7679. 'And Jehovah brought an east wind' means an agent of destruction. This is clear from the meaning of 'an east wind' as an agent of destruction. 'An east wind' has this meaning because it was dry and turbulent, and because it therefore withered the produce of that land, and by its force shattered trees, and ships at sea. This is why that wind, acting as an agent [of destruction], describes the effect that Divine power can have. In addition 'the east' means the good of love and charity, for the Lord is meant by it in the highest sense, 101, 1250, 3708. Also, being Divine, the good of love and charity is in origin very gentle, and consequently is also such in its movements when it passes into heaven. But when it comes down into hell it becomes rough and fierce, because the inhabitants of hell make it so. Therefore the inflow and presence there of that Divine good not only torments them but also devastates them. This too explains why a wind from the east or 'an east wind' means an agent of destruction.

[2] The fact that this wind means an agent of destruction is evident from the places in which it is mentioned in the Word, as in Jeremiah,

Like an east wind I will scatter them before the enemy. Jeremiah 18:17.

In Ezekiel,

The vine that was planted, will it thrive? ¹ When the east wind strikes it, will it not wither completely?. Ezekiel 17:10.

In the same prophet,

That vine has been plucked up in anger, it has been cast down onto the ground, the east wind has dried its fruit. Ezekiel 19:12.

In Hosea,

He will be among his brothers a ferocious one; an east wind will come, Jehovah's wind rising up from the desert, and his spring mill become dry, and his fountain dried up. Hosea 13:15.

In David,

By an east wind You will shatter the ships of Tarshish. Psalms 48:7.

In Ezekiel,

They brought you down to many waters, those who despise you; the east wind broke you in the heart of the seas. Ezekiel 27:26.

From these places it is evident that 'an east wind' means an agent of destruction, because it was a dry wind and a turbulent one. It therefore also means an agent of devastation, as in Hosea,

Ephraim feeds the wind, and pursues the east wind. All the day long he multiplies lies and devastation. Hosea 12:1.

'Ephraim' stands for the Church's understanding, 5354, 6222, 6238. 'Feeding the wind' is multiplying lies, and 'pursuing the east wind' is multiplying devastation. A state of devastation and temptation is also called 'the day of the east wind' in Isaiah 27:7-8.

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6221. 'Behold, your father is sick' means the next stage towards regeneration. This is clear from the meaning of 'dying' as resurrection to life, and regeneration, dealt with in 3326, 3498, 3505, 4618, 4621, 6036; consequently 'being sick' prior to death means a movement towards regeneration, thus the next stage towards it. The meaning of 'dying' as regeneration and of 'being sick' as the next stage towards it is bound to seem too far-fetched to be believed; but the person who knows anything about the way angels think and speak will acknowledge the truth of it. Angels have no knowledge at all of death or of sickness and consequently form no mental image of them. Instead they form, when a person reads about sickness and death, an idea of the continuation of life, and an idea of resurrection. The reason they do this is that when a person dies he casts off solely what has served him for use in the world and enters into the life his spirit has led. This is the idea that comes to angels' minds when a person reads about 'dying' and 'being sick'. An idea of regeneration likewise comes to mind, since regeneration is resurrection to life. For at first the person was spiritually dead; but once he has been regenerated he is made alive and 'a son of the resurrection. ¹

[2] The person who, while living in the body, is desirous of heaven thinks of death and of sickness previous to it as nothing else than resurrection to life. For when he thinks about heaven he detaches himself from thought of the body, especially when he is sick and approaching death. From this it is evident that a spiritual idea of death of the body is an idea of newness of life. When therefore those in heaven refer to resurrection or regeneration, and this comes down and is channelled into the kinds of things that belong to the world, it cannot fall into any other kinds of images than these. This is how it is with the Word. Every single detail has come down from the Lord, passing through heaven and into the world. On the way down it assumes forms suited to the understanding of those in the three heavens, and at length assumes a form suited to man's understanding, which form is the literal sense.

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