10609. 'Also no flock or herd shall feed before this mountain' means that neither were they capable of receiving instruction concerning the interior and exterior good of the Church, worship, and the Word. This is clear from the meaning of 'flock' as interior good, and from the meaning of herd' as exterior good, both of which are dealt with in 5913, 6048, 8937; from the meaning of 'feeding' as receiving instruction, dealt with in 5201, 6277; and from the meaning of 'mountain', which at this point is Mount Horeb, as the external aspect of the Church, worship, and the Word, dealt with in 10543. From these meanings it is evident that those words mean that neither was this nation capable of receiving instruction concerning the interior and exterior good of the Church, worship, and the Word, since they stood outside and in no way within that external aspect of them. The reason why they were incapable of receiving instruction concerning it was that they were ruled by self-love and love of the world, and people ruled by those loves are totally incapable of knowing what celestial and spiritual good is, and so of knowing what the Church's good is, since this good, being Divine, is spiritual and celestial. If this good were described to them they would not begin to comprehend it, because the internal part of the mind, where perception of that good takes place, is in their case closed.

[2] That such things are meant by 'no flock or herd shall feed before the mountain' may seem to be strange to those who confine their attention to the historical meaning of the Word and think no further than this, that something involving that nation is meant by these words. Nor is anything other than this known by those unacquainted with the internal sense of the Word, in which flock or herd are not meant by 'flock or herd' but the interior and exterior good residing with a person. For what does the Word, which is Divine, have to do with a flock and herd, that is, with animals? Human beings, their worship, love, and faith, thus such things as compose the Church with them, is what the Divine Word has to do with.

[3] The fact that such things, not flock or herd, are meant by 'flock or herd' is clear from places in the Word where they are mentioned, as in David,

You have given Him dominion over the works of Your hands; and You have put all things under His feet, flocks and all herds, and also the beasts of the fields. Psalms 8:6-7.

This refers to the Lord and to His power over all things in heaven and on earth, 'flocks' and 'herds' meaning forms of good, interior and exterior, that exist with people, and 'beasts' people's affections. If those creatures did not have these meanings what would be the point of describing the Lord's power, which is Divine, as power over flocks, herds, and beasts? For the meaning of 'beasts' as human affections, see in the places referred to in 9280.

[4] In Joel,

The day of Jehovah is near, and as destruction from Shaddai will it come. The beasts groan, the droves of the herd are perplexed, because they have no pasture, even the droves of the flock are made desolate. Joel 1:15, 18.

Here also 'the beasts' stands for human affections, 'the droves of the herd and of the flock' standing for forms of good, interior and exterior. For these verses refer to the Lord's Coming, this being what is meant by 'the day of Jehovah'. They also refer to the Church at that time, to its having been laid waste, that is, to its not possessing the good of love any longer, nor the good of faith, these being what 'beasts', 'herds', and 'flocks' mean. If they did not mean those things what would be the point of saying that the beasts would groan on that day, the droves of the herd would be perplexed, and the droves of the flock would be made desolate? What would all this have to do with the Church? Their having no pasture at that time means that no truth is present in which they may receive instruction.

[5] In Jeremiah,

From our youth shame is devouring the work of our fathers - their flocks and their herds, and their sons and their daughters. Jeremiah 3:24.

Here also 'flocks' and 'herds' mean the Church's forms of good, which are those of love and faith, interior and exterior ones.

[6] In Isaiah,

I will bring forth seed from Jacob, and from Judah the heir of My mountains. Then Sharon will be the dwelling-place of the flock, and the Valley of Achor the place for the herd to lie down ¹ , for My people who have sought Me. Isaiah 65:9-10.

'Jacob' and 'Judah' here are not used to mean the people of Jacob and Judah but the external and internal celestial Church, 'Jacob' the external and 'Judah' the internal. The internal good of that Church is meant by 'the dwelling-place of the flock' and the external good by 'the place for the herd to lie down', 'Sharon' being the internal part [of that Church], where this good resides, and 'the Valley of Achor' the external part. The fact that 'Sharon' means the internal part of the celestial Church is clear from the places where Sharon is mentioned, as in Isaiah 33:9; 35:2; and the fact that 'the Valley of Achor' means the external part of that Church is clear in Hosea 2:15.

[7] In Hosea,

Israel, Ephraim, and Judah will go with their flocks and with their herds to seek Jehovah, and they will not find [Him]. Hosea 5:5, 6.

Here also 'flocks' and 'herds' mean the interior and exterior things with those who should be understood by 'Israel, Ephraim, and Judah'. If they did not mean those things what would be the point of saying that these three would go with their flocks and herds to seek Jehovah?

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2897. The Word in the Ancient Church after the Flood however was derived from these people meant by 'Enoch'. The member of this Church, being spiritual and not celestial, knew but did not see with perception what was embodied in representatives and meaningful signs. And because these embodied Divine things they held out a use to members of that Church and were employed by them in their Divine worship, to the end that they might have a communication with heaven; for, as has been stated, all things in the world represent and mean such things as exist in heaven. Also the Word which they had was a written Word, consisting of Historical Sections and Prophetical Parts, like the Old Testament Word. But in course of time that Word came to be lost. The historical sections were called The Wars of Jehovah, and the prophetical parts The Utterances, as is clear in Moses, Numbers 21:14, 27, where they are quoted. The historical sections of their Word were written in the prophetical style and were for the most part made-up historical narratives, like those in Chapters 1-11 of Genesis, as is evident from the quotations of those historical narratives in Moses, where the following words occur,

Therefore it is said in The Book of The Wars of Jehovah, Waheb in Suphah, and the streams of Arnon, and the descent of the streams which runs down to the dwelling at Ar and leans to the border of Moab. Numbers 21:14-15.

The prophetical parts of their Word were written in a style similar to the prophetical parts of the Old Testament, as is also evident from the quotation of these in Moses, where the following words occur,

Therefore The Utterances (or The Utterers of Prophecies) say, Come to Heshbon the city of Sihon shall be built and established. For fire went out of Heshbon flame out of the city of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab, the lords of the high places of Arnon. Woe to you, O Moab! You have perished, O people of Chemosh! He gave his sons as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity, to Sihon, king of the Amorites. But we shot at them; Heshbon has perished even to Dibon; and we have laid waste even to Nophah, which reaches even to Medebah. Numbers 21:27-30.

These prophetical utterances embody heavenly arcana in the same way as the prophetical parts of the Old Testament. This is quite evident not only from the fact that Moses copied them and applied them to the state of affairs prevailing in his own day, but also from the fact that almost the same words occur in Jeremiah. Included there among his prophetical sayings, they hold - as becomes clear from what has been stated about the internal sense of the Word - as many heavenly arcana within them as they consist of words. Those sayings as they occur in Jeremiah are as follows,

A fire has gone out of Heshbon, and a flame from between Sihon, and has devoured the corner of Moab and the crown of the head of the sons of tumult. Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished, for your sons have been taken away into captivity, and your daughters into captivity. Jeremiah 48:45-46.

From this also it is evident that that Word too possessed an internal sense. Regarding the Ancient Church after the Flood, see 640, 641, 765, 1238, 1327, 2385.