46. That 'beasts' means affections residing with man - evil affections in evil men and good affections in good men - becomes clear from many examples in the Word, as in Ezekiel,

Behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, so that you will be tilled and sown; and I will multiply upon you man and beast, and they will be multiplied and be fruitful, and I will resettle you ¹ to be as in your ancient times. Ezekiel 36:9-11.

This refers to regeneration. In Joel,

Fear not, you beasts of My field, for the dwelling-places of the wilderness have been made green. Joel 2:22.

In David,

I was stupid, a beast ² was I with God. Psalms 73:12.

In Jeremiah,

Behold, the days are coming when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast, and I will watch over them to build and to plant. Jeremiah 31:27-28.

This refers to regeneration.

[2] 'Wild animals' (fera) has a similar meaning, as in Hosea,

I will make for them a covenant on that day, with the wild animals of the field, and with the birds of the air, ³ and with the creeping things of the earth. Hosea 2:18.

In Job,

You will not fear the wild animals of the earth, for your covenant will be with the stones of the field, and the wild beasts of the field will be at peace with you. Job 5:22-23.

In Ezekiel,

I will make with them ⁴ a covenant of peace, and I will banish the evil wild animal from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness. Ezekiel 34:25.

In Isaiah,

The wild animals of the field will honour me, for I have given water in the desert. Isaiah 43:20.

In Ezekiel,

In its branches all the birds of the air ³ made their nests and under its branches every wild animal of the field gave birth, and in its shadow dwelt all great nations. Ezekiel 31:6.

This refers to Assyria, which means the spiritual man and is compared to the Garden of Eden. In David,

Praise Jehovah, all his angels, praise Him from the earth, sea monsters, fruit trees, wild animals, and all beasts, creeping things, and flying birds! Psalms 148:2-4, 7, 9-10.

Here the list is precisely the same - sea monsters, fruit trees, wild animals, beasts, creeping things, and birds. Unless they all mean things that are alive in human beings, they cannot possibly be referred to as praising Jehovah.

[3] A careful distinction is made in the Prophets between beasts and wild animals of the earth, and between beasts and wild animals of the field. The practice of calling goods 'beasts' extends to calling people in heaven who are nearest to the Lord 'living creatures', both in Ezekiel and in John,

All the angels stood around the throne, and the elders, and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God. ⁵ Revelation 7:11; 19:4.

The expression 'creatures' is also used of people who are to have the gospel preached to them because they are to be created anew, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15.

Poznámky pod čarou:

2541. 'And called his servants' means rational concepts and factual knowledge. This is clear from the meaning of 'servants' in the Word, dealt with further on at verse 14, in 2567. Within the person who is in the Lord's kingdom, that is, who is the Lord's kingdom, there are celestial things, spiritual things, rational concepts, factual knowledge, and sensory impressions; and all these are ordered one beneath another. Celestial things and spiritual things hold the primary position and are the Lord's; rational concepts come next in order beneath them and are subservient to them; factual knowledge in turn comes beneath and serves rational concepts; and lastly sensory impressions come beneath and serve factual knowledge. The things which are subservient, or which serve, are in these relationships servants, and in the Word they are called 'servants'. Anyone whose thought is based solely on sensory impressions and factual knowledge is unaware of these things existing in their ordered sequence; and anyone who does know something about them nevertheless has only a very obscure idea because he is still immersed in bodily interests. Angels however have a very distinct idea, for thousands, indeed myriads, of distinct and separate ideas existing with angels do not present themselves to men except as one single obscure idea, as for example with the words that occur here, 'Abimelech called his servants and spoke all these words in their ears; and the men were very much afraid'. In these words angels perceive deeper arcana than man can possibly grasp or is indeed able to believe; that is to say, they perceive how the Lord brought rational concepts and factual knowledge into a condition of obedience, yet in such a way that He did not bring into that condition the rational concepts and the factual knowledge themselves but the affections rising up against the celestial and the spiritual things of doctrine; for it was when those affections had been brought into subjection that rational concepts and factual knowledge were brought into a condition of obedience and at the same time into order. These matters are to angels some of the most common and general; but to man they are perhaps some of the most obscure or are unintelligible.