188. The fourth experience ¹ .

Since I have been allowed by the Lord to see the wonders in the heavens and in the regions below the heavens, my instructions impose on me the duty of relating what I have seen.

I saw a magnificent palace, and at its heart a church. In the middle of this was a table made of gold, on which was the Word, with two angels standing by it. Seats were arranged around it in three rows. The seats of the first row were covered in silk cloth of purple colour, those of the second row in silk cloth of blue colour, those of the third row in white cloth. Beneath the roof, high above the table, was to be seen a curtain drawn across, glittering with precious stones, from which shone a radiance resembling the rainbow to be seen when the sky clears after rain. Then suddenly there appeared clergy to the same number as the seats, all dressed in their priestly vestments. At one side was a strong-box guarded by an angel, in which lay splendid vestments arranged in beautiful order.

[2] It was a council summoned by the Lord; and I heard a voice from heaven saying: 'Debate.' 'But on what subject?' they said. They were told to debate about the Lord the Saviour and the Holy Spirit. When they began to think about these subjects, they had no enlightenment; so they prayed for it, and then light poured down from heaven, which first of all lit up the backs of their heads, then their temples, and finally their faces. Then they began, speaking first as instructed about the Lord the Saviour.

The first question proposed for discussion was: who was it that took upon himself human form in the Virgin Mary? The angel who stood by the table holding the Word read to them this passage from Luke:

The angel said to Mary, Behold, you will conceive in your womb, and will give birth to a son; and you are to call his name Jesus. He will be mighty, and will be called the Son of the Most High. And Mary said to the angel, How will this be, seeing I have no knowledge of a man? And the angel answered and said, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; hence what is born of you will be holy, and will be called the Son of god, Luke 1:31-32, 34-35.

He also read this passage in Matthew:

The angel said to Joseph in a dream, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your betrothed, for what is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And Joseph did not know her, until she had given birth to her first-born son; and he called his name Jesus, Matthew 1:20, 25.

In addition he read many passages from the Gospels (such as Matthew 3:17; 17:5; John 1:18; 3:16; 20:31), and many other passages where the Lord in His Human is called the Son of God, and where He from His Human calls Jehovah His Father, for instance, the passages in the Prophets which predict the coming of Jehovah Himself into the world. Among these were the following two from Isaiah:

On that day it will be said, Behold, He is our God, whom we have awaited to free us. He is Jehovah, whom we have awaited, let us exult and rejoice in His salvation, Isaiah 25:9.

The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of Jehovah, make smooth in the desert a path for our God. For the glory of Jehovah will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together. Behold, the Lord Jehovih comes in might, like a shepherd will He feed His flock, Isaiah 40:3, 5, 10-11.

[3] The angel said: 'Since Jehovah Himself came into the world and took upon Himself human form, [and by this means saved and redeemed man] ² therefore in the Prophets He is called the Saviour and the Redeemer.' Then he read to them the following passages:

Only among you is God, and there is no God besides. You surely are the hidden God, the God of Israel, the Saviour, Isaiah 45:14-15.

Am I not Jehovah, and there is no God besides me, there is no righteous God and Saviour beside me, Isaiah 45:21-22.

I am Jehovah, and there is no Saviour beside me, Isaiah 43:11.

I am Jehovah your God; and you are not to acknowledge any God beside me, and there is no Saviour beside me, Hosea 13:4.

That all flesh may know that I am Jehovah your Saviour and your Redeemer, Isaiah 49:26; 60:16.

As for our Redeemer, Jehovah Zebaoth is His name, Isaiah 47:4.

Their Redeemer, the mighty Jehovah Zebaoth is His name, Jeremiah 50:34.

Jehovah, my rock and my Redeemer, Psalms 19:14.

Thus spoke Jehovah your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am Jehovah your God, Isaiah 48:17; 43:3 ³ ; Isaiah 49:7; 54:8.

You are Jehovah our Father, our Redeemer from eternity is your name, Isaiah 63:16.

Thus spoke Jehovah your Redeemer, I am Jehovah the maker of everything, and I alone by myself, Isaiah 44:24.

Thus spoke Jehovah, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, Jehovah Zebaoth; I am the first and the last and there is no God beside me, Isaiah 44:6.

Jehovah Zebaoth is His name, and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He will be called God of all the earth, Isaiah 54:5.

Behold, the days will come, when I shall raise up for David a righteous shoot, who will reign as King; and this is His name, Jehovah our righteousness, Jeremiah 23:5-6; 33:15-16, On that day Jehovah will be King over all the earth; on that day Jehovah will be one, and His name one, Zechariah 14:9.

[4] Both sets of passages were accepted as proofs by those who sat on the seats, and they said with one accord that Jehovah Himself took upon Himself human form to redeem and save mankind. But then a voice spoke up from the Roman Catholics, who had hidden behind the altar, saying: 'How can Jehovah God become man? Is He not the Creator of the universe?' One of those sitting in the second row of seats turned round and said: 'Who did then?' The one who had been behind the altar stood up near it and replied: 'The Son from eternity.' But he received the reply: 'Is not the Son from eternity according to your creed also the Creator of the universe? And what is the Son but God born from eternity? How can the Divine essence, which is one and indivisible, be separated so that one part of it came down, and not the whole at once?'

[5] The second debate about the Lord was whether the Father and He are one, just as the soul and the body are one. They said that this followed because the soul is from the father. Then one of those sitting in the third row read the following words from the Creed known as Athanasian:

Although our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man, still there are not two, but one Christ; indeed He is utterly one. He is one person. For as the soul and body make up one man, so God and man is one Christ.

The reader said that the Creed containing these words is accepted throughout the Christian world, including the Roman Catholics.

'What need,' they said, 'is there to go on? God the Father and the Lord are one, just as soul and body are one. Since this is so, we see that the Lord's Human is Divine, because it is the Human of Jehovah; and the Lord is to be approached in His Divine Human, because this is the only possible way to approach the Divine called the Father.'

[6] This conclusion of theirs was confirmed by the angel citing many passages from the Word, including:

A child is born for us, a son is given to us, whose name is Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Hero, the everlasting Father, the Prince of peace, Isaiah 9:6.

Also:

Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, Jehovah, are our Father, our Redeemer from eternity is your name, Isaiah 63:16.

In John:

Jesus said, He who believes in me believes in Him who sent me, and he who sees me sees Him who sent me, John 12:44-45.

Philip said to Jesus, Show us the Father. Jesus said to him, He who has seen me has seen the Father. Why then do you say, Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? Believe me, I am in the Father and the Father is in me, John 14:8-11. Jesus said, I and the Father are one, John 10:30.

Also:

All things which the Father has are mine, and all of mine are the Father's, John 16:15; 17:10.

Finally:

Jesus said, I am the way, truth and life; no one comes to the Father except through me, John 14:6.

The reader went on to say that similar statements to those made here by the Lord about Himself and His Father can also be made by a man about himself and his soul. On hearing this all declared with one heart and voice that the Lord's Human is Divine, and this must be approached in order to approach the Father, because by means of the Human Jehovah God brought Himself into the world and made Himself visible to human eyes, and thus accessible. Likewise He made Himself visible and accessible to the ancients in human form, but at that time by means of an angel. But because this form represented the Lord who was to come, among the ancients everything that concerned the church was representative.

[7] This was followed by a debate about the Holy Spirit. To begin it the popular idea about God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit was presented, namely, that God the Father sits on high, the Son at His right hand, and they send out from themselves the Holy Spirit, to enlighten, teach, justify and sanctify men. But a voice was then heard from heaven, saying. 'We find this mode of thought intolerable. Surely everyone knows that Jehovah God is omnipresent. A person who knows and acknowledges this will also acknowledge that it is He who enlightens, teaches, justifies and sanctifies, and that there is no mediating God separate from Himself, much less from two other Gods, as one person is separate from another. You must therefore rid yourselves of the first idea, seeing it is meaningless, and accept this, which is correct, and then you will see this plainly.'

[8] But at this point a voice was heard from the Roman Catholics who were standing near the altar of the church, saying: 'What then is the Holy Spirit who is mentioned in the Word, in the Gospels and Paul, and by which so many of the learned clergy, especially ours, allege they are guided? Is there any Christian to-day who denies the existence of the Holy Spirit and His activity?' On hearing this one of those sitting in the second row turned round and said: 'You claim that the Holy Spirit is a person by Himself and God by Himself. But what is the meaning of a person going forth and proceeding from a person, if it is not the activity which goes forth and proceeds? One person cannot go forth and proceed from another, but his activity can. What is meant by God going forth and proceeding from God, if not the Divine which goes forth and proceeds? One God cannot go forth and proceed from another by means of a third; but the Divine can from a single God.'

[9] On hearing this the assembly in session reached the unanimous conclusion that the Holy Spirit is not a person by Himself, so not God by Himself either, but the Holy Divine which goes forth and proceeds from the one omnipresent God, who is the Lord. The angels who were standing by the golden table on which the Word was placed said to this: 'Good. Nowhere in the Old Testament do we read that the prophets spoke the Word from the Holy Spirit, but from Jehovah; and where the Holy Spirit is mentioned in the New Testament, the Divine which proceeds is meant. This is the Divine which enlightens, teaches, quickens, reforms and regenerates.'

[10] This was followed by another debate about the Holy Spirit: from whom does the Divine meant by the Holy Spirit proceed, from the Father, or from the Lord? While they were discussing this, a light shone on them from heaven which allowed them to see that the Holy Divine, meant by the Holy Spirit, does not proceed from the Father by means of the Lord, but from the Lord acted upon by the Father; as for comparison in man, his activity does not proceed from the soul by means of the body, but from the body acted upon by the soul.

This was confirmed by the angel standing at the table by these passages in the Word:

He whom the Father has sent speaks the words of God; not by measure does God give him the Spirit. The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand, John 3:34-35.

A shoot will come forth from the stock of Jesse; the Spirit of Jehovah will rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and intelligence, the spirit of counsel and power, Isaiah 11:1-2.

The Spirit of Jehovah was put upon him, and was in him, Isaiah 42:1; 59:19-20; 61:1; Luke 4:18.

When the Holy Spirit comes, whom I shall send you from the Father, John 15:26.

He will glorify me, because He will take from what is mine and communicate it to you. All things that the Father has are mine. That is why I have said that He will take from what is mine and communicate it to you, John 16:14-15.

If I go away, I will send the Comforter to you, John 16:7.

The Comforter is the Holy Spirit, John 14:26.

The Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified, John 7:39.

But after His glorification:

Jesus breathed upon the disciples and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit, John 20:22.

And in Revelation:

Who will not glorify your name, Lord, since you alone are holy? Revelation 15:4.

[11] Since the Holy Spirit means the Lord's Divine activity from His Divine omnipresence, so when He spoke to the disciples about the Holy Spirit, which He was to send from the Father, He also said:

I will not leave you bereft; I go away and come to you; and on that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I in you, John 14:18, 20, 28.

Shortly before He left the world, He said:

Behold, I am with you always up to the ending of the age, Matthew 28:20.

After reading these passages to them the angel said: 'It is plain from these and many other passages in the Word that the Divine called the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Lord acted upon by the Father.' Those in session replied: 'This is Divine truth.'

[12] Finally the following resolution was passed: 'We have seen clearly from the deliberations in this council, and thus acknowledge as a holy truth, that in the Lord God the Saviour Jesus Christ there is a Divine Trinity, consisting of the originating Divine called the Father, the Human Divine called the Son, and the Divine which proceeds called the Holy Spirit.' And they cried out together that in Christ all the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily (Colossians 2:9). 'Thus there is one God in the church.'

[13] When this magnificent council had reached these conclusions, its members rose; and the angel in charge came and brought from the strong-box for each of those who had taken part in the session splendid garments with here and there gold threads interwoven, and said: 'Accept these wedding garments.' Then they were taken in glory to the new Christian heaven, with which the Lord's church on earth, the New Jerusalem, is to be linked.

Poznámky pod čarou:

781. And his feet were as of a bear, signifies from natural things which are fallacies. This is evident from the signification of "feet," as being natural things (See above, n. 69, 600, 632, 666); also from the signification of a "bear," as being those who are in power from the natural sense of the Word, both the good and the evil (of which presently). The "feet" of the beast whose body was like a leopard's and whose feet were like a bear's signifies fallacies, because a "leopard" signifies reasonings which are discordant and yet appear to be coherent (See just above, n. 780, and so far as such reasonings are from the lowest natural, which is the sensual, they are fallacies, which are signified by "the feet of a bear."

[2] Beasts, both clean and unclean, are mentioned in many passages in the Word, and they signify various things pertaining either to heaven or to hell; clean and useful beasts signify such things as pertain to heaven, unclean and useless beasts such things as pertain to hell. But what pertaining to heaven or to hell is signified can be best known from representatives in the spiritual world, where also beasts appear, all of which are appearances representing such things as angels or spirits are thinking from their affections, inclinations, appetites, pleasures, and desires. These things are presented before their eyes in various forms, as gardens, forests, fields, plains, and also fountains; likewise palaces and houses, and chambers therein, in which are decorative and useful things; also tables are seen upon which are various kinds of food. They are also exhibited in the forms of animals of the earth, the flying things of heaven, and creeping things, in an infinite variety; not only in the forms of such animals and flying things as are upon our earth, but in forms composite from several forms, which nowhere exist on earth, many of which it has been granted me to see. When these appear, their spiritual origin and thus what they signify is at once known. But as soon as the spirit or angel ceases from his thought and meditation these animals and birds instantly vanish.

[3] That such things are seen in the spiritual world is clearly evident from like things seen by the prophets as that the Lord appeared like a Lamb; cherubs were seen with faces like a lion, an ox, and an eagle (described in Ezekiel); horses were seen going forth out of the book of life when the Lamb opened its seals, also a white horse, and also many white horses upon which those in heaven rode (in John); also white, bay, red, black, and grisled horses (in Zechariah); there was also seen a red dragon having many heads and horns; and now here was seen a beast like a leopard, with the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion; also another beast having two horns like a lamb, and afterwards a scarlet beast upon which sat a woman. Again, to Daniel four beasts coming up out of the sea appeared, the first of which appeared like a lion with wings of an eagle, the second like a bear, the third like a leopard which had four wings, and the fourth terrible. From this it is clear not only that such beasts appear in the spiritual world, but also that they are significative; and from this it can also be seen that all the beasts as well as all the birds mentioned in the Word are significative of such things as are represented by beasts in the spiritual world. But what is signified by "the bear" will be told in what follows.

[4] Before this is shown from the Word I will illustrate by some examples what is meant by the fallacies that are here signified by "the feet as of a bear." The many things that man reasons and forms conclusions about from the natural man without spiritual light, that is, without the light of the understanding enlightened by the Lord, are called fallacies, for the natural man takes the ideas of his thought from earthly, corporeal, and worldly things, which in themselves are material; and when a man's thought is not elevated above these he thinks materially about things spiritual; and material thought without spiritual light derives everything from the loves of the natural man and from their delights, which are contrary to heavenly loves and their delights. This is why conclusions and reasonings from the natural man alone and its delusive lumen are fallacies. But let this be illustrated by examples.

[5] It is a fallacy that cogitative faith saves, since man is such as his life is. It is a fallacy that cogitative faith is spiritual, since to love the Lord above all things and the neighbor as oneself is the spiritual itself, and to love is to will and do. It is a fallacy that faith can also be given in a moment, since man must be purified from evils and from falsities therefrom and be regenerated by the Lord, and this is a long-continued process, and only so far as man is purified and regenerated does he receive spiritual faith. It is a fallacy that man can receive faith and be saved at the hour of death whatever his life may have been, since a man's life remains and he is judged according to his deeds and works.

[6] It is a fallacy that little children also have faith through baptism, since faith must be acquired through the knowledges of truth and good, and by a life in accordance with them. It is a fallacy that through faith alone the church exists with man, since it is through the faith of charity that the church exists with him; and charity is of the life, and not of faith separated from the life. It is a fallacy that man is justified by faith alone, and that the merit of the Lord is thereby imputed to him when he is justified, and that afterwards nothing condemns him, since faith without the life of faith, which is charity, is like something that is said to be living but has no soul, which in itself is dead; for charity is the soul of faith, because it is its life; consequently man is not justified by a dead faith, much less is the merit of the Lord imputed and salvation effected by it; and where there is no salvation there is condemnation.

[7] It is a fallacy that in faith alone, there is love and charity, since love and charity are willing and doing, for what a man loves he not only thinks but also wills and does. It is a fallacy that where "doing" and "deeds" and "works" are mentioned in the Word to have faith is meant, because these are present in faith, since these are as distinct as thought and will are; for a man can think many things that he does not will, while what he wills he thinks when left alone to himself; and to will is to do. Moreover, the will and the thought therefrom are the man himself, and not the thought separate; and deeds and works are of the will and of the thought therefrom; while faith alone is of the thought separate from deeds and works, which are of the will.

[8] It is a fallacy that faith is to be separated from good works because man is unable to do good of himself, and if he does good he places merit in it, since man when he does good from the Word does not do it from himself but from the Lord, because the Lord is in the Word and is the Word; and man then does not do good of himself, when he does it as of himself and yet believes that he does it from the Lord, because from the Word; moreover, when a man believes that the good that he does is from the Lord he cannot place merit in the deeds. It is a fallacy that the understanding must be held bound under obedience to faith, and that faith seen by the understanding is not spiritual faith; when yet it is the understanding that is enlightened in the things of faith when the Word is read; and when enlightenment is excluded the understanding does not know whether a thing is true or false; and in that case faith does not become a man's own faith but the faith of another in him, and this is a historical faith, and when it is confirmed it becomes a persuasive faith, which can see falsities as truths and truths as falsities. This is the source of all heretical beliefs.

[9] It is a fallacy that the confidence that is called saving faith, accepted without understanding, is spiritual confidence, since confidence apart from understanding is a persuasion from another, or from confirmation by passages gathered up here and there from the Word, and applied by reasonings from the natural man to a false principle. Such confidence is a blind faith, which is merely natural because it does not see whether a thing is true or false. Moreover, all truth wishes to be seen because it belongs to the light of heaven; but truth that is not seen may be falsified in many ways; and falsified truth is falsity.

[10] Such are the fallacies that pertain merely to such faith as is separated from good works. There are yet many others that pertain not only to faith but also to good works, to charity, and to the neighbor, and especially to such conjunctions of these with faith as are skillfully adjusted by the learned. Such fallacies are signified by "the feet of a bear," because a "bear" signifies those, both the well-disposed and the evil, who have power from the natural sense of the Word. And as "feet" signify things natural, "the feet of the bear" signify the fallacies from which the sense of the letter of the Word is falsified by reasonings, and into which the appearances of truth of that sense are changed.

[11] That a "bear" signifies power from the natural sense of the Word, both with the well-disposed and with the evil, can be seen from the following passages. In the second book of Kings:

When Elisha went up to Bethel, as he was going up in the way there came forth boys out of the city and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up thou baldhead, go up thou baldhead. And he looked behind him and saw them, and cursed them in the name of Jehovah; and there came forth two she-bears out of the forest, and tare in pieces forty-two boys (2 Kings 2:23, 24).

Why the boys were cursed by Elisha and in consequence were torn by two bears because they called him "baldhead," cannot be known except by knowing what "Elisha" represented, and what a "baldhead" signifies, and what "bears" signify. This evidently was not done by Elisha from unrestrained anger and without just cause, for he could not have been so cruel merely because the little boys said, "Go up thou baldhead." This was indeed, an insult to the prophet, but not a sufficient reason for their being therefore torn to pieces by bears. But this was done because Elisha represented the Lord in respect to the Word, thus the Word that is from the Lord. "Baldhead" signified the Word deprived of the natural sense, which is the sense of its letter; and "bears out of the forest" signified power from the natural sense or sense of the letter of the Word, as has been said above; and these "boys" signified such as blaspheme the Word because its natural sense is such as it is; and "forty-two" signifies blasphemy. From this it is clear that this represented and thence signified the punishment for blaspheming the Word. For all the power and sanctity of the Word are gathered up and have their seat in the sense of its letter; for without this sense the Word could not exist, since without it the Word would be like a house without a foundation, which would be shaken by the wind, and thus be overthrown and fall to pieces. The Word would also be like a man without a skin, which surrounds and holds the enclosed viscera in their position and order. And as this is the signification of "baldness," and "Elisha" represented the Word, the boys were torn in pieces by bears which signifies the power from the natural sense of the Word, which is the sense of the letter, both with the well-disposed and with the evil. From this it is clear that the historical things of the Word, as well as its prophecies, contain a spiritual sense.

[12] The bear that David smote has a like signification; this is described in the first book of Samuel:

David said unto Saul, Thy servant was pasturing his father's flock, and there came a lion and a bear and took away a sheep from the flock; I went out after him and smote him; and when he arose against me I took hold of his beard and smote him and killed him. Thy servant smote both the lion and the bear. Therefore this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, because he hath reproached the ranks of the living God (1 Samuel 17:34-37).

Power was given to David to smite the lion and the bear that took away the sheep from the flock, because "David" represented the Lord in reference to Divine truth in which those who are of His church are instructed; and a "lion" signifies the power of spiritual Divine truth, and in the contrary sense, as here, the power of infernal falsity against Divine truth; while a "bear" signifies the power of natural Divine truth, and in the contrary sense the power of falsity against that truth. But "a sheep from the flock" signifies those who are of the Lord's church. And as this was represented, the power was given to David to smite the bear and the lion, to represent and signify the Lord's power to defend by His Divine truth His own in the church from the falsities of evil that are from hell. David's taking hold of the beard of the bear involves an arcanum that may be disclosed, indeed, but can scarcely be comprehended. The "beard" signifies the Divine truth in ultimates, in which its essential power rests. This truth also the evil who are in falsities carry indeed in the mouth but they misuse it to destroy; but when it is taken away they no longer have any power. This is why he killed the bear and smote the lion. But this will be further explained elsewhere. But "Goliath," who was a Philistine and was therefore called "uncircumcised," signifies such as are in truths without good; and truths without good are truths falsified, which in themselves are falsities. "The uncircumcised" signifies those who are in filthy corporeal loves; for the foreskin corresponds to those loves. From this it is clear what the victory of David over Goliath represented. From this it can be seen why:

David is compared by Hushai to a bear bereaved in the field (2 Samuel 17:8).

[13] In Daniel:

Another beast coming up out of the sea was like to a bear, and it raised itself upon its side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth; and they said unto it, Arise, devour much flesh (Daniel 7:5).

The four beasts coming up out of the sea depict the successive states of the church, even to its devastation, which is its end. This second beast, which was "like to a bear," signifies the falsification of the truth of the Word, the power of which still remains in the sense of the letter. The eagerness to falsify its goods is signified by "raising itself upon one side." The "three ribs in the mouth between the teeth" signify the knowledges of truth from the Word in abundance, which are perverted by reasonings from fallacies; and "to devour much flesh" signifies the destruction of good by falsities, and the appropriation of evil.

[14] In Hosea:

I am become to them as a lion, as a leopard will I watch over the way; I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved; and there I will devour as a huge lion; the wild beast of the field shall rend them (Hosea 3:7, 8).

The signification of the words, "I am become to them as a lion, as a leopard will I watch over the way," was explained in the preceding article. "To meet them as a bear that is bereaved" signifies the falsification of the sense of the letter of the Word; "to devour as a huge lion" signifies the destruction and devastation of every truth of the Word, and thence of the church; "the wild beast of the field shall rend them" signifies that they will be destroyed by the falsities from evil.

[15] In Lamentations:

Although I cry out and shout he shutteth out my prayers, he hath hedged about my ways with hewn stone, he hath overturned my footpaths; a bear lying in wait for me, a lion in secret places, he hath perverted my ways, he hath made me desolate (Lamentations 3:8-11).

This is a lamentation from God respecting the desolation of truth in the church; and that they cannot be heard by reason of falsities is signified by "Although I cry out and shout he shutteth out my prayers." That falsities from self-intelligence turn away and reject the influx of truth is signified by "he hath hedged about my ways with hewn stone, he hath overturned my footpaths;" God's "ways and footpaths" signifying truths leading to good, and "hewn stone" what belongs to self-intelligence. Because this was the signification of "hewn stone" it was forbidden to build an altar of hewn stones, and likewise the temple at Jerusalem. "A bear lying in wait for me" signifies the natural man perverting the sense of the letter of the Word; "a lion in secret places" signifies the interior natural man from the evils in him perverting every sense of the truth of the Word and thence of the church, which is the source of falsities; "he hath perverted my ways, he hath made me desolate," signifies the devastation of the truth of the church.

[16] In Amos:

Woe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah. What to you is the day of Jehovah? It is a day of darkness and not of light; as one who fleeth from a lion and meeteth a bear, or who cometh to a house and leaneth with his hand upon the wall and a serpent biteth him (Amos 5:18, 19).

"The day of Jehovah" means the coming of the Lord, who is the Messiah whom they expected; and as they believed that He would deliver them from the enemies of the land, and would exalt them in glory above all the nations, they desired Him. But as the Lord came into the world not for the sake of any kingdom on earth but for the sake of a kingdom in heaven, and as the Jewish nation was in the falsities of evil, and these were at that time manifested, it is said, "Woe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah. What to you is the day of Jehovah? It is a day of darkness and not of light," "darkness and not light" meaning the falsities in which they were; "as one who fleeth from a lion meeteth a bear" signifies fear because of the dominion of falsity when truths are sought from the sense of the letter of the Word, which they cannot but falsify; for one is said "to flee from a lion and to meet a bear" when he is interiorly in falsity from evil, and is led to investigate truths from the sense of the letter of the Word, which he then, because of the interior dominion of falsity from evil, cannot but pervert; "who cometh to a house and leaneth with his hand upon a wall and a serpent biteth him" signifies that when such a man in seeking goods consults the Word from the sense of the letter he does not see that evils pervert it; "the bite of a serpent" signifying falsification, here the falsification that arises from the interior dominion of falsity from evil.

[17] In Isaiah:

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard with the kid; the calf shall lie down, and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little boy shall lead them; and the heifer and the bear shall feed, and their young ones shall lie down together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox (Isaiah 11:6, 7).

The signification of "the wolf dwelling with [the lamb, and the leopard with] the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling lying down together, and a little boy leading them," has been explained in the preceding article. "The heifer and the bear shall feed, and their young ones shall lie down together," signifies the power and eagerness of the natural man to falsify the truths of the Word, and that these shall do no harm to the good of the natural man and its affection, "heifer" meaning the affection for good and truth of the natural man, and "bear" the power and eagerness of the natural man to falsify the truths of the sense of the letter of the Word; "the lion shall eat straw like an ox" signifies that infernal falsity burning to destroy the truths of the church shall do no harm to the affection of good of the natural man, either as to the individual man in himself or as to men in relation to one another, nor shall it do harm to the Word, "straw" signifying the Word in the letter which is perverted by infernal falsity, but cannot be perverted by those who are in truths from good.

[18] In the same:

We grope for the wall as the blind, and we grope as they that have no eyes, we stumble in the noonday as in the twilight; among the living we are as dead; we growl like bears, and moaning we moan like doves; we wait for judgment but there is none, for salvation but it is far from us; for our transgressions before Thee are multiplied, and our sins answer against us (Isaiah 59:10-12).

"We grope for the wall as the blind, and we grope as they that have no eyes," signifies that there is no understanding of truth; "we stumble in the noonday as in the twilight" signifies a falling into errors, although they are in the church where the Word is, by which they might come into the light of truth; "among the living we are as dead," signifies that they might be in spiritual life through the Word, and yet are not, because they are in falsities; "we growl like bears, and moaning we moan like doves," signifies the grief of the natural man, and the grief of the spiritual man therefrom; "we wait for judgment but there is none, for salvation but it is far from us," signifies a hope for the enlightenment of the understanding, and consequent salvation, but in vain; "our transgressions before ¹ Thee are multiplied, and our sins answer against us," signifies by reason of falsities from evil.

[19] From this it can now be seen that a "bear" signifies the natural man in respect to its power from the sense of the letter of the Word, in both senses, also in respect to the eagerness to falsify that sense. That this is what a "bear" signifies has been made evident to me by the bears seen in the spiritual world, in whose form the thoughts of those were represented who had been natural, and had studied the Word, and had wished to prevail by means of knowledge therefrom. Bears were also seen that had ribs between their teeth, like the bear described in the passage cited above from Daniel; and it was given to understand that the ribs represented the knowledges that they had drawn from the Word while in the world. White bears also appear there, which represent the power of the spiritual-natural man through the Word. Furthermore, composite beasts appear there of bears, panthers, wolves, and oxen, also the same furnished with wings, which are all significative of persons of such character when they are passing along in meditation.

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