9222. 'And you shall not curse a governor of your people' means that teachings presenting the truth are not to be, either - not to be blasphemed. This is clear from the meaning of 'a governor (or prince)' as the Church's primary truths, dealt with in 5044; from the meaning of 'people' as those governed by truths taught by doctrine, dealt with in 1259, 1260, 2928, 3295, 3581, 7207; and from the meaning of 'cursing' as blaspheming. What connection these prohibitions have with each other is evident from the internal sense; for 'not reviling God' means not blaspheming God's truth, and 'not cursing a governor' means not blaspheming teachings that present the truth, God's truth being the Word, and the Church's teachings being truth drawn from the Word.

Let the nature of blasphemy against God's truth be stated briefly here. God's truth is the Word and teachings drawn from the Word. Those who repudiate it in their heart blaspheme it even though they praise and declare it with their lips. Hidden within repudiation lies blasphemy, which also bursts out into the open when they are left to think by themselves, especially in the next life. For there when external [restraints] have been removed people's hearts speak.

[2] Those who blaspheme or repudiate the Word cannot receive anything at all of the truth or good of faith. For the Word teaches the existence of the Lord, of heaven and hell, of life after death, of faith and charity, and of many other things, about which no one would have any knowledge whatever without the Word or revelation, 8944. Therefore those who repudiate the Word cannot receive anything taught by the Word; for when it is read or heard by them it is met with a negative attitude of mind that either annihilates truth or turns it into falsity.

[3] First of all therefore with a member of the Church comes belief in the Word; and this is the chief characteristic of one who is guided by the truth of faith and governed by the good of love. But with those who are steeped in the evils of self-love and love of the world non-belief in the Word is the chief characteristic; for when they think about it they instantly reject it and also blaspheme it. If anyone were to see how great the blasphemies are against the Word, and what they are like, with those who are steeped in the evils of those kinds of love he would be horrified. While in the world the person is unaware of their existence, since they lie concealed behind the ideas of his conscious thought, and it is this that comes out into speech with other people. Even so they are revealed in the next life, where they appear horrible.

[4] There are two kinds of blasphemies - those that come out of the understanding but not at the same time out of the will, and those that come out of the will by way of the understanding. The second kind are the ones which are so horrible, not the first. Those that come out of the will by way of the understanding spring from evil of life, whereas those that come solely out of the understanding and not at the same time out of the will spring from falsity of doctrine or from the illusions of the outward senses that deceive a person set fast in a state of ignorance. These things have been stated in order that people may know the nature of blasphemy against God's truth, that is, the Word, and against teachings drawn from it, meant by 'reviling God and cursing a governor of the people'.

5893. 'There have been two years of famine in the midst of the land' means states ¹ when there is a lack of good in the natural mind. This is clear from the meaning of 'years' as states, dealt with in 487, 488, 493, 893; from the meaning of 'famine' as a lack of good (for 'bread' in the spiritual sense is the good of love, and 'food' is the good of truth, so that 'famine' or 'hunger' is a lack of good, while 'thirst' is a lack of truth); and from the meaning of 'in the midst of the land' - the land of Egypt - as the natural mind, dealt with in 5276, 5278, 5280, 5288, 5301. The expression 'in the midst' is used because the midst or middle is the inmost part, 1074, 2940, 2973. Where good resides. 'Two years' are states when good and truth exist joined together, since 'two' means a joining together, 5194; but in the present use of the expression a joining together that has not yet been effected is meant since they are 'two years of famine'.

[2] The implications of this are as follows: Truths must be present in the natural mind if good is to do its work, and those truths must be brought into it through an affection belonging to genuine love. Everything without exception in a person's memory has been brought into it through some love, and having become joined to that love remains in the memory. This also applies to the truths of faith; if they have been brought in through a love of truth, those truths become joined to and remain there with that love. Once they have become joined to it the following is then the situation: If the affection is evoked again, the truths that have been joined to it reappear at the same time; and if the truths are evoked again, the affection to which they have been joined reappears at the same time. This being so, when a person is being regenerated - which happens in adult life because he is unable before this to think for himself about the truths of faith - he is governed by angels sent by the Lord. They govern him by maintaining in him the truths which he has become convinced are truths, and by maintaining in him through those truths the affection to which they have been joined. And because that affection - an affection for truth - has its origin in good, he is then led step by step towards good.

[3] A considerable amount of experience has proved the truth of this to me. For I have noticed that when evil spirits have thrust evils and falsities at me, the angels from the Lord present at the time have maintained in me the truths implanted in me previously and have thereby withheld me from those evils and falsities. From this it has also been evident that the truths of faith which, through an affection for truth, have become rooted in me serve as a level into which angels can operate, so that people who do not have this level laid down in them cannot be led by angels but allow themselves to be led by hell. For without it the operation of the angels cannot become established anywhere and so passes away from them. That level for angels to operate into cannot however be acquired unless the truths of faith have been put into service and thus have been implanted in the person's will and through this in his life. It is also worth mentioning that when the operation of the angels into the truths of faith present with a person takes place, it is rarely plain to see, that is to say, so plain that thought about the truth operated into is aroused. Rather, a general notion of things in keeping with that truth, and the affection that goes with it, is produced. For that operation by the angels is effected by means of an imperceptible inflowing which, when a visual presentation of it is made, looks like an inflowing beam of light. That light is made up of countless truths present within good which focus on one particular truth known by a person and which, while they sustain the truth in him, also sustain the love that belongs to that truth. This is the way the angels raise a person's mind above falsities and protect it from evils. Yet the person is totally unaware of any of this.

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