

[2] What these represented is also evident, namely, similar things as the sacrifices, but in a less degree, thus the things which are of the spiritual church, and likewise those of the external church. Everyone can see that such things would never have been commanded unless they had represented Divine things, and also that each one represents something special and peculiar, for unless they had represented Divine things, they would not have differed from similar things in use among the Gentiles, among whom also there were sacrifices—meat-offerings, libations, frankincense, perpetual fires, and many other things, derived to them from the Ancient Church, and especially from the Hebrew Church. But as internal things (that is, the Divine things that were represented) were separated from these Gentile rites, they were merely idolatrous, as also they became with the Jews, who for this reason fell into all kinds of idolatry. From what has been said everyone can see that there were heavenly arcana in every rite, especially in the sacrifices and all their particulars.

[3] As regards the meat-offering, the nature of it and how it was to be prepared into cakes, is described in a whole chapter in Moses (Leviticus 2; also in Numbers 15, and elsewhere). The law of the meat-offering is described in Leviticus in these words:

Fire shall be kept burning upon the altar continually, it shall not go out. And this is the law of the meat-offering: the sons of Aaron shall bring it before Jehovah to the faces of the altar; and he shall take therefrom his handful of the fine flour of the meat-offering, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is upon the meat-offering, and shall burn it upon the altar, an odor of rest, for a memorial unto Jehovah; and the residue thereof Aaron and his sons shall eat; unleavened shall they be eaten in a holy place; in the court of the tent of meeting shall they eat it. It shall not be baked leavened; I have given it as their portion of My offerings made by fire; it is a holy of holies (Leviticus 6:13-17).

[4] The fire which must be kept burning upon the altar continually, represented the love, that is, the mercy of the Lord, perpetual and eternal. That in the Word “fire” signifies love, see n. 934; hence “offerings made by fire for an odor of rest” signify the Lord’s pleasure in the things which are of love and charity. (That “odor” denotes what is well-pleasing, that is, what is grateful, see n. 925, 1519.) Their “taking a handful” represented that they should love with all the strength, or with all the soul; for the hand, or the palm of the hand, signifies power (as shown n. 878), from which “handful” also signifies power. The fine flour, with the oil and the frankincense, represented all things of charity-the fine flour the spiritual, and the oil the celestial of charity, the frankincense what was in this manner grateful. (That fine flour represents what is spiritual, is evident from what has just been said, and from what follows; that oil represents what is celestial, or the good of charity, may be seen above, n. 886; and also that frankincense, from its odor, represents what is grateful and acceptable, n. 925.)

[5] Its being “unleavened,” or not fermented, signifies that it should be sincere, and thus from a sincere heart, and free from uncleanness. That Aaron and his sons should eat the residue, represented man’s reciprocality and his appropriation, thus conjunction through love and charity; on which account it was commanded that they should eat it in a holy place. Hence it is called a “holy of holies.” These were the things that were represented by the meat-offering; and the representatives themselves were so perceived in heaven; and when the man of the church so apprehended them, he was then in an idea similar to the perception of the angels, thus he was in the Lord’s kingdom itself in the heavens although he was on earth.

[6] The meat-offering is further treated of, as regards what it ought to be in connection with each kind of sacrifice, and how it should be baked into cakes, also what kind should be offered by those who were being cleansed, and what on other occasions; to mention and explain all of which would be too tedious; but concerning all these matters see Exodus 29:39-41; Leviticus 5:11-13; 6:14-23; 10:12-13; 23:10-13, 23:16-17; Numbers 5:15, etc.; 6:15-17, 19-20, 7:1-89, in several places; 28:5, 7, 9, 12-13, 20-21, 28-29; 29:3-4, 9-10, 14-15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 37.

[7] Fine flour made into cakes in general represented the same as bread, namely, the celestial of love, and meal the spiritual of it, as is evident from the passages cited above. The “breads” [or loaves] that were called the “bread of faces,” or the “show bread” [panis propositionis], were made of fine flour, which was prepared in cakes and placed upon the table, for a perpetual representation of the love, that is, the mercy, of the Lord toward the universal human race, and the reciprocality of man. Concerning these loaves we read as follows in Moses:

Thou shalt take fine flour and shalt bake it into twelve cakes; of two tenths shall one cake be; and thou shalt set them in two rows, six in a row, upon the clean table, before Jehovah; and thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, and it shall be to the breads for a memorial, an offering made by fire unto Jehovah. On every Sabbath day he shall set it in order before Jehovah continually, from the sons of Israel in a covenant of eternity. And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, for it is a holy of holies unto him, of the offerings made by fire unto Jehovah by a statute of eternity (Leviticus 24:5-9).

Every particular in this description and all the smallest details represented the holy of love and of charity, the “fine flour” the same as the “meal of fine flour,” namely, the celestial and its spiritual, and the “cake” the two conjoined.

[8] Hence it is evident what is the holiness of the Word to those who are in heavenly ideas, nay, what holiness there was in this very representative rite, on account of which it is called a holiness of holinesses; and on the contrary, how void of holiness it is to those who suppose that there is nothing heavenly in these things, and who abide solely in the externals; as do they who perceive the meal here merely as meal, the fine flour as fine flour, and the cake as a cake, and who suppose these things to have been stated without each particular involving something of the Divine. These do in like manner as do those who think the bread and wine of the Holy Supper to be nothing but a certain rite, containing nothing holy within; whereas there is such holiness that human minds are by that Supper conjoined with heavenly minds, when from internal affection they are thinking that the bread and wine signify the Lord’s love and the reciprocality of man, and are thus in holiness from interior thought and feeling.

[9] The like was involved in that the sons of Israel on their coming into the land of Canaan were to offer a cake of the first of their dough, as a heave-offering unto Jehovah (Numbers 15:20). That such things are signified is also evident in the Prophets, from which we may at present adduce only this from Ezekiel:

Thou wast decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was fine linen and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, honey, and oil, and thou wast become beautiful very exceedingly, and thou wast prospered unto a kingdom (Ezekiel 16:13); where the subject treated of is Jerusalem, by which is signified the church, that was so decked in its earliest time-that is, the Ancient Church-and which is described by the garments and other ornaments; as also its affections of truth and good by the fine flour, honey, and oil. Everyone can see that all these things have a very different meaning in the internal sense from that in the sense of the letter. And so have these words which Abraham said to Sarah: “Make ready quickly three measures of the meal of fine flour, knead, and make cakes.” (That “three” signifies holy things has been shown before, n. 720, 901)