5836. 'It will be, when he sees that the boy is not there, that he will die' means that spiritual good will perish, that is, if the truth which is 'Benjamin' were to depart. This is clear from the representation of 'Israel' as spiritual good, dealt with previously, and from the meaning of 'dying' as ceasing to be what it once was, 494, and so perishing. As regards the perishing of good if its truth were to depart, see above in 5830, 5832, 5837.

5982. To enable man to be in freedom, the Lord places him in a position in which he is poised between evil and good, and between falsity and truth. He accomplishes this by means of evil spirits positioned on one side and angels on the other. For if he is to be saved a person must be in freedom, and in freedom be led away from evil and towards good. Whatever is not done by him in freedom does not remain because he does not make it his own. That freedom comes as a result of his being held poised between the two sides.