918. Saying, Send thy sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripened, signifies that the collection and the separation of the good from the evil must take place, since there are no longer any truths of faith because there is no spiritual good, which is charity. This is evident from the signification of "sending the sharp sickle and gathering," as being to collect the good and to separate them from the evil (See above, n. 911). "To gather" has here the same signification as "to reap" above, but "to gather" has reference to clusters and grapes, and "to reap" has reference to the harvest; and both signify to devastate and make an end of the church, which is signified both by "harvest" and "vineyard;" and when the church is devastated, and thus brought to an end, the good are collected and separated from the evil. What is further signified by "gathering" will be seen in what follows. The above is evident also from the signification of "clusters," as being the goods of faith and their truths (of which presently). Also from the signification of "for her grapes are fully ripened," as being, because there are no longer any goods of charity, thus because the church is at its end. From all this it can be seen that "send thy sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripened," signifies that the collection and the separation of the good from the evil must take place, since there are no longer any goods or truths of faith because there is no spiritual good, which is charity. There are no truths of faith when there is no good of charity, because truth is not given without good, since truth derives its essence or its life from good; from which it follows that there are no truths and no faith in truths when there is no good or charity.

[2] What charity is, which is the same as spiritual good, shall be told briefly. Charity or spiritual good is to do good because it is true; thus it is to do truth, and to do truth is to do what the Lord has commanded in His Word. This shows that charity is spiritual good. And when a man does what is good because it is true, that is, does what is true, charity becomes moral good; and this is similar in external form to the good that every man who is a moral and civil man does at the present day, but with this difference, that genuine moral good is good from the spiritual good from which it proceeds. For spiritual good is from the Lord, but moral good is from man, consequently unless the good that man does is from the Lord, that is, through man from the Lord, it is not good, the end for the sake of which it is done determines its quality. Moral good separated from spiritual good has regard to man, his honor, gain, and pleasure, as the end for which it is done; while moral good from spiritual good has regard to the Lord, heaven, and eternal life, as its end. This has been said to make known why there is no truth of faith where there is no good of charity; consequently where these two are not, the church is laid waste, which is the subject treated of here and in what now follows in Revelation. (That there is no faith where there is no charity can be seen in the small work on The Last Judgment 33-39.)

[3] That "clusters" and "grapes" signify the good of charity can be seen from the passages in the Word where they are mentioned, as in the following. In Jeremiah:

In consuming I will consume them; there shall be no grapes on the vine, neither figs on the fig-tree, and the leaf shall fade; and I will give them to those who pass over them (Jeremiah 8:13).

"No grapes on the vine" signifies that there is no spiritual good with man; "no figs on the fig-tree" signifies that there is no natural good with him, "vine" and "fig-tree" signifying man as to the church, thus the church with him. But this can be seen explained above n. 403.

[4] In Isaiah:

My beloved had a vineyard in the horn of a son of oil, which he fenced, and gathered out the stones, and planted it with a noble vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also hewed out a wine-press in it; and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes (Isaiah 5:1, 2, 4).

The "vineyard" that the beloved had signifies the spiritual church which was instituted with the sons of Israel; "in the horn of a son of oil" signifies that it had truths from the good of charity; "which he fenced, and gathered out the stones," signifies that it was protected from falsities and evils; "he planted it with a noble vine" signifies that it had genuine truths; "he built a tower in the midst of it" signifies the interior things that receive influx, and through which there is communication with heaven; "he also hewed out a wine-press in it" signifies bringing forth truth from good; "and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes," signifies a hope of the fructification of truths from the good of charity, but in vain, because there was iniquity in the place of good.

[5] In Micah:

Woe is me, I am become as the gatherings of the summer, as the gleanings of the vintage; there is no cluster to eat; my soul desireth the first ripe fruit. The holy one has perished from the earth, and the upright one among men; all lie in wait for bloods (Micah 7:1, 2).

Grief because of the vastation of good and of truth therefrom in the church is meant and described by "Woe is me, I am become as the gatherings of the summer, as the gleanings of the vintage." That there is no longer any spiritual good or natural good from which the Lord is worshiped is signified by "there is no cluster to eat; my soul desireth the first ripe fruit;" that there is no longer any spiritual or natural truth is signified by "the holy one has perished, and the upright one among men;" that the truths and goods of the Word and thus of the church are destroyed by falsities and evils is signified by "all lie in wait for bloods."

[6] In Hosea:

I found Israel like grapes in the desert; I saw your fathers like the first ripe fruit on a fig-tree in its beginning (Hosea 9:10).

This is said of the Ancient Church, and its establishment. That church is here meant by "Israel;" its first state by "in the desert," and "in the beginning;" and the spiritual good with them by "grapes;" and the good springing from it in the natural man by "the first ripe fruit on the fig-tree."

[7] That the men of the Ancient Church, and not the sons of Jacob, are here meant by "Israel in the desert," and by "their fathers in the beginning," is evident in Moses:

Their vine was of the vine of Sodom and of the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes were grapes of gall, their clusters were of bitternesses (Deuteronomy 32:32).

Here the sons of Jacob, such as they were in the desert, are described. That their religion was infernal, because they worshiped the gods and idols of the nations, is signified by "their vine was of the vine of Sodom and of the fields of Gomorrah." That instead of the goods of charity they had hatred, and falsities breaking forth therefrom instead of truths, is signified by "their grapes were grapes of gall, their clusters were of bitternesses."

[8] In Moses:

He bindeth his foal to the vine, and the son of his she-ass unto the choice vine; he washeth his garment in wine, and his covering in the blood of grapes (Genesis 49:11).

This is in the last address of the father Israel to his sons; this was said to Judah, by whom is meant in the highest sense the Lord as to the celestial church and as to the Word; and the "blood of grapes" signifies the Divine truth from His Divine good, and in the relative sense the good of charity. (But this and the other things here said may be seen explained in Arcana Coelestia 6375-6379.) "The blood of grapes," like "wine," signifies also truth from spiritual good (Deuteronomy 32:14).

[9] The "grapes" signify the good of charity because a "vineyard" signifies the spiritual church, and "vine" the man of that church; and therefore "clusters" or "bunches," and "grapes," which are its fruits, signify the goods which make that church, which are called spiritual goods and also goods of charity. And as all truth is from good, as all wine is from grapes, so "wine" signifies in the Word truth from good. (On this signification of "wine" see above, n. 220, 376) But "clusters" or "bunches" signify strictly the variations of the state of spiritual good, or of the good of charity, because in them many grapes are connected together in order. What is meant by variations of the state of good will be told elsewhere.

[10] As "the land of Canaan" represented and thus signified the church, and the church is a church from spiritual good, for this is the mark of the church, therefore:

The explorers of that land brought back a cluster of grapes of a remarkable size, carried on a pole by two (Numbers 13:23, 24).

This was a representative sign of the church that was signified by "the land of Canaan." The church is a church from the good of charity because that good regarded in itself is the good of life arising from love to the Lord; consequently it is an effect of that love. The good of charity means justice, sincerity, and uprightness in every work and in every function from a love of justice, sincerity, and uprightness, which love is solely from the Lord.

[11] As it has not heretofore been known what was represented by the "Nazirite," and what was signified by his abstaining from grapes and from wine, and making the hair of his head to grow, it may be disclosed here. Of his abstinence from grapes and from wine it is said:

He shall abstain from wine and strong drink, he shall drink no vinegar of wine or vinegar of strong drink, yea, he shall not drink any maceration of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried; all the days of his Naziriteship he shall eat nothing that is made of the grape of the vine, from the kernels even to the skin (Numbers 6:3, 4).

This was the law for the Nazirite before he had fulfilled the days of his Naziriteship, because he then represented the Lord as to His first state. The Lord's first state, like that of every man, was a sensual state. For every man is first sensual, afterwards he becomes natural and rational, then spiritual, and finally, if the third degree is opened with him, he becomes celestial, like an angel of the third heaven. The sensual of man is signified by "the hair of the head" (See above, n. 66, 555). And as the sensual is the most external part of man's life, and in that all power resides, therefore the Nazirites had so great strength. That all power resides in the most external or ultimate things, consequently in the ultimate sense of the Word, which is the sense of the letter, and that this is what "hair" corresponds to and signifies, may be seen above (n. 346, 417, 567, 666, 726). Such power the Lord had when He was a boy, and by it He conquered and subjugated the most direful hells, where all are sensual. This state of the Lord was represented by "the days of fulfillment" with the Nazirites, and when these were fulfilled the Lord entered from the sensual and natural into the spiritual and celestial Divine. Now as that state, with its good and truth, is signified by "grapes" and "wine," it was not lawful for the Nazirite to eat grapes or to drink wine until he had fulfilled those days. That it was lawful for him afterwards is evident from the twentieth verse of that chapter, where it is said, "And after that the Nazirite may drink wine."

[12] At the end of the days of fulfillment:

He should shave his head, and put the hair of his head on the fire that was under the sacrifice of peace-offerings (Numbers 6:18).

This represented the sensual that was then new from the celestial Divine, for new hair grew afterwards upon the Nazirite. This also represented that the Lord from ultimate Divine truth, which is the sense of the letter, entered into interior Divine truth, which is the Word in the internal sense, even to its highest. For when the Lord was in the world He was the Word, because He was the Divine truth, and that more interiorly by degrees as He grew up, even to its highest, which is purely Divine and wholly above the perceptions of the angels. It is to be known that while the Lord was in the world, from infancy even to the last day there, He progressed successively to union with the Divine Itself that was in Him from conception. (On this successive progression see the Arcana Coelestia 1864, 2033, 2632, 3141, 4585, 7014, 10076.) This makes clear what was represented by the Nazirite not being allowed to eat anything from the grape, or to drink any kind of wine, until the days of his Naziriteship were fulfilled.

69. Verse 15. And His feet like unto burnished brass, as if glowing in a furnace, signifies the ultimate of Divine order, which is the natural, full of Divine love. This is evident from the signification of "feet," as being the natural (See Arcana Coelestia 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952); therefore, in reference to the Lord, as meaning the ultimate of Divine order, because that is the natural; also from the signification of "burnished brass," or brass polished, as being natural good (of which presently); and from the signification of "glowing," as being, in reference to the Lord, what is from Divine love (See n. 10055). It is said, "as if glowing in a furnace," in order that the Divine love in the greatest degree and in its fullness may be represented, for the Divine is in its fullness when it is in its ultimate, and the ultimate is the natural (See above, n. 66).

From this it is clear that by "His feet like unto burnished brass, as if glowing in a furnace," is signified the ultimate of Divine order, which is the natural, full of Divine love. These things, as well as the preceding, are described by comparisons; as that "His head and His hairs were white as white wool, as snow," and that "His feet were like unto burnished brass, as if glowing in a furnace;" but it is to be noted, that all comparisons in the Word are significative, for they are from correspondences in like manner as the things themselves (See Arcana Coelestia 3579, 4599, 8989).

[2] In reference to the Lord, "feet" signify the ultimate of Divine order, and this is the natural, because heaven is heaven from the Lord's Divine Human, and from this it is that heaven in the whole complex represents one man; and as there are three heavens, that the highest heaven represents the head, the middle heaven the body, and the lowest heaven the feet. The Divine that makes the highest heaven is called the celestial Divine, but the Divine that makes the middle heaven is called the spiritual Divine, and the Divine that makes the lowest heaven is called the natural Divine from the spiritual and celestial. This makes it evident why the Lord is here described in respect to His Divine Human, which is the Son of man seen in the midst of the lampstands, not only as regards His garments, but also as to His head, breast, and feet. (That the Son of man is the Lord as to His Divine Human, see above, n. 63; and that the "lampstands" are heaven, see n. 62, 63. But since these things are arcana hitherto unknown in the world, and yet must be understood in order that the internal sense of this and the following parts of this prophetical book may be comprehended, the particulars have been explained specifically in the work on Heaven and Hell; as

That the Divine Human of the Lord makes Heaven, n. 7-12, 78-86, seq.;

That on this account Heaven in the whole Complex represents one Man, n. 59-77;

That there are Three Heavens, and that the highest refers to the head, the middle to the body, and the lowest to the feet, n. Heaven and Hell 29-40.)

When this is understood it can be seen what is signified in the Word by "the feet of Jehovah" or "of the Lord," namely, the ultimate of Divine order, or the natural; and since the external of the church, of worship, and of the Word is the ultimate of Divine order in the church, and is the natural, this is specifically signified by "the feet of Jehovah" or "of the Lord."

[3] Because of this signification of "the feet of Jehovah" or "of the Lord," therefore when the Lord was seen as an Angel by the prophets elsewhere, He appeared in like manner.

Thus by Daniel:

I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz; His body was like the tarshish stone, and His eyes as lamps of fire, and His arms and His feet like the brightness of polished brass (Daniel 10:5-6).

In like manner the cherubs, by which is meant the Lord in respect to providence and protection (See Arcana Coelestia 9277, 9509, 9673), were seen by Ezekiel:

Their feet sparkled like the brightness of polished brass (Ezekiel 1:7).

The Lord was seen in like manner as an Angel as described further on in Revelation:

I saw an Angel coming down out of heaven, arrayed with a cloud, and a rainbow was about His head, and His face was as the sun, and His feet as pillars of fire (Revelation 10:1).

As the Lord appeared in this manner as to His feet, therefore under His feet there was seen by some of the sons of Israel:

As it were a work of sapphire stone, and as it were the substance of heaven for clearness (Exodus 24:10).

Their vision of the Lord was not as to the feet, but "under the feet," because they were not in, but under, the external of the church, of worship, and of the Word (See The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 248).

[4] Since "the feet of Jehovah" or "of the Lord" signify the ultimate of Divine order, and this specifically is the external of the church, of worship, and of the Word, therefore this external is called in the Word "His footstool," as in Isaiah:

The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; I will make the place of My feet honorable. And they shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet (Isaiah 60:13-14).

In the same:

Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool (Isaiah 66:1).

In Jeremiah:

God doth not remember His footstool in the day of anger (Lamentations 2:1).

In David:

Worship Jehovah at His footstool (Psalms 99:5).

We will go into His tabernacles; we will worship at His footstool (Psalms 132:7).

In Nahum:

Of Jehovah, the clouds are the dust of His feet (Nahum 1:3).

"Cloud" is the external of the Word, or the Word in respect to the letter (See above, n. 36). Because "cloud" is the external of the Word, it is also the external of the church and of worship; for the church and worship are from the Word. "Clouds" are called "dust of His feet," because those things that are in the sense of the letter of the Word, which is natural, appear scattered.