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.

Poznámky pod čarou:

8301. 'Who is like You among the gods, O Jehovah' means that every truth of good emanates from the Lord's Divine Human. This is clear from the meaning of 'gods' as truths, dealt with in 4402, 7268, 7873, at this point truths springing from good since comparison with Jehovah is made when it says, Who is like You among the gods, O Jehovah? 'Jehovah' in the Word means the Lord, see 1343, 1736, 2921, 3023, 3035, 5041, 5663, 6280, 6281, 6303, 6905, 6945, 6956; but at this point 'Jehovah' is used to mean the Divine Human because the theme of the song is the salvation of those belonging to the spiritual Church, accomplished through the Lord's Coming into the world, and by means of His Divine Human while He was in it, see 2661, 2716, 2833, 2834, 6372, 6854, 6914, 7035, 7091(end), 7828, 7932, 8018, 8054. The reason why the words used mean that every truth of good emanates from the Lord's Divine Human is that truths can emanate from anyone at all, but the truths of good can do so only from the Lord, consequently from those who are governed by good received from the Lord. Truths divorced from good are also contemplated and declared by those who possess faith that is mere persuasion and still lead a life of evil, as well as by many others within the Church. But those truths are not the truths of good, and so they do not emanate from the Lord but from such people themselves.

[2] The fact that truths springing from good emanate from the Lord may be recognized from the consideration that the Lord is Good itself because He is Love itself. Truth emanates from that Love just as light does from the flames of the sun. This truth is also like the light in springtime and summer, which holds warmth within itself and causes all things on the planet to come alive so to speak. But truth that does not flow from good is like the light in wintertime when all things on the planet die off. The reason why 'gods' are the truths of good is that 'gods' is used in the good sense to mean angels, who are called 'gods' because they are substances or forms receiving truth that has good from the Lord within it.

[3] Angels, and therefore the truths of good which emanate from the Lord, are also meant by 'gods' in the following places:

In David,

God places himself in the assembly of God in the midst of the gods will He judge. I said, You are gods and sons of the Most High, all of you. Psalms 82:1, 6.

Truths emanating from the Lord are what 'gods' is used to mean here. This is clear from the fact that the singular, 'in the assembly of God', is used first, and 'in the midst of the gods' afterwards. For 'God' is used in the Word where truth is referred to, see 2769, 2807, 2822, 3921, 4287, 4402, 7010; and in the highest sense 'God' is the Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, 7268.

In the same author,

I will confess You with my whole heart; before the gods I will make melody to You. Psalms 138:1.

In the same author,

There is none like You among the gods O Lord. Psalms 86:8.

In the same author,

A great God is Jehovah, and a great King above all gods. Psalms 95:3.

In the same author,

You, O Jehovah, are [high] above all the earth; You are exceedingly exalted above all gods. Psalms 97:9.

In the same author,

I know that Jehovah is great, and our Lord is above all gods. Psalms 135:5.

So it is too that Jehovah is called Lord of lords and God of gods in Deuteronomy 10:17; Joshua 22:22; Psalms 136:2.

[4] The reason why it is said so many times that Jehovah is above all gods and is God of gods is that at that time a large number of gods were worshipped. Nations were distinguished from one another according to the gods they worshipped, each nation believing that its god was the highest of all. As a result of this the idea of a large number of gods was rooted in everyone's mind, though there was disagreement over which one of them was the greatest, as becomes quite clear from many places in the historical narratives of the Word. That idea was rooted in the minds of the Jews more than others, and this explains why it says so many times in the Word that Jehovah was greater than all gods and that He was King and God of gods. The fact that this idea of a large number of gods was rooted in the minds of the Jews more than other nations becomes quite clear from their frequent apostasy, when they turned to the worship of other gods, many instances of which are recorded in the historical books of the Word, such as Judges 2:10, 13, 17, 19; 3:5-7; 8:27, 33; 10:6, 10, 13; 18:14, 17-18, 20, 24, 31; I Sam. 7:3-4; 8:8; 1 Kings 14:23-24; 16:31-33; 18:20ff; 21:26; 22:53; 2 Kings 16:1, 10ff; 17:7, 15-17; 21:3-7, 21; 23:4-5, 7-8, 10-13; and elsewhere.

[5] The mind of that nation was so unsound that with their lips they declared belief in Jehovah alone, yet in their heart acknowledged other gods. This becomes perfectly clear from the consideration that they saw so many miracles in Egypt, and in addition so many after that - the division of the sea before them and the drowning of Pharaoh's army, the pillar of cloud and fire constantly appearing, the manna raining down from heaven every day, and the actual presence of Jehovah with such great majesty and awe on Mount Sinai. And having seen such miracles they declared openly that Jehovah alone was God. Yet only weeks later, merely because Moses delayed [coming down from the mountain], they asked for molded gods which they could adore. And also after Aaron had made them those people attended them with divine worship through a feast, burnt offerings and sacrifices, and dancing. From this it becomes clear that the worship of many gods remained fixed in their hearts. The fact that this nation was like this, more than any other nation on the entire earth, is also clear in Jeremiah,

Has a nation changed its gods, and My people changed their glory for what does not profit? Be astonished, O heavens, over this, and shudder, be in great trepidation. According to the number of your cities have your gods been, O Judah. Jeremiah 2:11-12, 28.

[6] The character of that nation is also such that they adore external things, and so idols, more than all other nations do; they have no desire whatever to know about internal things. For they are the most avaricious of all nations; and avarice, which with them is such that gold or silver is loved for its own sake and not for the sake of any useful purpose, is an extremely earthly desire. It drags the mind down completely to a physical level and submerges it in it; and it closes interior levels to such an extent that no faith or love whatever from heaven can enter them. This shows how greatly mistaken those people are who believe that that nation will be chosen again, or that the Lord's Church will pass to them again after all others have been cast aside, when in fact you will convert stones to faith in the Lord before you convert them. This belief that the Church will pass to them is again due to many places in the prophetical parts of the Word which speak of their future return. But such people do not know that in those places Judah, Jacob, or Israel is not used to mean that nation, but those among whom the Church resides.