163. Verse 22. Behold, I cast her into a bed, signifies that they are left to their natural man, and to the doctrine of falsities therein. This is evident from the signification of a "bed," as being the natural man, also the doctrine of falsities (of which presently). What now follows treats of those who suffer themselves to be seduced by those who are in the doctrine of falsities from the delight of the love of self and the world, who are meant by "Jezebel" (as was said above). Those who suffer themselves to be seduced are not like those who have falsified truths and adulterated goods from the delight of those loves; for such have seen truths and have applied them to favor their delights, and have thus perverted them, and afterwards these are unable to turn themselves to truths and acknowledge them. These are treated of in the preceding article n. 162. But those who have not done this, but have suffered themselves to be led away by those who have, have not so closed the internal or spiritual man with themselves; for they have not themselves falsified truths, but have put faith in those who have, because these falsities sound like truths. For these think no more deeply than that their leaders must be believed because they are intelligent and wise; thus they hang upon the lips of a master. There are many such at this day in Christendom, especially among those born in countries where the papal religion prevails. These are meant by those that commit adultery with Jezebel in a bed.

[2] "Bed" signifies the doctrine of falsities, and at the same time the natural man, because the doctrine of falsities has no other source than the natural man separated from the spiritual; and the natural man separated from the spiritual sees worldly things in light, but heavenly things in thick darkness; it sees falsity, therefore, in the place of truth, and evil in the place of good; moreover, if it sees truth it falsifies it, and if it sees good it adulterates it; for heaven flows into the natural or external man through the spiritual or internal man, and not immediately into the natural or external; into it the world flows immediately. And when the natural world with man is not governed by the spiritual world, the bond with heaven is broken; and when this is broken man makes the world his all, and heaven of little or no account; so also self as all, and God of little or no account. When the external or natural man is in such a state it is in falsities from the evils that spring forth out of the love of self and the world. As "bed," therefore, signifies the natural man, it also signifies the doctrine of falsities.

[3] "Bed" signifies the natural man, because the natural man underlies the spiritual, thus the spiritual lies on it and on the things that are in it as on its own bed. That "bed" signifies the natural man, also the doctrinals that are in it, can be seen from the passages in the word where "bed" is mentioned, as in the following. In Amos:

As the shepherd hath rescued out of the mouth of the lion two legs and a bit of an ear, so shall the sons of Israel be rescued that dwell in Samaria on the corner of a bed, and on the end of a couch (Amos 3:12).

"Lion" signifies the church, here those therein that destroy goods and truths; "legs and a bit of an ear" are the goods that are in the natural man, and something of perception of truth therefrom; "the sons of Israel that dwell in Samaria" are those of the church; "on the corner of the bed, and on the end of a couch," are those in a little natural light from the spiritual, and in some truths therefrom.

[4] In the same:

Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountains of Samaria; to them that lie upon the beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall; that devise for themselves instruments of song; that drink out of bowls of wine, and anoint themselves with the firstlings of the oils: but they are not grieved over the breach of Joseph (Amos 6:1, 4-6).

Those that the "trust in the mountains of Samaria" are those that trust in themselves, and from self-intelligence hatch out doctrines. "Samaria" is the perverted spiritual church; "beds of ivory" are fallacies of the senses on which doctrine is founded; "to stretch themselves upon couches" is to confirm and multiply the falsities therefrom; "to eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall, to drink out of bowls of wine and to anoint themselves with the firstlings of the oils," is to draw the truths and goods of the Word out of the sense of its letter and to apply and falsify them. "Not to be grieved over the breach of Joseph" is not to care that the spiritual church is perishing, and that its truths are being infringed upon. (That "Joseph" in the highest sense signifies the Lord in respect to the Divine spiritual; in the internal sense the Lord's spiritual kingdom, thus also the spiritual church; and in the external sense the fructification of good and multiplication of truth, see Arcana Coelestia 3969, 3971, 4669, 6417, 6526)

[5] In Moses:

May the blessings of thy father prevail above the blessings of my parents, may they be on the head of Joseph, and on the head of the bed ¹ of his brethren (Genesis 49:26).

"Joseph," as was said, is the Lord's spiritual church; "the head of the bed of his brethren" is the spiritual that flows into all the truths and goods of that church (for the twelve sons or tribes of Israel signify all the truths and goods of the church in the complex, see Arcana Coelestia 3858, 3926, 4060, 6335).

[6] In Luke:

I say unto you, In that night there shall be two [men] in one bed; one shall be taken, the other shall be left. There shall be two [women] grinding together; one shall be taken, the other shall be left. There shall be two [men] in the field; one shall be taken, the other shall be left (Luke 17:34-36).

This treats of the consummation of the age, which is the last time of the church when judgment takes place. To be "in one bed" is to be in the same doctrine of the church; "two [women] grinding" are those that collect and learn such things as are serviceable to faith; "two [men] in the field" are those in the church that apply goods and truths to themselves. (That "those who grind" are those who collect and learn such things as are serviceable to faith, see Arcana Coelestia 4335, 7780, 9995; that "field" means reception of truth and good, see n. 368, 3310, 9141, 9295)

[7] In John:

Jesus said to the sick man at the pool of Bethsaida, ² Arise, take up thy bed, and walk. And straightway the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked. Afterward Jesus findeth him, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing befall thee (John 5:8-12, 14).

And in Mark:

They uncovered the roof where Jesus was, and they let down ³ the bed whereon the sick of the palsy lay. Jesus said, Whether is easier to say, Thy sins are forgiven thee, or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed and walk? Then he said, Arise, take up thy bed, and walk and go unto thine house. And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all (Mark 2:4, 9, 11-12).

The Lord saying to these sick, "Arise, take up thy bed, and walk," signifies doctrine, and a life according thereto; "bed" signifies doctrine, and "to walk" life (that " walking" is living, see above, n.97[1-2]). "The sick man" signifies those that have transgressed and sinned; consequently the Lord said to the sick man at the pool of Bethsaida, "Behold, thou art made whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing befall thee;" and to the paralytic let down on a bed through the roof, "Whether it is easier to say, Thy sins are forgiven thee, or to say, Arise, take up thy bed, and walk?" Those who know nothing of the internal sense of the Word may believe that the words that the Lord spoke involve nothing more than what is obvious in the sense of the letter, when yet every particular of what the Lord spoke has a spiritual meaning, for He spoke from the Divine, and thus in the presence both of heaven and of the world (See Arcana Coelestia 2533, 4637, 4807, 9048, 9063, 9086, 10126, 10276).

[8] The bed of Og, the king of Bashan, is thus described in Moses:

Og, king of Bashan, remained of the remnants of the Rephaim; behold, his bed was a bed of iron; is it not in Rabbah of the sons of Ammon? Nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man (Deuteronomy 3:11).

The bed of Og is here described, because he was of the remnants of the Rephaim, and because he was king of Bashan; for by the "Rephaim," those were signified who were in the love of self above others, and therefore natural above all others, and from a persuasion of their eminence over others were in falsities of every kind (See Arcana Coelestia 581, 1268, 1270, 1271, 1673, 7686). And by "Bashan" the external of the church, thus the natural, was signified, for Bashan was outside the land of Canaan where the church was.

On this account the bed of Og is described, which would not have been described unless such things had been signified by "Og;" for whatsoever is mentioned in the Word, even in the historical Word, is significative as to every expression. From this it is that the Word is spiritual in each and every particular, and therefore Divine from inmosts to ultimates. On this account, also, it is said that the bed was "of iron," that it was "in Rabbah of the sons of Ammon," and that "nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man." For "iron" signifies what is natural (See below, n. 176; "Rabbah of Ammon" signifies the falsifications of truth (See Arcana Coelestia 2468); and "nine cubits the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it," signifies the conjunction of evil and falsity.

[9] From this it can be seen what the Word is in its bosom. Because "bed" signifies doctrine, it was among the statutes in the church with the sons of Israel:

That every bed whereon he that hath the issue lieth should be unclean; and that the man who touched his bed should wash his clothes, and bathe himself in waters (Leviticus 15:4-5).

"Having the issue" signifies those who are in natural love, separate from spiritual love; "washing the clothes, and bathing himself in waters," signifies purification by the truths of faith (See The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 202-209). Because "Jacob" in the Word signifies the external church, which is with those who are in natural light, and who live a moral life from the obedience of faith, though not from internal affection, when "Jacob" is spoken of there is in the spiritual world above on the right side, the appearance of a man lying in a bed; therefore in the Word it is said of him when he was dying:

When Jacob had made an end of charging his sons, he gathered up his feet upon his bed and expired (Genesis 49:33).

It is said "he gathered up his feet upon the bed," because "feet" also signify the natural (See Arcana Coelestia 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952).

Poznámky pod čarou:

3986. 'And Jehovah has blessed you since I set foot here' means resulting from the Divine endowment which the natural possessed. This is clear from the meaning of 'Jehovah blessing' as being endowed with good, dealt with in 3406, and as a joining together, 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565, 3584. 'Jehovah blessing' accordingly means being endowed with Divine good by means of a joining together, at this point a joining to the good of the natural represented by 'Jacob', the natural being meant by 'the foot'. As regards 'the foot' meaning the natural, see 2162, 3147, 3761; and this will be clear in addition from the correspondence of the Grand Man with every part of the human being, the subject in the sections at the ends of chapters. From this it is evident that 'Jehovah has blessed you since I set foot here' means originating in the Divine which the natural possessed.

[2] The arcanum which lies concealed in these words and in those immediately before them is known to few, if any, and is therefore to be revealed. The goods present with people both inside the Church and outside it vary in every case. They vary so much that no one person's good is ever exactly like another's. These variations arise out of the truths to which those goods are joined, for the nature of every type of good is received from truths, and truths derive their essential nature from goods. Such variations also arise out of the affections that belong to each person's love, and which become rooted in a person and are made his own through the life he leads. Few genuine truths exist even with someone inside the Church, and fewer still with one outside. Consequently affections for genuine truth seldom exist with anyone.

[3] All the same, people who lead good lives, that is, who live in love to God and in charity towards the neighbour, are saved. The reason they are able to be saved is that the Lord's Divine is present within good that stems from love to God and within good that stems from charity towards the neighbour. And when the Divine is inwardly present everything is being arranged into order so that it can be joined to genuine goods and genuine truths which exist in the heavens. The truth of this may be proven from the communities constituting heaven, which are countless. Every single community varies as regards good and truth, and yet all of them taken together form one complete heaven. They are like the members and organs of the human body which, though varying in every case, still constitute one complete human being. For no complete whole is ever made up of any identical or entirely similar individual parts, but of varying parts harmoniously joined together. Varying parts joined together harmoniously present a single whole. The same applies to goods and truths in the spiritual world. Although these vary so much as never to be exactly similar with one person as with another, nevertheless from the Divine through love and charity they make one since love and charity are spiritual conjunction. Their variation is a heavenly harmony which produces such accord that they are one in the Divine, that is, in the Lord.

[4] Furthermore, however much truths may vary, and however much affections for truth may do so, good that stems from love to God and good that stems from charity towards the neighbour are nevertheless capable of receiving genuine truth and good, as they are not so to speak hard and resistant but soft and yielding. They allow themselves to be led by the Lord and in so doing to be turned towards good, and through good to be turned towards Him. It is different with those in whom self-love and love of the world reign. They do not allow themselves to be led and turned by the Lord towards the Lord but strongly resist, since each wishes to be his own leader, even more so when they have become subject to false and firmly established assumptions. As long as they are such they do not allow the Divine to come in.

[5] These considerations now make clear what is meant in the internal sense by these words which Jacob addressed to Laban, for 'Laban' means the kind of good which is not genuine because it does not have genuine truths planted within it but is nevertheless capable of having these joined to it and of having the Divine present within it. This kind of good is what normally exists with young children before they have received genuine truths. It is also the kind of good present with simple people within the Church who know few truths of faith but who nevertheless lead a charitable life. It is in addition the kind of good present with upright gentiles who offer holy worship to their gods. By means of such good, genuine truths and goods are able to be introduced, as may be seen from what has been stated about young children and simple people inside the Church in 3690, and about upright gentiles outside the Church in 2598-2603.