519. And the name of the star is called Wormwood. - That this signifies truth mingled with the falsity of evil, is evident from the signification of name, as denoting the quality of a state, and the quality of a thing; see above (n. 148); and from the signification of a star, here, of the great star burning as it were a lamp, as denoting the truth of the Word falsified by proprium-love; and from the signification of wormwood, as denoting truth mingled with the falsity of evil. Wormwood has this signification from its bitterness, and bitterness arises from the mixing of that which is sweet with that which is not sweet and opposite. Bitterness, therefore, such as that of wormwood and gall, denotes, in the spiritual sense, truth mingled with falsity which is the opposite of truth, and is the falsity of evil. For relish and taste signify the affection of knowing and becoming wise, hence that which is savoury signifies what is delightful and pleasant belonging to wisdom; and delicacies, because they are savoury, signify the truth of wisdom. That this is from correspondence, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 3502, 3536, 3589, 4791-4805). That wormwood, and also gall, from their bitterness, signify truth mingled with the falsity of evil, is evident also from that which follows in this verse; for it is said that "many men died of the waters because they were made bitter." This signifies that all such perished as to spiritual life, by means of truths falsified. For truths make the spiritual life of man, but falsities of evil extinguish it; and when truths are mingled with falsities of evil they are no longer truths, but truths falsified; and truths falsified are in themselves falsities. There were falsities of such a kind with the Jewish nation, while the falsities which existed amongst the upright Gentiles, were of another kind; the latter falsities are signified by vinegar, but the former, by gall and wine mingled with myrrh, in the Evangelists.

[2] And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, They gave Jesus vinegar to drink mingled with gall; but he would not drink. When they had crucified Him, "one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink" (Matthew 27: [33,] 34, 48; Mark 15:23, 36).

"After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now consummated, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar; and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, it is consummated" (John 19:28, 29).

Every circumstance related in the Evangelists concerning the passion of the Lord, signifies, in the spiritual sense, the state of the church at that time with respect to the Lord and the Word. For the Lord was the Word, because He was the Divine Truth; and as the Jews had treated the Word, or the Divine Truth, so they treated the Lord concerning which fact see above (n. 64, 195). Their giving to the Lord vinegar mingled with gall, which was also called wine mingled with myrrh, signified the quality of the Divine Truth from the Word with the Jewish nation, namely, that it was mingled with the falsity of evil, and thus altogether falsified and adulterated, therefore He would not drink it. But their afterwards giving to the Lord vinegar in a sponge, and placing hyssop about it, signified the quality of falsity among the upright Gentiles, which was falsity arising from ignorance of the truth, in which there was something good and useful; as this falsity is accepted by the Lord, He therefore drank that [which corresponded to it]. The hyssop which they placed about it, signified the purification thereof; the Lord's saying, "I thirst," signified Divine spiritual thirst, which is of Divine Truth and Good in the church, by which mankind are saved. Concerning the quality of the falsity of evil with the Jewish nation and that of the falsity of ignorance with the upright Gentiles, in which was good, see the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 21).

[3] The same is signified by gall and vinegar in David:

"They gave me gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. Let their table become a snare before them; and let their reward be a trap. Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake" (Psalm 69:21-23).

This is said concerning the Lord, and gall, vinegar, and thirst have a signification similar to that explained above. By their table becoming a snare before them, is signified error in regard to every truth of doctrine from the Word, for a table denotes all spiritual food, and spiritual food signifies every thing of doctrine from the Word. Their eyes being darkened that they should not see, signifies understanding of truth; their loins being made to shake, signifies the will of good, and its marriage, union with the understanding of truth; the same is also signified by loins in other parts of the Word.

[4] So in Lamentations:

"He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunk with wormwood; therefore I said, My victory hath perished, and my hope from Jehovah: Remember mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall" (3:15, 18, 19).

This passage also treats of the Lord. That the Lord found nothing but falsities and falsified truths in the church, which was at that time with the Jews, is signified by, "He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunk with wormwood." Wormwood denotes the falsity of evil mingled with truths, thus that which is falsified. The combat of the Lord with the hells, and His despair that the Jewish nation would ever be brought to receive and acknowledge truths, is signified by, my victory hath perished, and my hope from Jehovah: Remember mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. For spirits who are in the falsities of evil and yet in truths from the sense of the letter of the Word, make a somewhat long resistance before they are subdued, and cast down into hell. The reason of this is, that by means of truths they have communication with heaven, and this communication and resulting conjunction must be broken off, and taken away, before they are cast down; this involves despair concerning victory, such as the Lord suffered upon the cross, when He said, "I thirst," and they gave Him vinegar.

[5] In Jeremiah:

"Jehovah God hath cut us off, and given us water of gall to drink" (8:14).

And again:

"Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them waters of gall to drink. I will scatter them also among the nations; and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them" (9:15, 16).

And again, in the same prophet:

"Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink waters of gall; for from the prophets of Jerusalem hypocrisy hath gone forth into all the land" (23:15).

These things are also said concerning the Jewish nation, which, in a thousand ways, perverted the Word, falsified its truth, and adulterated its good. Wormwood signifies the evil of falsity, and waters of gall, the falsity of evil, both being mixed with the truths and goods of the Word. That they were of themselves, and from the heart, in evils and falsities thence, is signified by Jehovah feeding them with wormwood, and making them drink waters of gall; for evil and falsity are attributed to Jehovah, that is to the Lord, although they are of man himself; the reason of which has been shown above in various places. By the hypocrisy which is gone forth into all the land from the prophets of Jerusalem, is signified such mingling of falsity and truth, because they spoke truths and taught falsities. They spoke truths when [they spoke] from the Word, and taught falsities when [they taught] from themselves and their own doctrine. Their destruction by means of the evils of falsity and the falsities of evil, is signified by, I will scatter them among the nations, and I will send a sword after them. To scatter among the nations, denotes to destroy by means of the evils of falsity, and to send a sword after them denotes to destroy by means of the falsities of evil. That nations signify evils, may be seen above (n. 175:14, 331); and that sword signifies the combat of truth against falsity, and, the combat of falsity against truth, and its destruction, may also be seen above (n. 131, 367).

[6] So in Amos:

"Behold, Jehovah will smite the great house with sprinklings, and the little house with breaches. Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plough there with oxen? for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of justice into wormwood" (6:11, 12).

And in the same:

"They have turned judgment to wormwood, and thrust down justice to the earth" (5:7).

Jehovah will smite the great house with sprinklings, and the little house with breaches, signifies much perversion and falsification of truth among the learned, and some with the unlearned, a great house signifying a learned man, and a little house, an unlearned man; sprinklings denote truths destroyed by falsities, and breaches, the same, but in a less degree. That there is no understanding of truth, and will of good where the falsity of evil is, is signified by, "Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plough there with oxen?" Horses running denote the understanding of truth, and ploughing with oxen denotes the will of good. That this is the result of their falsifying the truths and adulterating the goods of the Word, is signified by the words, "for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of justice into wormwood;" judgment signifying the truth of the Word, and the fruit of justice the good thereof.

[7] That the sons of Jacob, who were called Israelites and Jews were of such a character, is plainly declared by Moses in his song, in which they are thus described:

"Of their vine the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter; their wine (vinum) is the venom of dragons, and the cruel gall of asps" (Deuteronomy 32:32, 33).

A vine signifies the church, which is said to be of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah, because Sodom signifies every kind of evil arising from the love of self, and Gomorrah all the falsities of those evils. Grapes signify the goods of the church, and clusters, the truths of the church. That instead of the goods of the church, they had evils and falsities of the worst kind mingled with truths, is signified by their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter. Wine (vinum) signifies the truth and good of faith; that this is external in which there is evil from the interior, is signified by their wine is the venom of dragons, and the cruel gall of asps. That the sons of Jacob were of such a nature and quality, although the church was with them, may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 248).

[8] That gall and wormwood signify evil and falsity mingled with good and truth, is still further evident from these words in Moses:

"Lest there should be among you, man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart looketh back this day from Jehovah our God, to go and serve the gods of the nations; lest there be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood" (Deuteronomy 29:18).

Here also, gall and wormwood signify the mingling of good and truth with evil and falsity, which is the case when other gods are worshipped with the heart, and Jehovah only with the lips; for then the external sounds like good, and appears like truth, but the internal is evil and falsity. And when the interiors are evils and falsities, and the exteriors goods and truths, then both are mingled together with the result that the good becomes gall, and the truth becomes wormwood. Similarly when man in his heart hates his neighbour, and denies the truths of the church, and yet outwardly shows charity towards his neighbour, and professes the truths of the church, then there is in him a root producing gall and wormwood, for the evils and falsities from the interior enter, and mingle with the goods and truths which he manifests in externals.

[9] So in Job:

"Though evil be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue; though he spare it, and forsake it not, but keep it still within his mouth; his bread in his bowels shall be changed, it is the gall of asps in the midst of him. He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly. He shall [suck] the venom of asps, the viper's tongue shall slay him" (20:12-16).

This is a description of the hypocrisy from which a man speaks things holy, and pretends to have good affections while inwardly he denies and blasphemes. His interior quality is described by his hiding evil under his tongue, and keeping it within his mouth; that consequently good is infected with evil, and cast out, is signified by "yet his bread in his bowels shall be changed, and the gall of asps in the midst of him," bread denoting the good of love, and in his bowels denoting interiorly, and the gall of asps, good mingled with evil. That similarly truth is cast out by falsity, is signified by he hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly. This falsity is meant by the gall of asps.

[10] It must be observed, that good and evil, and the truth of good and the falsity of evil are mingled together, when evil and falsity are in man's spirit, but good and truth in his bodily actions and speech. For that which is in man's spirit, that is, what is interior, acts into that which is of the body, or exterior; for it inflows and causes the exterior, which appears to be good and true, to be bitter like gall and wormwood, although apparently sweet before men. And because the good and truth of man's mouth and speech are of such a quality, therefore after death, when he becomes a spirit, the good is separated from the evil, and the falsity from truth, and good and truth being thus taken away, man's spirit becomes entirely his own evil and falsity. But it must be observed, that the mingling of good and evil, and of truth and falsity, is not the profanation of good and truth, for only those who have first received truth and good in their heart and faith, and afterwards in heart and faith deny them, are guilty of profanation.

2708. 'And dwelt in the wilderness' means that which is obscure comparatively. This is clear from the meaning of 'dwelling' as living, dealt with in 2451, and from the meaning of 'a wilderness' as that which possesses little life, dealt with in 1927, here as that which is obscure comparatively. By that which is obscure comparatively is meant the state of the spiritual Church in comparison with the state of the celestial Church, that is, the state of those who are spiritual in comparison with the state of those who are celestial. Those who are celestial are moved by the affection for good, those who are spiritual by the affection for truth. Those who are celestial possess perception, whereas those who are spiritual possess the dictate of conscience. To those who are celestial the Lord appears as a Sun, but to those who are spiritual as a Moon, 1521, 1530, 1531, 2495. The light which the former have - enabling them to see good and truth from the Lord with their eyes as well as to perceive it - is like the light of the sun in the daytime; but the light which the latter have from the Lord is like the light of the moon at night, and so, compared with those who are celestial, these dwell in obscurity. The reason for this is that those who are celestial dwell in love to the Lord, and so in the Lord's life itself, whereas those who are spiritual dwell in charity towards the neighbour and in faith, and so, it is true, in the Lord's life but in a rather more obscure way. All this explains why those who are celestial never reason about faith or the truths of faith, but because a perception of truth from good exists with them, simply say, 'That is so', whereas those who are spiritual talk and reason about the truths of faith because a conscience for what is good received from truth exists with them. A further reason for this difference is that with those who are celestial the good of love has been implanted in the will part of their minds, where man's chief life resides, but with those who are spiritual it has been implanted in the understanding part, where man's secondary life resides. This is the reason why, compared with the celestial, the spiritual dwell in obscurity, see 81, 202, 337, 765, 784, 895, 1114-1125, 1155, 1577, 1824, 2048, 2088, 2227, 2454, 2507. This comparative obscurity is here called 'a wilderness'.

[2] In the Word 'a wilderness' can mean that which is sparsely inhabited and cultivated, or it can mean that which is totally uninhabited and uncultivated, and so is used in two senses. When it means that which is sparsely inhabited and cultivated, that is, where there are few dwellings, and where there are sheepfolds, pastures, and waters, it means that thing or those persons who, compared with others, have little life and light, as is the case with that which is spiritual or those who are spiritual in comparison with that which is celestial or those who are celestial. When however it means that which is totally uninhabited and uncultivated, that is, where there are no dwellings, sheepfolds, pastures, and waters, it means those who have undergone vastation as regards good and desolation as regards truth.

[3] That 'a wilderness' can mean that which, compared with other places, is sparsely inhabited and cultivated, that is, where there are few dwellings, and where there are sheepfolds, pastures, and waters, is clear from the following places: In Isaiah,

Sing to Jehovah a new song, His praise from the end of the earth, those that go down to the sea, and the fullness of it, the islands and their inhabitants. The wilderness and its cities will lift up [their voice]; Kedar will inhabit the settlements, ¹ the inhabitants of the rock will sing, they will shout from the top of the mountains. Isaiah 42:10-11.

In Ezekiel,

I will make with them a covenant of peace and I will banish the evil wild animal from the land, and they will dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods, and I will give them and the places around My hill a blessing. The tree of the field will give its fruit, and the earth will give its increase. ² Ezekiel 34:25-27.

This refers to those who are spiritual. In Hosea,

I will bring her into the wilderness and will speak tenderly to her; and I will give her her vineyards from it. Hosea 2:14-15.

This refers to the desolation of truth and to the comfort that follows later.

[4] In David,

The folds of the wilderness drip, and the hills gird themselves with rejoicing; the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, and the valleys are covered over with grain. Psalms 65:12-13.

In Isaiah,

I will make the wilderness into a pool of water, and the parched land into streams of water. I will put in the wilderness the shittim-cedar, and the myrtle, and the oil tree. I will set in the wilderness the fir, that men may see and know, and may consider and understand together, for the hand of Jehovah has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it. Isaiah 41:18-20.

This refers to the regeneration of those who have no knowledge of the truth, that is, gentiles, and to the enlightenment and teaching of those who have experienced desolation. 'The wilderness' is used in reference to these. 'The cedar, the myrtle, and the oil tree' stands for the truths and goods of the interior man, 'fir' for those of the exterior man. In David,

Jehovah turns rivers into a wilderness, and streams of waters into dryness. He turns a wilderness into a pool of water, and parched land into streams of water. Psalms 107:33, 35

Here the meaning is similar. In Isaiah,

The wilderness and the dry land will be glad for them, and the lonely place will rejoice and blossom like the rose. It will bud prolifically. Waters will break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the lonely place. Isaiah 35:1-2, 6.

In the same prophet,

You will be like a watered garden and like a spring of waters whose waters do not fail; and those that be of you will build the wilderness of old. Isaiah 58:11-12.

In the same prophet,

Until the spirit is poured out on us from on high, and the wilderness will become Carmel, and Carmel counted as a forest. And judgement will dwell in the wilderness and righteousness on Carmel. Isaiah 32:15-16.

This refers to the spiritual Church which, though inhabited and cultivated, is, in comparison [with the celestial Church], called 'a wilderness', for it is said that 'judgement will dwell in the wilderness and righteousness on Carmel'. It is evident from the places just quoted that 'a wilderness' means an obscure state compared with other states not only because it is described as 'a wilderness' but also as 'a woodland'; and an obscure state is plainly the meaning in Jeremiah,

O generation, observe the word of Jehovah. Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of darkness? Jeremiah 2:31.

[5] That 'a wilderness' can mean that which is totally uninhabited and uncultivated, that is, where there are no dwellings, sheepfolds, pastures, and waters, and so can mean those who have experienced vastation as regards good and desolation as regards truth, is also clear from the Word. This kind of wilderness is used with two different meanings; that is to say, it may be used in reference to those who are subsequently reformed or in reference to those who are unable to be reformed. Regarding those who are subsequently reformed, such as Hagar and her son represent here, it is said in Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah, I have remembered you, the mercy of the days of your youth, your going after Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. Jeremiah 2:2.

This refers to Jerusalem, which in this case means the Ancient Church that was spiritual. In Moses,

The portion of Jehovah is His people, Jacob is the line of His inheritance. He found him in a wilderness land and in the waste, the howling, the lonely place. He encompassed him, led him to understand, and kept him as the pupil of His eye. Deuteronomy 32:9-10.

In David,

They wandered in the wilderness, in a desolate way; they did not find an inhabited city. Psalms 107:4.

This refers to those who have experienced desolation of truth and are being reformed. In Ezekiel,

I will bring you to the wilderness of the peoples and I will enter into judgement with you there, as I entered into judgement with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt. Ezekiel 20:35-36.

This likewise refers to the vastation and desolation of those who are being reformed.

[6] The travels and wanderings of the Israelites in the wilderness represented nothing else than the vastation and desolation prior to reformation of those who have faith. It consequently represented the temptation of them, for when people undergo spiritual temptations they experience vastation and desolation, as may also become clear from the following in Moses,

Jehovah carried you ³ along in the wilderness, as a man carries his son, in [all] the way [you went], until [you reached] this place. Deuteronomy 1:31.

And elsewhere in the same book,

You shall remember all the way in which Jehovah your God has led you forty years already in the wilderness to afflict you, to tempt you, and to know what is in your heart, whether you will keep His commandments or not. He afflicted you, caused you to hunger, caused you to eat manna which you do not know nor your fathers knew, so that you may recognize that man does not live by bread only but that man lives by all that goes out of the mouth of Jehovah. Deuteronomy 8:2-3.

And further on in the same chapter,

Do not forget that Jehovah led you in the great and terrible wilderness where there were serpents, fiery snakes, and scorpions, parched places where there was no water, and that He brought you water out of the rock of flint. He fed you in the wilderness with manna which your fathers did not know, that He might afflict you, tempt you, to do you good in the end. Deuteronomy 8:15-16.

Here 'wilderness' stands for the vastation and desolation such as people experience who undergo temptations. Their travels and wanderings in the wilderness for forty years describe every state of the Church militant - how when it is self-reliant it goes under but when it relies on the Lord it overcomes.

[7] The description in John of the woman who fled into the wilderness means nothing else than temptation experienced by the Church, referred to as follows,

The woman who brought forth the male child fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God. To the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly into the wilderness, into her own place. And the serpent poured water like a stream out of his mouth after the woman, to swallow her up in the river. But the earth helped the woman, for the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the stream which the dragon poured out of his mouth. Revelation 12:6, 14-16.

[8] That 'a wilderness' may be used in reference to a totally vastated Church and to people totally vastated as regards good and truth who are unable to be reformed may be seen in the following in Isaiah,

I will make the rivers a wilderness; their fish will stink for lack of water and will die of thirst; I will clothe the heavens with thick darkness. Isaiah 50:2-3.

In the same prophet,

The cities of Your holiness were a wilderness - Zion was a wilderness, Jerusalem lay waste. Isaiah 64:10,

In Jeremiah,

I looked, and behold, Carmel was a wilderness, and all its cities were destroyed from before Jehovah. Jeremiah 4:26.

In the same prophet,

Many shepherds have spoiled My vineyard, they have trampled down [My] portion, they have made the portion of My delight into a desolate wilderness. They have made it into a desolation; desolate, it has mourned over Me. The whole land has been made desolate, for nobody takes it to heart. On all the slopes in the wilderness those who lay waste have come. Jeremiah 12:10-12.

In Joel,

Fire has devoured the folds of the wilderness, and flame will burn up all the trees of the field. The streams of water have dried up, and fire has devoured the folds of the wilderness. Joel 1:19-20.

In Isaiah, He made the world like a wilderness and destroyed its cities. Isaiah 14:17.

This refers to Lucifer. In the same prophet,

The prophecy concerning the wilderness of the sea. Like storms in the south it comes from the wilderness, from a terrible land. Isaiah 21:1 and following verses.

'The wilderness of the sea' stands for truth that has been vastated by facts and by reasonings based on these.

[9] All these places show what is meant by the following reference to John the Baptist,

It was said by Isaiah, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare a way for the Lord, make His paths straight. Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4; John 1:23; Isaiah 40:3.

These words imply that at that time the Church was so totally vastated that no good and no truth remained any longer. This is quite evident from the fact that nobody at that time knew of the existence in man of anything internal, or of anything internal in the Word, so that nobody knew that the Messiah or Christ was coming to save them for ever. The places quoted above also show what is meant by the statement that John was in the wilderness until the time of his manifestation to Israel, Luke 1:80, that he preached in the wilderness of Judea, Matthew 3:1 and following verses, and that he baptized in the wilderness, Mark 1:4; for by this he also represented the state of the Church. From the meaning of 'a wilderness' it may also be seen why the Lord retired so often into the wilderness, as in Matthew 4:1; Matthew 15:32-end; Mark 1:12-13, 35, 45; 6:31-36; Luke 4:1; 5:16; 9:10 and following verses; John 11:54; and also from the meaning of 'a mountain' why the Lord retired into the mountains, as in Matthew 14:23; 15:29-31; 17:1 and following verses; 28:16-17; Mark 3:13-14; 6:46; 9:2-9; Luke 6:12-13; 9:28; John 6:15.

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