9325. 'None will suffer miscarriage or be barren in [your] land' means that forms of good and truths will develop in their proper order, in continuous progression. This is clear from the meaning of 'none will suffer miscarriage or be barren' as the progress of regeneration in its proper order, and therefore the development of forms of good and of truths in their proper order, in continuous progression, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'in the land' as in the Church. In the Word 'the land' or 'the earth' means the Church, see 566, 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1413, 1607, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 2571, 2928, 3355, 3368, 3379, 4447, 4535, 5577, 8011, 8732; and the reason why 'the land' means the Church is that it implies the land of Canaan, where the Church existed, indeed where it had existed since most ancient times, 3686, 4447, 4454, 4516, 4517, 5136, 6306, 6516, 8317. In the spiritual world furthermore, when a land is spoken of no one envisages a land but what the people and their religion in a land are like. Consequently when 'the land' is mentioned in the Word and it implies the land of Canaan, the Church is envisaged. All this goes to show what a new heaven and a new earth is used to mean in the prophetical parts of the Word, namely the internal Church and the external Church, 1850, 3355, 4535; for there are internal people and there are external people.

[2] The reason why 'none will suffer miscarriage or be barren in the land' means that forms of good and truths will develop in their proper order, in continuous progression, is that all things connected with childbirth are used in the internal sense of the Word to mean such things as are connected with spiritual birth, thus such as are connected with regeneration, 2584, 3860, 3868, 3905, 3915. The things connected with spiritual birth or regeneration are the truths of faith and forms of the good of charity; for through these a person is conceived and born anew. It is evident from a large number of places in the Word that such things are meant by 'births', and plainly so from the Lord's words to Nicodemus,

Jesus said to him, Truly, truly I say to you, Unless a person is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said, How can a person be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Truly, truly I say to you, Unless a person has been born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, but that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit. Nicodemus said, How can these things happen? Jesus answered, Are you a teacher in Israel, and do not know these things? John 3:3-6, 9-10.

'Being born through water and the Spirit' means being born again through the truths of faith and the good of love, see the places referred to in 9274.

[3] The origin of this meaning of 'births' in the Word lies in the correspondence of marriages on earth with the heavenly marriage, which is the marriage of goodness and truth. Regarding this correspondence, see 2727-2759. But scarcely anyone at the present day knows, and perhaps scarcely anyone is willing to recognize that truly conjugial love comes down from that marriage; for earthly and bodily things are before people's eyes, and those things have a dampening and smothering effect when they think about such correspondence. Furthermore, since that is the source of truly conjugial love, 'births' and 'generations' in the internal sense of the Word mean things connected with new birth and generation effected by the Lord. So it is also that father, mother, sons, daughters, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, grandsons, and many more who are the product of marriages, mean forms of good and truths, and derivations from them, dealt with many times in explanatory sections.

[4] From all this it now becomes clear that 'none will suffer miscarriage or be barren in the land' means that forms of good and truths will develop in their proper order, in continuous progression. The fact that 'one suffering miscarriage' and 'one who is barren' mean instances of miscarriage and barrenness in a spiritual sense, that is, the perversions of goodness and truth, and also the destruction and total rejections of them, is evident from the following places: In Hosea,

Ephraim, when I saw it reaching as far as Tyre, was planted in a beautiful [place]; and Ephraim must lead out its sons to the killer. Give them, O Jehovah, a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. On account of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of My house. Hosea 9:13-15.

Unless people know what it is that 'Ephraim', 'Tyre', 'the killer', 'sons', 'a miscarrying womb', and 'dry breasts' mean in the internal sense, they cannot have any knowledge at all of what those prophetic statements imply. 'Ephraim' is the Church's power of understanding, which is an understanding enlightened in regard to the truths and forms of the good of faith obtained from the Word, see 3969, 5354, 6222, 6234, 6238, 6267; 'Tyre' is the cognitions or knowledge of truth and good, 1201; and from this it is evident what 'Ephraim, when I saw it reaching as far as Tyre, was planted in a beautiful place' means. 'A killer' is one who deprives another of spiritual life, that is, the life provided by truth and good, 3607, 6767, 8902; 'sons' are the truths of faith, 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 2813, 3373, 3704, 4257; and from this it is evident what 'Ephraim must lead out its sons to the killer' means. 'Breasts' are affections for goodness and truth, 6432, so that 'dry breasts' are the absence of affections, and desires to pervert instead; and from this it is evident what 'a miscarrying womb' means, namely a perversion of goodness and truth. Things connected with spiritual life are clearly meant by all these words, for it says, 'On account of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of My house', 'out of Jehovah's house' meaning out of the Church and out of heaven, 2233, 2234, 3720, 5640.

[5] In Malachi,

I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that he does not ruin for you the fruit of the land, nor will the vine in the field miscarry for you. All the nations will declare you blessed, and you will be a land of delight. Malachi 3:11-12.

The prophecy that the vine in the field would not miscarry means that the truths and forms of the good of faith among those who are within the Church will develop in their proper order; for 'the vine' is the spiritual Church's truth and good, 1069, 6375, 6376, 9277, and 'the field' is the Church, 2971, 3766, 7502, 9139, 9295. 'A land of delight' is a Church pleasing to the Lord; for everyone within the Church who has been regenerated through truth and good is an embodiment of the Church. From this it is evident what it is that 'you will be a land of delight' means, 'a land' being the Church, see above.

[6] In Moses,

If you hear My judgements, to keep and do them, you will be blessed above every people; none will be unfruitful or barren among you, or among [your] beasts. Jehovah will take away all sickness from you, and all the evil diseases of Egypt. Deuteronomy 7:12, 14-15.

'None will be unfruitful or barren' stands for not being devoid of the life provided by truth and good; thus it is a promise that spiritually they will have life. Since 'barrenness' had such a meaning, women in the ancient Churches did not think of themselves as being alive if they were barren. This was so with Rachel, who spoke of herself to Jacob - see 3908 - in the following words,

Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob [any children]; and she said to Jacob, Give me sons; if you do not, I am dead. Genesis 30:1.

[7] 'The barren' also means those who are without good because they do not possess truths, yet have a desire for truths in order that they may be governed by good, as with upright nations outside the Church. An example of this meaning occurs in Isaiah,

Sing, O barren one that did not bear; resound with singing and cry out with joy, O one that has not been in travail, for the sons of her that is desolate will be more than the sons of her that was married. Isaiah 54:1.

In David,

Jehovah lifts one who is crushed out of the dust, He raises the needy one from the dunghill, to set him with the princes of His people. He causes the barren one of the house to dwell as a joyful mother of children. Psalms 113:7-9.

[8] In Hannah's prophetic utterance after she had given birth to Samuel,

The full have been hired out [for bread], and the hungry have ceased [to be hungry], till she who was barren has borne seven, while the one who has many children has become feeble. 1 Samuel 2:5.

In these places 'the barren' is used to mean gentile nations who are being summoned to the Church, and to whom the Church is transferred when the old Church has come to an end, that is, when those who formerly belonged to the Church no longer possess faith because they do not have any charity. This old Church is meant by 'the one who has many children has become feeble' and by 'her that was married', while the new one among gentile nations is meant by 'her that is barren and desolate who will have many more sons' and by 'the barren one of the house [who dwells as] a joyful mother of children'. 'Bearing seven' means being regenerated completely, for 'seven' in this prophetic utterance does not mean seven but to completion, 9228. From all this it is evident what the following words spoken by the Lord serve to mean,

The days will come in which they will say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that have not borne, and the breasts which have not nursed! Luke 23:29.

This refers to the close of the age, which is the final period of the Church.

[9] In the second Book of Kings,

The men of Jericho said to Elisha, Behold, the city's situation is good, but the water is bad and the land barren. Then Elisha told them to put salt in a new dish and to throw the salt from it into the source of the water. And the water was healed, and no more death or barrenness came from it. 2 Kings 2:19-21.

No one can know what this description holds within it except from the internal sense; for all the miracles described in the Word hold within them the kinds of things that happen within the Lord's kingdom, that is, within the Church, 7337, 7465, 8364, 9086. A person needs to know therefore what 'Elisha' represented, what 'the city of Jericho' meant, what 'bad water and barren land' meant, what 'a new dish and salt in it' meant, and also what 'the source of the water' into which they were to throw the salt meant. 'Elisha' represented the Lord in respect of the Word, see 2762. 'Water' means the truths of faith, 28, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, 6346, 7307, 8137, 8138, 8568, and therefore 'bad water' means truths devoid of good, while 'barren land' means the Church's good which as a consequence is not alive. 'A new dish' or new vessel means factual knowledge and cognitions of goodness and truth, 3068, 3079, 3316, 3318. 'Salt' means truth's desire for good, 9207. 'The source of the water' means the human natural which receives the cognitions or knowledge of truth and good and is improved by truth's desire for good.

[10] From all this it is evident what that miracle held within it, namely the improvement of the Church and its life by the Lord's Word and by truth's desire for good from there. The improvement is brought about when the human natural receives truths from the Word as a result of such a desire. The reason why the miracle took place at the city of Jericho was that this city was located not far from the Jordan, and 'the Jordan' means that with a member of the Church which first receives truths, which is the natural, 1585, 4255. The human natural is the first to receive truths from the Lord which are present in the Word, but it is regenerated last; and when it has been regenerated the whole person has been regenerated. This was meant by the Lord's words to Peter when He washed the disciples' feet,

Jesus said, He who has been washed has no need except to wash his feet, and the whole person is clean. John 13:10.

'The feet' are those things that belong to the human natural, and in general are the natural, see 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952, 5327, 5328. The natural or external man must be in agreement with the spiritual or internal man if a person is to be regenerated. Thus a person has not been regenerated until the natural has been, see 2850, 3167, 3286, 3321, 3470, 3493, 3508, 3509, 3518, 3573, 3576, 3579, 3620, 3623, 3671, 3882, 3969, 4353, 4588, 4612, 4618, 5168, 5326, 5373, 5651, 6299, 6454, 7442, 7443, 8742-8747, 9043, 9046, 9061.

2162. 'Wash your feet' means that they were to take on something natural so that during the state He was then passing through His perception might be improved. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'feet' as natural things, and also in a like manner from the train of thought. That arcana lie concealed here becomes clear to a certain extent from the fact that Abraham besought the three men to take a little water and wash their feet, and to relax under a tree, even though he knew that it was the Lord or Jehovah; also from the fact that if it was not so such details would not have been mentioned.

[2] That 'feet' means natural things becomes clear from the representatives in the next life, and consequently from representatives derived from these that existed among the most ancient people and so occur in the Word. Celestial and spiritual things are represented by 'the head' and the parts of the head; by 'the breast' and the parts of the breast are represented rational concepts and aspects of these; by 'the feet and the parts of the feet are represented natural things and the different kinds of these. Consequently 'the sole' and 'the heel' of the foot mean the lowest natural things, regarding which see 259, while 'a shoe' means the lowest things of all, which are filthy, regarding which see 1748.

[3] Similar things are meant by the representations in the dreams and visions in the Prophets, such as the statue seen by Nebuchadnezzar, the head of which was fine gold, the breast and arms were silver, the belly and thighs were bronze, the legs were iron, and the feet were partly iron and partly clay, Daniel 2:32-33. In this case 'the head' means celestial things, which are inmost and are 'gold', as shown in 113, 1551, 1552; 'the breast and arms' spiritual or rational things, which are 'silver', as shown in 1551; but 'the feet' means lower things, which are natural, the truths of which are meant by 'iron' and the goods by 'clay' or mud. As regards 'iron' meaning truth, see 425, 426, and 'clay' good, 1300, both of which in the present case are natural. These things come in the same order in the Lord's kingdom in heaven, and in the Church which is the Lord's kingdom on earth, and also in every individual who is a kingdom of the Lord.

[4] It is similar with the vision which Daniel himself saw, of which the following is said,

I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, a man clothed in linen whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz and whose body was like tarshish, ¹ and whose face was like the appearance of lightning, and whose eyes were like fiery torches, and whose arms and feet like the shine of burnished bronze. Daniel 10:5-6.

Specifically these words mean the interiors of the Word as to goods and truths. 'The arms and feet' are its interiors, which constitute the sense of the letter, for natural things occur there, since natural things are the source from which the exteriors of the Word are drawn. What further is meant by each of these parts, namely the loins, body, face, eyes, and many others in man, becomes clear from the representatives in the next life, which will in the Lord's Divine mercy be spoken of when the Grand Man - which is the Lord's heaven - and the representatives that originate in heaven but occur in the world of spirits are dealt with.

[5] That which one reads about Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders seeing the God of Israel, under whose feet there was so to speak a paved work of sapphire stone, like the substance of the sky for pureness, Exodus 24:9-10, means that they saw, represented in natural things, merely the external features of the Church, and also the literal sense of the Word, in which too, as has been stated, external things are represented by natural things. And these external things are 'the feet' under which there is so to speak 'a paved work of sapphire stone, like the substance of the sky itself'. It is clear that it was the Lord whom they saw, though only in those lower or natural things, since He is called 'the God of Israel', whom all things of the Church represented and whom all things of the Word in the internal sense meant. For the Lord is presented visually in accordance with the things that are meant at the time. When, for example, in John, He was seen as a Man on a white horse, the Word was in this case meant by Him, as is explicitly stated in Revelation 19:11, 13.

[6] The living creatures seen by Ezekiel, which were cherubs, are described as regards celestial and spiritual things by their faces and wings, and also many other things. But as regards natural things they are described as follows, by their feet, a straight foot, and the soles of their feet being like the sole of a calf's foot, and sparkling like the shine of burnished bronze, Ezekiel 1:7. The reason their feet, that is, natural things, are said to have sparkled like burnished bronze is that 'bronze' means natural good, dealt with in 425, 1551. It was similar when the Lord appeared to John as the Son of Man: His eyes were like a flame of fire and His feet were like burnished bronze, Revelation 1:14-15; 2:18.

[7] That 'feet' means natural things is further evident from the following places: In John, who saw,

A mighty angel coming down out of heaven, wrapped in a cloud, and a rainbow around his head, his face was like the sun and his feet like pillars of fire. In his hand he had a little book opened, and he set his right foot on the sea and his left on the land. Revelation 10:1-2.

This angel in a similar way means the Word. The nature of the Word in the internal sense is meant by 'the rainbow around his head' and by 'his face being like the sun'; but the external sense, or sense of the letter, is meant by his 'feet'. 'The sea' is natural truths, 'the land' natural goods, from which it is clear what is meant by his setting his right foot on the sea and his left on the land.

[8] Reference is made in various places in the Word to 'a footstool', but no one knows what is meant by this in the internal sense; as in Isaiah,

Jehovah said, The heavens are My throne and the earth My footstool. Where is this house which you are going to build for Me and where is this place of My rest? Isaiah 66:1.

'The heavens' means the celestial and spiritual things, and so the inmost things, both of the Lord's kingdom in heaven and of the Lord's kingdom on earth, which is the Church. Also meant by 'the heavens' are those same things as they exist with every individual who is a kingdom of the Lord or a Church. Thus 'the heavens' also means the celestial and spiritual things regarded in themselves which are matters of love and charity and of faith that springs from these, and so means all things that belong to internal worship and similarly all things that belong to the internal sense of the Word. These things are meant by 'the heavens' and are called 'the Lord's throne', but by 'the earth' are meant all lower things corresponding to those meant by 'the heavens'. By 'the earth' lower rational and natural things are meant, which from correspondence are likewise referred to as celestial and spiritual things, such as those that exist in the lower heavens and also in the Church, and those things which belong to external worship and also those present in the literal sense of the Word. In short, all things that stem from internal things and manifest themselves in external are, being natural things, called 'the earth' and 'the Lord's footstool'. What heaven and earth mean in the internal sense of the Word, see also 82, 1733. What the new heaven and new earth mean, see 2117, 2118 (end). And that man is a miniature heaven, see 911, 978, 1900.

[9] Similarly in Jeremiah,

In His anger the Lord covers the daughter of Zion with a cloud, He has cast down from heaven to earth the splendour of Israel, and has not remembered His footstool on the day of His anger. Lamentations 2:1.

Also in David,

Exalt Jehovah our God, and bow down at His footstool. Holy is He! Psalms 99:5.

Elsewhere in the same author,

We will enter His dwelling-places, we will bow down at His footstool. Psalms 132:7.

People in the representative Church - and thus the Jews - imagined that God's house and the temple were His footstool. They did not know that by the Lord's house and the temple was meant external representative worship. What the internal features of the Church were, meant by 'heaven' or God's throne, they had no knowledge at all.

[10] In the same author,

Jehovah said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand till I make your enemies a stool for your feet. Psalms 110:1; Matthew 22:44; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42-43.

Here 'footstool' in a similar way means natural things - both sensory impressions and factual knowledge, and man's rational ideas formed from these - which are called 'enemies' when worship is perverted by them (which is done from the literal sense of the Word). As a result worship exists solely in things that are external, and no internal worship - or rather only internal worship that is defiled - exists, concerning which see 1094, 1175, 1182. When these have became perverted and defiled in this manner they are called 'enemies'; but because, regarded in themselves, they have reference to internal worship, when this is restored, they become - both the things that belong to external worship and those that belong to the sense of the letter of the Word - 'a footstool', as stated already.

[11] In Isaiah,

The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the fir, the pine, and the box tree together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; and I will make the place of My feet glorious. Isaiah 60:13.

This refers to the Lord's kingdom and Church, the celestial-spiritual things of which are meant by 'the glory of Lebanon', that is, cedar trees, but the celestial-natural things of it by 'the fir, the pine, and the box', as also in other places in the Word. Thus it is the external aspects of worship that are referred to when it is said that 'I will make the place of My feet glorious'; and this cannot he made glorious by the fir, the pine, and the box, but by the things meant by these.

[12] That 'feet' means these things is also clear from the representatives in the Jewish Church, for example, by the requirement that Aaron and his sons were to wash their hands and feet before entering the tabernacle, Exodus 30:19-20; 40:31-32. No one is able to see that arcana were represented by this, for what is such washing of the hands and feet but some external act which does not do anything at all if the internal is not pure and clean? Nor can the internal be made pure and clean by such a washing. But because all the forms of ritual of that Church meant internal things that are celestial and spiritual, so it was with this form; that is to say, it meant the cleanliness of external worship, which is clean when internal worship is present within it. This explains why their lavers were made of bronze, and also the large laver which was called 'the bronze sea', together with the ten smaller ones made of bronze around Solomon's temple, 1 Kings 7:23, 38. They were made of bronze because 'bronze' represented good present in external worship, which is the same as natural good. Regarding this meaning of bronze, see 425, 1551.

[13] Similarly representative was the prohibition that no man among Aaron's descendants who had a broken foot or a broken hand should draw near to offer fire-offerings to Jehovah, Leviticus 21:19, 21. 'Broken feet and hands' represented those people whose external worship was perverted.

[14] That 'feet' means natural things is also evident from various other places in the Prophets, as in these prophetical utterances in Moses,

Blessed above sons be Asher; let him be acceptable among his brothers, and dipping his foot in oil. Your shoes will be iron and bronze. Deuteronomy 33:24-25.

These words will not be understood by anybody unless he knows what the meaning of oil, foot, iron, bronze, and shoe are in the internal sense. 'Foot' is the natural; 'shoe' the still lower natural, such as that which is connected with the senses and the body, see 1748; 'oil' is the celestial, 886; 'iron' natural truth, 425, 426; and 'bronze' natural good, 425, 1551. From these places it is evident what these words embody.

[15] In Nahum,

The way of Jehovah is in storm and tempest, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. Nahum 1:3.

Here 'the dust of the feet' means the natural and bodily things with man which give rise to clouds. The same is also meant by these words in David,

Jehovah bowed the heavens and came down, and thick darkness was under His feet. Psalms 18:9.

[16] When goods and truths of faith are perverted by natural light, as people call it, it is described in the Word as the feet and hoofs of a beast which trouble waters and trample on food, as in Ezekiel,

You have come forth into the rivers, and have troubled the waters with your feet and trampled their rivers. I will destroy all its beasts from over many waters, and the foot of man will not trouble them any longer, nor will the hoofs of beast. Ezekiel 32:2, 13.

This refers to Egypt, which meant forms of knowledge, as shown in 1164, 1165, 1462. Thus by 'feet and hoofs which trouble the rivers and water' are meant facts gained from sensory and from natural things, on the basis of which people reason about the arcana of faith and do not believe anything until they grasp it by this method. This amounts to not believing at all, for the more such people go on reasoning, the less believing they are; see what is said in 128-130, 215, 232, 233, 1072, 1385. From all these quotations it is now evident that 'feet' in the Word means natural things. But what further meaning 'feet' may have is evident from the context in which the expression occurs.

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