10669. 'In ploughing and harvesting you shall rest' means so far as the implanting of truth in good and the reception of that truth are concerned. This is clear from the meaning of 'ploughing' as the implanting of truth in good, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'harvesting' as the reception of truth in good. 'Harvesting' has this meaning because 'standing grain' means truth in the process of being conceived, 9146, and 'an ear' means truth, the container [of good], while 'wheat' or 'barley' in the ear means good, receiving and also received by [truth]. What should be understood at present however is that human labour involved in this kind of harvesting will cease, since it says, 'In ploughing and harvesting you shall rest'. For by 'rest' on the sabbath day the second state of regeneration is meant, when a person experiences peace, abides in heaven, and is led by the Lord, at which stage those things are brought about without labour or effort on man's part.

'Harvest' means the reception of truth by good, see 9295.

'The sabbath' means a state of peace, when a person is led by the Lord, in the places referred to in 10668.

[2] The reason why 'ploughing' means the implanting of truth in good is that the Church in respect of good, thus also the Church's good, is meant by 'the field', and the truth of faith by 'the seed' that is sown in it.

'The field' means the Church in respect of good, see 2971, 3196, 3310, 3317, 7502, 9139, 9141, 9295.

'Seed' means the truth of faith, 1940, 3310, 3373, 3671, 6158.

[3] Reference is made very many times in the Word to earth or land, ground, field, seedtime, harvest, standing grain, threshing-floor, grain, wheat, and barley; and in those places they mean the kinds of things that are involved in the establishment of the Church and that are involved in the regeneration of a person who is in the Church, thus the kinds of things that are connected with the truth of faith and the good of love which constitute the Church. The reason why those kinds of things are meant lies in correspondence; for all things on this planet, including those in its vegetable kingdom, correspond to spiritual realities that exist in heaven, as is plainly evident from the things which appear there. For in heaven newly ploughed fields, open ones, gardens of flowers, fields ready to be harvested, land planted with trees, and similar things such as exist on earth are seen; and it is well known to those who are there that the realities composing heaven, thus those composing the Church, are what appear before their eyes in this kind of way.

[4] A person reading the Word thinks that such things there are no more than metaphors. But they should be seen to be real correspondences, as with the following in Isaiah,

Listen and hear my voice. Is it all day that the ploughman will plough to sow? That he will open and harrow his ground? When he has levelled its surface ¹ does he not scatter the black cummin and sow the cummin? So [the reaper] stores away the measured wheat, the designated barley, and his appointed spelt. So He trains him for judgement, his God teaches him. Isaiah 28:23-26.

These things look like metaphors, but they are real correspondences, which serve to describe the reformation and regeneration of a member of the Church; and this is why it goes on to say, 'So He trains him for judgement, his God teaches him'. 'Training him for judgement' means endowing him with intelligence, for 'judgement' means an intelligent understanding of truth, 2235, and 'teaching him', when done by God, means endowing him with wisdom. From this it may be seen what 'ploughing', 'harrowing', 'scattering the black cummin', 'sowing the cummin', and 'storing away wheat, barley, and spelt' mean, namely this: 'Ploughing' means implanting truth in good; 'harrowing' setting those things in order; 'black cummin' and 'cummin' factual knowledge, this being what a person acquires first, in order that he may receive intelligence; 'wheat' the good of love in the internal man, see 3941, 7605; 'barley' the good of love in the external man, 7602; and 'spelt' the truth which goes with that good, 7605.

[5] Correspondence, not the use of metaphor, gives 'ploughing' its meaning as the first phase of the Church in general and also in particular with each person who is being regenerated or becoming an embodiment of the Church, as is evident from the following words in Moses,

You shall not sow your vineyard with mixed seed. You shall not plough with an ox and an ass together. You shall not wear a garment made of wool and flax mixed together ² . Deuteronomy 22:9-11.

These words imply that states of goodness and truth are not to be mixed up one with another. For 'vineyard' means the Church in respect of truth, whereas 'field' means the Church in respect of good. 'Ploughing with an ox' means making ready by means of good, 'ploughing with an ass' doing so by means of truth; and 'wool' too means good, whereas 'flax' means truth. The situation is this: Those in the Lord's celestial kingdom live in a state of good, whereas those in His spiritual kingdom live in a state of truth; those who live in one state cannot do so in the other. Can anyone fail to see that those words serve to mean a higher level of things? If they did not do so what harm would there be in sowing a vineyard with mixed seed, ploughing with an ox and ass together, or wearing a garment made of wool and flax mixed together?

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3670. 'And He will give you the blessing of Abraham' means the joining of the Divine itself to the good and truth of the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'blessing' as a joining together, dealt with above in 3660, 3667, and from the representation of 'Abraham' as the Lord's Divine itself, which is called the Father, dealt with in 2011, 3251, 3439. And as these words are addressed to Jacob, who is to represent the Divine Good and Truth of the Lord's Divine Natural, it is a joining together of the Divine itself to the good and truth of the Natural - this joining together being meant in the internal sense by 'He will give you the blessing of Abraham'. In the sense of the letter it is possession of the land of Canaan that is meant by 'the blessing of Abraham', and also by the words that follow, 'to inherit the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham'. This also is what these words are taken to mean by all who believe that the historical descriptions of the Word do not embody anything more heavenly and deeper than that. This is especially so with the Jewish nation, which also claims from that sense to hold a superior position to all other nations and peoples. Their forefathers understood those words in the same way, especially Jacob, who had that kind of disposition, as becomes clear from what has been stated just above in 3667. That is to say, he did not know Jehovah and was unwilling to acknowledge Him unless He conferred bodily and worldly benefits on him. The fact that neither Abraham, nor Isaac, nor Jacob were meant, but that Jacob represented the Lord's Natural which He was to make Divine is abundantly evident from the explanations given. The same applies to the character of any person who represents, whether evil or good; for the evil are no less able to represent, and have represented, the Lord's Divine, see 665, 1097, 1361.

[2] The same may be seen from the representatives which also exist at the present day. For all kings, no matter who they are or what they are like, represent the Lord through the kingly office itself residing with them; and in like manner all priests, no matter who they are or what they are like, do so through their priestly office. The kingly office itself and the priestly office itself are sacred, no matter who serves in them. Consequently the Word taught by someone evil is no less sacred; nor is the Sacrament of Baptism, or the Holy Supper, or similar ministrations any less so. From this it may also be seen that no king can possibly claim as his own the sacredness that goes with his kingly office, nor any priest the sacredness that goes with his priestly office. Insofar as he does claim it or attribute it to himself he brands himself with the sign of a spiritual thief, or the mark of spiritual theft. And insofar as he commits what is evil, that is, acts contrary to what is right and fair, and contrary to what is good and true, a king throws off his representation of the sacred kingly office, and a priest his representation of the sacred priestly office, and then represents the reverse of this. This explains why so many laws were laid down in the Jewish representative Church concerning the sacredness which was to be attached in particular to priests when ministering. More on this matter will in the Lord's Divine mercy be stated later on.