4769. 'And killed a he-goat of the she-goats' means external truths received from delights. This is clear from the meaning of 'a he-goat of the she-goats' in the Word as natural truths, that is, truths belonging to the external man which give rise to the delights of life, and also as external truths received from delights, dealt with below. Truths belonging to the external man which give rise to the delights of life are Divine truths such as are present in the literal sense of the Word, which form the basis of the teachings of the genuine Church. These truths are meant strictly speaking by 'the he-goat', and the delights which spring from them are meant by 'the she-goats'. This being so, 'a he-goat of the she-goats' in the genuine sense means those who know truths of this kind and enjoy the delights that spring from them. But in the contrary sense 'a he-goat of the she-goats' means those who know external truths, that is, appearances of truth drawn from the sense of the letter which go along with their delights of life, such as things delighting the body, which are generally called pleasures, and those delighting the mind, which are generally called honours and gains. People of this kind are meant in the contrary sense by 'a he-goat of the she-goats'. In short, 'a he-goat of the she-goats' in this contrary sense means adherents to faith separated from charity, for these people take no other truths from the Word than those which are in agreement with their delights of life, that is, which accord with self-love and love of the world. And they reduce other truths to the same level by the use of interpretations, and in this way they present falsities as appearances of truth.

[2] This meaning of 'a he-goat of the she-goats' as adherents to faith separated from charity may be seen in Daniel,

Behold, a he-goat of the she-goats came from the west across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground; ¹ and this goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes. Out of one of the four horns there came forth one little hoary, and it grew exceedingly towards the south, and towards the east, and towards the glorious [land]. Indeed, it grew even towards the host of heaven, and cast down to the earth some of the host, and of the stars, and trampled on them; and it cast down truth to the earth. Daniel 8:5, 9-10, 12.

This refers to the state of the Church in general, not merely to the state of the Jewish Church but also to the state of the Church that followed it, the Christian one; for the Word of the Lord is all-embracing. When used in reference to the Jewish Church 'a he-goat of the she-goats' means those who considered internal truths to be worthless; but they did accept external truths, insofar as these were in accord with their loves, which were their desire to be the greatest and to be the wealthiest people. Consequently they did not think of their expected Christ or Messiah as anyone other than a king who would exalt them above all nations and peoples throughout the world and would make these subject to them as the meanest slaves. This was the level to which they reduced their love of Him. As for what love towards the neighbour was, they had no knowledge at all, except as being associated with others with whom they shared the exalted position referred to above and as enjoying material gain.

[3] But when used in reference to the Christian Church 'a he-goat of the she-goats' means those who possess external truths received from delights, that is, who adhere to faith separated from charity, for these people too have no interest at all in internal truths. If they do teach these it is solely so that they may thereby earn acclaim, be raised to exalted positions, and acquire material gains. These are the delights their hearts are set on when they utter truths with their lips. What is more, by wrong interpretations of the truths of genuine faith they make these accord with their own loves. From this one may see what the words in Daniel that are quoted above mean in the internal sense. The phrase 'a he-goat of the she-goats' means adherents to faith separated from charity. The he-goat 'came from the west' means coming from evil, for 'the west' means evil, see 3708. It came 'across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground' means coming into the whole Church, for 'earth' or 'land' in the Word means nothing else than the earth where the Church exists, and so means the Church, 566, 662, 1067, 1262, 1413, 1607, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 2928, 3355, 4435, 4447. 'The horns' it had means powers derived from falsity, 2832, 'a conspicuous horn between the eyes' meaning power derived from reasoning about the truths of faith, as becomes clear from what has been shown regarding the eye in 4403-4421, 4523-4534. 'The one horn which grew towards the south, the east, and the glorious [land]' means the expansion of power derived from faith separated from charity even into states lit by the light of heaven - states of goodness and truth; for 'the south' means a state of light, see 3708, 'the east' a state of goodness, 1250, 3249, 3708, 'the glorious [land]' a state of truth, as is clear from various places in the Word. 'It grew even towards the host of heaven, and cast down to the earth some of the host, and of the stars, and trampled on them' means that such a thing happened to cognitions of good and truth, for 'the hosts of heaven, and the stars' means cognitions of good and truth, 4697. From this one may see what is meant by 'it cast down truth to the earth', namely that faith itself was cast down, which in essence is charity; for faith looks to charity because it stems from it. That which in the Ancient Church was called truth is in the new one called faith, 4690.

[4] 'He-goat' is used with a similar meaning in Ezekiel,

Behold, I am judging between one member of the flock and another, between rams and he-goats. Is it a small thing to you? You feed off the good pasture and tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures; you drink the water that has settled down ² and stir up the rest with your feet. You butt with your horns all the weak [sheep] till you have scattered them abroad. Ezekiel 34:17-18, 21.

Here also 'he-goats' means adherents to faith separated from charity, that is, those who set doctrine above life and at length have no interest at all in life. Yet it is life that makes the human being, not doctrine separated from life; and it is life that remains after death, not doctrine except insofar as this teaches about life. Of these people it is said that they feed off the good pasture and tread down the rest of the pastures with their feet, and that they drink the water that has settled down and stir up the rest with their feet; also that with their horns they butt the weak [sheep] till they have scattered them.

[5] From this one may now see which persons are meant by 'the he-goats', and which by 'the sheep', that the Lord speaks of in Matthew,

Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the he-goats; and He will peace the sheep at His right hand, out the he-goats at the left, etc. Matthew 25:32-33.

The fact that 'the sheep' means those who have charity and therefore have the truths of faith, and that 'the he-goats' means those who do not have any charity even though they have the truths of faith - that is, they are adherents to faith separated from charity - is plain from each detail in this passage, where such people are described.

[6] Which ones are the adherents to faith separated from charity, meant by 'the he-goats', and what kind of people they are, may be seen from the following two places: In Matthew,

Every tree that does not make good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and by Your name cast out demons, and do many mighty works in Your name? But then I will confess to them, I do not know you; depart from Me, you workers of iniquity. Matthew 7:19-23.

And in Luke,

Then you will begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But He replying will say to you, I do not know where you are from. Then you will begin to say, We ate in Your presence and we drank; and You taught in our streets. But He will say, I tell you, I to not know where you come from; depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity. Luke 13:25-27.

These are the ones who adhere to faith separated from charity and are called 'the he-goats'. But what is meant by 'he-goats' in the good sense, such as the ones used in sacrifices and those mentioned in various places in the Prophets, will in the Lord's Divine mercy be stated elsewhere.

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8588. 'And Meribah' means the essential nature of the complaining. This is clear from the consideration that in the original language Meribah means contention or wrangling, and 'wrangling' means complaining, 8563, 8566; and since also names mean the essential nature of something, 8587, 'Meribah' here means the essential nature of the complaining. As regards the specific temptation here and the essential nature of it, it should be recognized that those people are being described here who in temptations almost give in; that is to say, they complain against heaven, also against the Divine Himself, and at length almost cease to believe in God's providence. These things are meant in the internal sense by what has gone before and also by what follows in the present verse; they are the essential nature of the state of the temptation, meant by 'Massah', and the essential nature of the complaining in the temptation, meant by 'Meribah'. The fact that the latter is meant here by 'Meribah' is evident in David,

You called on Me in distress, and I rescued you; I answered you in the hiding place. I tested you by the waters of Meribah. Psalms 81:7.

[2] But the internal historical sense, in which the religious condition of the Israelite nation is the subject, describes the nature of their attitude towards Jehovah. It was such that when they asked Him for aid they refused to plead for it, and instead demanded it. The reason for this was that when they saw miracles their acknowledgement of Jehovah as the Supreme Deity did not exist in their heart, only on their lips. The fact that there was no acknowledgement of Him in their heart is perfectly clear from the Egyptian calf which they made for themselves and worshipped, saying that these were their gods, and also from their frequent apostasy, regarding which see 8301. These are the matters that the internal historical sense describes here; but the internal spiritual sense describes the essential nature of the temptation when those undergoing it are brought to the final phase before their deliverance.

[3] The fact that the character of the Israelite nation and their religious condition are described by their contending with Moses at Massah and Meribah is also clear in David,

Do not harden your heart as in Meribah, as in the day of Massah, in the wilderness, where your fathers tempted Me; they tempted Me, and saw My work. For forty years I loathed [that] generation, and said, They are a people who err in their heart and have not known My ways, to whom I swore in My anger, They shall not enter My rest. Psalms 95:8-11.

In Moses,

You shall not tempt Jehovah your God, as you tempted [Him] in Massah. Deuteronomy 6:16.

In the same author,

Furthermore in Taberah and in Massah and in Kibroth Hattaavah, you were rebels against Jehovah from the day I knew you. Deuteronomy 9:22, 24.

In the same author,

Of Levi he said, Your Thummim and your Urim shall be for the Holy Man (Vir) whom you tempted in Massah; you contended with Him at the waters of Meribah. Deuteronomy 33:8-9

'The Holy Man' here stands for the Lord, whom they tempted, and whom

Moses and Aaron 'did not honour as holy'.

[4] In the internal historical sense, in which the religious condition of the

Israelite nation is the subject, Moses and Aaron do not represent God's truth, but the religious condition of that nation, whose leaders and heads they were, 7041. Since that religious condition was such as has been mentioned above, it was declared to the two that they would not lead the people into the land of Canaan. This is stated in the Book of Numbers as follows,

Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron, Because you did not believe in Me and honour Me as holy in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you will not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. These are the waters of Meribah, because the children of Israel contended with Jehovah. Numbers 20:12-13; 27:14.

And in the same book,

Aaron will be gathered to his people, and will not enter the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you rebelled against My word ¹ at the waters of Meribah. Numbers 20:24.

The like is said of Moses at Deuteronomy 32:49-51.

[5] Among that nation representative worship of God was nevertheless established because representative worship could have been established among any nation that thought the outward things of worship were holy and venerated them in a virtually idolatrous manner. For a representative has no regard to the person who represents, only to the reality represented, 1361; and that nation was by disposition such, more than any other nation, that outward things devoid of anything internal were altogether venerated by them as being holy and Divine. They were such that they revered their fathers - Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and later on Moses and David - as demi-gods. In addition they venerated as being holy and Divine, and worshipped, every piece of stone or wood dedicated to their worship of God, such as the Ark, the tables there, the lampstand, the altar, Aaron's vestments, the Urim and Thummim, and later on the temple. By means of outward things such as these at that time communication of the angels of heaven with mankind was in the Lord's providence made possible; for the Church, or a representative of the Church, must exist somewhere, in order that heaven may be in communication with the human race. And since that nation more than any other could make Divine worship consist in outward things, and so could act as a representative of the Church, that nation was the one to be adopted.

[6] The communication with angels in heaven by means of representatives was effected at that time in the following way. People's outward worship was conveyed to angelic spirits who are simple and give no thought to inward values, though they are themselves nevertheless good inwardly. Such spirits are those who in the Grand Man correspond to the skin. They pay no attention at all to what is in a person inwardly, only to what is visible outwardly; and if this is seen by them to be holy they think that what is inward is so too. The more internal angels of heaven saw in these spirits the realities that were being represented, consequently the corresponding heavenly and Divine values; for they could reside with these spirits and see those values, but not with men, except through those spirits. Angels dwell with men in their inward values; but when no inward values are there, they dwell in the interiors of simple spirits; for the wisdom of angels extends only to spiritual and celestial values, which are the inward realities of representatives. From this brief explanation one may recognize how communication with heaven through such a people could be made possible. But see what has been shown already on this matter:

Among the Jews the holiness of their worship was carried up outside themselves into heaven in a miraculous fashion, 4307. The descendants of Jacob were able to represent what was holy, irrespective of what they were really like, provided that the religious observances which had been commanded were carried out precisely, 3147, 3479, 3480, 3881 (end), 4208, 4281, 4288, 4289, 4293, 4307, 4444, 4500, 4680, 4825, 4844, 4847, 4899, 4912, 6304, 6306, 7048, 7051, 8301 (end).

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