193. I will come on thee as a thief, signifies the unexpected time of death, when all the knowledges procured from the Word that have not acquired spiritual life will be taken away. This is evident from the signification of "coming as a thief," when said of those who are not wakeful, that is, who are not acquiring for themselves spiritual life, as being that all the knowledges acquired from the Word that have not acquired spiritual life will be taken away from them. These words signify also the unexpected time of death, because death comes unexpectedly, and after death man remains to eternity in the state of that life which he acquired for himself in the world; for this reason man must be wakeful. As it is known to few that all the knowledges gained from the Word that have not acquired spiritual life are taken away, it is necessary to explain how this is done. All things that are in man's spirit remain with him to eternity; but the things that are not in man's spirit, after death, when he becomes a spirit, are dissipated. Those things remain in the spirit of man that he has thought from himself, that is, the things that he has thought from his own love when he was alone, for his spirit then thinks from itself and not from the things in the memory of his body that do not make one with his love. There are two states of man, one when he thinks from his spirit, and the other when he thinks from the memory of his body; when these two states do not make one, man can think in one way by himself, and can think and speak in another way with others.

[2] Take a preacher, for instance, who loves himself and the world above all things, and cares nothing for the Divine, even so that he denies it in heart, and therefore schemes evils of every kind, in consort with the crafty and malignant of the world; and yet when he is speaking with others, especially when he is preaching, he may be able to speak as from zeal for the Divine, and for Divine truths, and even at such times may be able to think in like manner; but this state is a state of his thought from the memory of the body, and is evidently separated from the state of his thought from the spirit, since when left to himself he thinks contrary to these things. This is the state that remains with man after death, but the other state does not remain, because it belongs to his body and not to his spirit; consequently when he becomes a spirit, which takes place when he dies, all knowledges that he acquired for himself from the Word that do not agree with the life of his spirit's love, he casts away from him. But it is otherwise with those who, when left to themselves alone, think justly about the Divine, about the Word and the truths of the church therefrom, and who love truths even to the life, that is, so that they wish to live according to them.

The thoughts of these in their spirit make one with their thoughts from the memory of the body, thus they make one with the knowledges of truth and good which they have from the Word; and so far as these make one, these knowledges receive spiritual life, for they are elevated by the Lord from the external or natural man into the internal or spiritual man, and constitute the life, that is, the understanding and will, of the spiritual man. Truths, in the spiritual man, are living truths, because they are Divine, and from these man has life there. That this is so it has been granted me to know from much experience; if I were to adduce it all it would fill many pages. (Something may be seen in the work onHeaven and Hell 491-498, 499-511; and above, n. 114.)

[3] From this it can now be seen what is meant in the spiritual sense by "I will come on thee as a thief," namely, that after death all knowledges procured from the Word that have not acquired spiritual life will be taken away. The same is meant by the following in Revelation:

Behold I come as a thief; blessed is he that is wakeful, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked (Revelation 16:15);

it is said "as a thief" because evils and falsities therefrom in the natural man take away and cast out the knowledges of truth and good that are there from the Word; for the things that are not loved are cast out. With man there is either the love of evil and of falsity therefrom, or the love of good and of truth therefrom. These two loves are opposite to one another; consequently he who is in one of them cannot be in the other, for "no one can serve two masters," without loving the one and hating the other (Matthew 6:24).

[4] Because evils and falsities therefrom penetrate from within, and break through as it were the wall that is between the state of man's thought from the spirit and the state of his thought from the body, and cast out the knowledges of truth and good that have their abode with man in his outward part, therefore such evils and falsities are what are meant by "thieves," also in the following passages.

In Matthew:

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, but in heaven, where thieves do not dig through nor steal (Matthew 6:19-20).

"Treasures" are the knowledges of truth and good; "laying them up in heaven" is in the spiritual man, for the spiritual man is in heaven. (That "treasures" are the knowledges of truth and good, see Arcana Coelestia 1694, 4508, 10227; and that the internal spiritual man is in heaven, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 36-50.)

[5] In the same:

Be wakeful, therefore, for ye know not at what hour your Lord will come. But know this, that if the master of the house knew in what hour the thief would come he would be wakeful, and would not suffer him to dig through his house (Matthew 24:42-43).

This means that if man knew the hour of his death he would get himself ready, not from a love of what is true and good, but from a fear of hell; and whatever a man does from fear does not remain with him, but what he does from love remains; therefore he should be getting ready all the time (See The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 143, 168).

[6] In Obadiah:

If thieves come to thee, if robbers by night, how wilt thou be cut off! Will they not steal till they have enough? (Obadiah 1:5).

Here also falsities and evils are called "thieves," and are said to "steal;" falsities are "thieves," and evils are "robbers by night;" it is said "by night," because "night" signifies a state of no love and faith.

[7] In Joel:

They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall come up into the houses, they shall enter in through the windows like a thief (Joel 2:9).

The vastation of the church through falsities from evil is here treated of; "city" and "wall" signify the things of doctrine; "houses" and "windows" things pertaining to the mind that receives; "houses" that part of the mind that is called the will, where good is, and "windows" that part of the mind that is called the understanding, where truth is.

(That "city" in the Word is doctrine, see Arcana Coelestia 402, 2449, 2712, 2943, 3216, 4492, 4493; that "wall" is the truth of doctrine defending, n. 6419; that "house" is that part of the mind which is called the will, where good is, n. 2231, 2233, 2559, 3128, 5023, 6690, 7353, 7910, 7929, 9150; and "windows" that part of the mind which is called the understanding where truth is, n. 655, 658, 3391.) From this it is clear what is signified by "running upon the wall," "coming up into the houses," and "entering in through the windows like a thief."

[8] In Hosea:

I healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the evils of Samaria, for they made a lie, and the thief cometh in, and the troop spreadeth itself without (Hosea 7:1).

The "iniquity of Ephraim" signifies the falsities of the understanding; and the "evils of Samaria" the evils of the will; "to make a lie" is thinking and willing falsity from evil; "the thief" is falsity taking away and dissipating truth; and "the troop spreading itself" is evil casting out good. (That "Ephraim" is the intellectual of such things as are of the church, see Arcana Coelestia 3969, 5354, 6222, 6234, 6238, 6267, 6296; that "a lie" is falsity from evil, n. 8908, 9248; that "a troop" is good casting out evil, and in a contrary sense, evil casting out good, n. 3934, 3935, 6404, 6405.)

[9] These things are adduced that it may be known what "a thief" in the Word signifies, namely, falsity vastating, that is, taking away and destroying truth. It was shown above, that after death all knowledges of truth and good from the Word that have not acquired spiritual life are taken away; consequently they are taken away from those who have not been made spiritual by knowledges from the Word. The same is signified by many other things in the historical parts of the Word; but this no one can see unless he knows the spiritual sense of the Word. This was signified by the sons of Israel's borrowing from the Egyptians gold, and silver, and garments, and thus taking them away as it were by theft, which is thus described in Moses:

It was commanded that they should borrow of the Egyptians vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment. And Jehovah gave the people grace in the eyes of the Egyptians, so that they lent to them; and thus they plundered the Egyptians (Exodus 12:35-36).

The "Egyptians" represented those who are merely natural and yet possess many knowledges. By "the sons of Israel" are meant those who are spiritual; "vessels of gold and of silver," and also "raiment," signify the knowledges of truth and good, which the spiritual apply to good, but which the natural apply to evil and thus destroy. That nations were given up to the curse, and at the same time all things with them were either burnt with fire or plundered, to which there is frequent reference in the book of Joshua, and in the books of Samuel and of the Kings, has a like signification; for the nations of the land of Canaan represented those who are in evils and falsities, and the sons of Israel those who are in truths and goods.

[10] That the knowledges of truth and good from the Word will be taken away from those who have not acquired spiritual life for themselves, is also meant in the Lord's parables respecting the talents and pounds given to the servants that they might trade and make gain, and respecting the servant who traded not and gained nothing, of whom it is written in the parables:

Unto him who hid his talent in the earth his lord said, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou oughtest to have put my silver to the bankers, in order that at my coming I might have received mine own with interest. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him that hath the ten talents. For unto everyone that hath shall be given, that he may have abundance; but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye out the unprofitable servant into outer darkness (Matthew 25:14-30).

And in another place:

He came who had received the one pound, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I kept laid up in a napkin. The lord said, Wherefore gavest not thou my money into the bank, that coming I might have regained mine own with interest. And He said, Take from him the pound, and give to him that hath ten pounds. I say unto you, To everyone that hath shall be given; but from him that hath not, even than which he hath shall be taken away from him (Luke 19:13-26).

Here "talents," "pounds," and "money," signify the knowledges of truth and good from the Word; "to trade," "to make gain," "to put it to the bankers," or "in the bank," signifies to acquire for oneself thereby spiritual life and intelligence; "hiding these in the earth" or "in a napkin" signifies in the memory of the natural man only; of such it is therefore said that from them should be taken away that which they have, according to what has been explained in the beginning of this article.

[11] This takes place with all in the other life who have acquired for themselves knowledges from the Word, and have not committed them to the life, but only to the memory. He who has knowledges from the Word in the memory only, even if they were thousands, if he has not committed them to the life, remains natural as before. Committing knowledges from the Word to the life is thinking from them, when one, left to himself, thinks from his spirit, and also willing them and doing them; for this is loving truths because they are truths; and those who do this are those who become spiritual by means of knowledges from the Word.

3969. 'And she said, God has taken away my reproach. And she called his name Joseph, saying, May Jehovah add to me another son' in the highest sense means the Lord as regards the Divine Spiritual, in the internal sense the spiritual kingdom or the good of faith, and in the external sense salvation, also fruitfulness and multiplication. This is clear from the representation of 'Joseph' in the Word, dealt with below, also from the meaning of 'God has taken away my reproach', as well as 'May Jehovah add to me another son', for the name Joseph was derived from the verbs 'to gather up' and 'to add'. 'God has taken away my reproach' means that Rachel was now no longer barren, and so no longer 'dead', as she spoke of herself to Jacob in verse 1 above; see 3908. For 'Rachel' represents the affection for interior truth, that is, the interior man as regards truth, 3758, 3782, 3793, 3819. The interior man is so to speak dead as regards truth and good if the exterior or natural man does not correspond to it as regards goods and truths, see 3493, 3620, 3623. They must be so joined each to the other that they are not two but together form one man.

[2] But the two cannot become joined together until the natural or external man has been prepared, that is, until it has received and acknowledged the general truths which have been meant by Jacob's ten sons by Leah and the servant-girls, and until the good of the natural man has been joined to the truths in that man, which joining together was meant by Jacob's last son by Leah, namely Zebulun, who was so called from the expression 'dwelling together', 3960, 3961. After this joining together has taken place the interior man and the exterior man enter into the heavenly marriage spoken of in 3952. The reason they do not enter it until then is a very deep arcanum, for it is the good of the interior man which in that case joins itself to the good of the exterior man, and through that exterior good to the truth in the exterior man. At the same time the good of the interior man joins itself through the affection for truth in that interior man to the good of the exterior man and also to the truth there, and so joins itself directly and indirectly. concerning this direct and indirect linking together, see 3314, 3573, 3616. Since the interior man is only then joined to the exterior, and until this joining together has taken place the interior man is seemingly non-existent and so seemingly dead, as stated above, the phrase 'God has taken away my reproach' is therefore used. This then is what is meant by 'the reproach' which God is said to have 'gathered up', that is, to have taken away, meaning to have released her from it.

[3] But the words which follow - 'May Jehovah add to me another son', from which Joseph received his name - mean a second arcanum, which is this: 'Joseph' represents the Lord's spiritual kingdom and so the spiritual man, for that kingdom exists within every spiritual man. There are two things which constitute the spiritual man - charity and faith, or what amounts to the same, good and truth. Charity from which faith, or good from which truth springs, is the thing that Joseph represents. And faith which has charity within it, or truth which has good within it, is the thing that the second son means - that Benjamin represents, dealt with at Genesis 35:16-18. So Joseph means the celestial-spiritual man, and Benjamin the spiritual-celestial. The nature of the difference between them may be seen from what has been said fairly often already about good from which truth springs and truth that has good within it. This then is what is meant by Rachel's second utterance 'May Jehovah add to me another son'. But these arcana cannot be seen except by those who are governed by charity from which faith springs, for interiorly those people are dwelling in the light of heaven, which light also includes intelligence within it. But those arcana cannot be seen by those who are dwelling solely in the light of the world, for that light does not include intelligence except insofar as it holds the light of heaven within itself. To angels who dwell in the light of heaven these arcana belong among the most ordinary things they know.

[4] From these considerations one may now see that the words 'God has taken away my reproach' and 'May Jehovah add to me another son' in the highest sense mean the Lord as regards the Divine Spiritual, and in the internal sense the Lord's spiritual kingdom or the good of faith, for such good is the spiritual as this exists in that kingdom. But the reason why those words in the external sense mean salvation, also fruitfulness and multiplication, is that these come as the product of that good, 3971. But what the Lord's spiritual kingdom is may become clear from what has been stated and shown many times already about that kingdom, that is to say, it consists of those who are governed by charity and from charity by faith. This kingdom is distinct and separate from the Lord's celestial kingdom, for the celestial kingdom consists of those who are governed by love to the Lord and from that love by charity. The latter constitute the third or inmost heaven, whereas the spiritual constitute the second or interior heaven.

[5] The reason why the name God is used first, in 'God has taken away my reproach', then Jehovah, in 'May Jehovah add to me another son', is that God has regard to the ascent from truth up to good but Jehovah to the descent from good down to truth. The spiritual man is governed by the good of faith, that is, by the good from which truth springs; but prior to his becoming spiritual he is governed by the truth of faith, that is, by truth that has good within it. For the name God is used when truth is the subject, but Jehovah when good is the subject, 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822, 3921.

[6] The fact that 'Joseph' represents the Lord's spiritual kingdom, or the spiritual man, and so represents the good of faith, becomes clear also from those places in the Word where his name is mentioned, as in the prophecy of Jacob, who by then was Israel,

The son of a fruitful one is Joseph, the son of a fruitful one beside a spring; O daughters, he trails over the wall; and the archers will exasperate him and shoot at him and hate him. And he will sit in the strength of his bow, and the arms of his hands will be made strong by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob; from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel. By the God of your father, and he will assist you; and with Shaddai, and he will bless you with the blessings of heaven from above, with the blessings of the deep lying beneath, with the blessings of the breasts and of the womb. The blessings of your father will prevail over the blessings of my ancestors, even to the desire of the everlasting hills. They will be upon the head of Joseph and upon the crown of the head of the Nazirite among his brothers. Genesis 49:22-26.

These prophetic utterances in the highest sense contain a description of the Lord's Divine Spiritual, in the internal sense a description of His spiritual kingdom. What each detail entails will in the Lord's Divine mercy be discussed in the explanation of that chapter.

[7] Similarly in the prophecy of Moses,

For Joseph he said, Blessed by Jehovah is his land, of the precious things of heaven, of the dew, of the deep also lying beneath, and of the precious things of the fruits of the sun, and of the precious things of the produce of the months, and of the precious things of the mountains of the east, and of the precious things of the everlasting hills, and of the precious things of the earth and of its fullness; and the good pleasure of Him dwelling in the bramble bush. They will come upon the head of Joseph and upon the crown of the head of the Nazirite among his brothers. Deuteronomy 33:13-17.

[8] Because 'Israel' represents the Lord's spiritual Church, 3305, 3654,

Jacob, who by then was Israel, said to Joseph,

Your two sons who were born to you in the land of Egypt, before I came to you in Egypt, will be mine. Ephraim and Manasseh will be as Reuben and Simeon. May the angel who has redeemed me from every evil bless the boys, that in them my name may be called, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and may they increase into a multitude in the midst of the earth. Genesis 48:5, 16.

There are two things which constitute the spiritual Church - the understanding and the will, the understanding being represented by 'Ephraim' and the will by 'Manasseh'. From this one can see why Joseph's two sons were adopted by Jacob, by then Israel, and acknowledged as his own. Ephraim is also mentioned often in the Word, especially the prophetical part, in which places that name means the ability which the spiritual Church possesses to understand what is true and what is good.

[9] In Ezekiel,

Jehovah said, Son of man, take a stick and write on it, For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions. And take another stick and write on it, For Joseph - the stick of Ephraim and of the whole house of Israel, his companions and join them together, one to the other into one stick for you, that both may be one in your ¹ hand. Thus said the Lord Jehovih, I, behold, I am taking the stick of Joseph which is in the hand of Ephraim and of the tribes of Israel his companions, and I will add them to the stick of Judah, and make them into one stick, and they will be one in My hand. And I will make them into one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king to them all, and they will no longer be two nations, nor will they ever be divided into two nations again. Ezekiel 37:16-17, 19, 22.

This refers to the Lord's kingdom, to the celestial and to the spiritual - 'Judah' being the celestial kingdom, 3654, 3881, 3921 (end), and 'Joseph' the spiritual. It is also said that those kingdoms will not be two but one - they were actually made one by the Lord's Coming into the world.

[10] By the Lord's Coming the spiritual were saved, see 2661, 2716, 2833, 2834. It is those who are spiritual that the Lord is speaking about in John,

And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd. John 10:16.

This is what is meant by 'the two sticks', the stick of Judah and the stick of Joseph, which will be joined into one, and will be one in the Lord's hand, like one nation, even as they are one in the Lord's kingdom. For celestial angels constitute the third heaven, which is the inmost heaven, but spiritual angels the second, which is the interior heaven, and in that kingdom they are one because one flows into the other, namely the celestial heaven into the spiritual. The spiritual kingdom is so to speak the groundwork on which the celestial is based, and in this way the two are made firm and stable. For the Divine celestial within the third or inmost heaven is love to the Lord, the celestial-spiritual in that heaven being charity. The latter, namely charity, is the chief thing in the second or interior heaven where spiritual angels are. This shows the nature of influx and also how things are made firm and stable by means of influx. 'Wood' means good, both the good which belongs to love to the Lord and the good which belongs to charity towards the neighbour, 2784, 2812, 3720. For this reason the command was given to write Judah and Joseph on the two sticks which were to be made one.

[11] In Zechariah,

I will make the house of Judah powerful, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will restore them, ² for I have had compassion on them, and they will be as though I had not forsaken them, for I am Jehovah their God and I will answer them. Zechariah 10:6.

This too refers to the two kingdoms, the celestial and the spiritual, 'Judah' being the celestial kingdom and 'Joseph' the spiritual. Also referred to is the salvation of the spiritual.

[12] In Amos,

Thus said Jehovah to the house of Israel, Seek Me and you will live. Seek Jehovah and you will live, lest like fire He invades the house of Joseph and it devours and there is nobody quenching it. Hate evil, and desire good, and establish judgement in the gate; it may be that Jehovah God Zebaoth will have compassion on the remnant of Joseph. Amos 5:4, 6, 15.

Here also those who are spiritual are meant by 'Joseph'. 'The house of Israel' means the spiritual Church, 3305, 3654, 'Joseph' the good of that Church. Hence the statement 'Jehovah said to the house of Israel, Seek Me and you will live, lest like fire He invades the house of Joseph'.

[13] In David,

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, leading Joseph like a flock. You who are seated on the cherubim, shine forth before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh. Stir up Your might and come to save us. Psalms 80:1-2.

Here similarly 'Joseph' means the spiritual man, 'Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh' being three essentials of that Church.

[14] In the same author,

Raise a song, and sound the timbrel, the sweet harp with the lyre; blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the festival, on our feast day. For it is a statute for Israel, a judgement to the God of Jacob. [As] a testimony for Joseph He appointed it, when He went out against the land of Egypt. I heard a language that I did not know. Psalms 81:2-5.

From each individual word or term used here it is evident that 'Joseph' means the spiritual Church or spiritual man. For there are in the Word terms which present spiritual realities and terms which present celestial ones, and these terms occur consistently throughout the Word. In this quotation terms that present spiritual realities are used - 'a song', 'the timbrel', 'the harp with the lyre', and 'blowing the trumpet at the new moon, at the festival, on a feast day'. From this also it is evident that the subject is the spiritual Church meant by 'Joseph'.

[15] In Ezekiel,

Thus said the Lord Jehovih, This is the boundary by which you will inherit the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel, the portions for Joseph. Ezekiel 47:13.

This refers to the Lord's spiritual kingdom, and therefore the phrase 'the portions for Joseph' is used. The Lord's Divine spiritual is that which is also called His kingship, for the Lord's kingship is Divine Truth, but His priesthood Divine Good, 2015, 3009, 3670. The Lord's kingship itself is that which 'Joseph' represents, in that he was made king in the land of Egypt. That representation will in the Lord's Divine mercy be dealt with when that chapter is reached.

[16] As regards the Lord's Divine spiritual, or Divine Truth, which is represented in the highest sense by 'Joseph', it does not exist within the Lord but flows from the Lord; for the Lord is nothing else than Divine Good. But Divine Truth proceeds from Divine Good. To use a comparison, it is like the sun and the light of the sun. Light does not exist within the sun but proceeds from the sun. Or it is like fire. Light does not exist in fire but proceeds from it. And in the Word Divine Good itself is compared to the sun and also to fire, and is actually called sun and fire. The Lord's celestial kingdom receives its life from the good which proceeds from the Lord, but the spiritual kingdom receives its life from the truth derived from that good. For this reason in the next life the Lord is seen as the Sun by those who are celestial, but as the Moon by those who are spiritual, see 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 3636, 3643. For both warmth and light proceed from the sun. Its warmth is comparable to the good of love, which is also called celestial and spiritual warmth, its light to the truth flowing from it, which is also referred to as spiritual light, see 3636, 3643. But the celestial warmth and the spiritual light which proceed from the Lord as the Sun in the next life, include within them the good of love and the truth of faith, and so include wisdom and intelligence, 1521-1523, 1542, 1619-1632, 2776, 3138, 3190, 3195, 3222, 3223, 3339, 3485, 3636, 3643, 3862. For things which proceed from the Lord are living.

[17] From this one may see what the Divine Spiritual is; in what the spiritual kingdom and the celestial kingdom have their origins; and also that the spiritual kingdom is the good of faith, which good is charity, flowing in from the Lord directly, and also indirectly through the celestial kingdom. In the Word the Divine Spiritual which proceeds from the Lord is called the Spirit of truth, and is holy truth. The Divine Spiritual does not belong to any spirit but is the Lord's, who imparts it through a spirit sent by Him, as becomes clear from the Lord's own words in John,

When He the Spirit of truth comes He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak. He will also declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify Me, for He will receive from what is Mine and declare it to you. John 16:13-14.

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