918. Saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the vintage of the clusters of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. That this signifies that the collecting and separation of the good from the evil may take place, because there are no longer any truths of faith, since there is no spiritual good, which is charity, is evident from the signification of thrusting in the sharp sickle and gathering the vintage, as denoting to collect the good and to separate them from the evil (concerning which see above, n. 911). The same is here signified by gathering the vintage as above by reaping. But gathering the vintage is spoken of, because it relates to clusters and grapes; and reaping is spoken of because it relates to the harvest; and by each is signified to devastate and make an end of the church, which is signified both by the harvest and vintage. And when the church is devastated, and thereby brought to its end, then the good are collected and separated from the evil. What is further signified by gathering the vintage, will be seen in what follows; and from the signification of clusters, as denoting the goods of faith and the truths therefrom, of which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of, for her grapes are fully ripe, as denoting, because there are no longer any goods of charity, thus because it is the end of the church. From these things it is evident that by, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vintage of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe, is signified that the collecting and separation of the good from the evil may take place, because there are no longer any goods and truths of faith, since there is no spiritual good, which is charity. The reason why there are no truths of faith is that there is no good of charity, and that truth is not possible without good; for truth derives its essence or its life from good. Whence it follows that truths and the faith thereof have no existence, if there is no good or charity.

[2] What charity is, which is the same as spiritual good, shall be briefly explained. Charity, or spiritual good, consists in doing good because it is truth; that is, it is to do truth. And to do truth is to do those things which the Lord has commanded in His Word. It is evident, therefore, that charity is spiritual good. And when a man does good because it is truth, or does truth, then charity becomes moral good, which, in the external form, is like the good that is done at this day with every man who is a moral and civil man. But there is 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. Therefore, unless the good from man is from the Lord, that is, through man from the Lord, it is not good. The end for the sake of which [a thing is done], declares its quality. Moral good separated from spiritual good, regards man, his honour, profit, and pleasure, as the end for which it is done. But moral good from spiritual good has regard to the Lord, heaven, and eternal life, as the end. These things are said, in order that it may be known, why it is that there is no truth of faith where there is no good of charity; consequently, that where these two do not exist, the church is devastated; this is the subject treated of here and in what now follows in the Apocalypse. That there is no faith where there is no charity, may be seen also in the small work concerning the Last Judgment 33-39).

[3] That clusters and grapes signify the good of charity, is evident from the passages in the Word where they are mentioned, as in the following.

In Jeremiah:

"Consuming I will consume them; there shall be no grapes on the vine, neither figs on the fig-tree, and the leaf shall fall off; and I will give them to those who pass by over them" (8:13).

No grapes on the vine, signifies that there is no spiritual good in man. No figs on the fig-tree, signifies that there is no natural good in him. The vine and the fig-tree signify man as to the church, thus the church with him. But these may be seen further explained above (n. 403).

[4] In Isaiah:

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

By the vineyard of the beloved, is signified the spiritual church, which was instituted with the sons of Israel. In the horn of a son of oil, signifies, which had truths from the good of charity. Which he fenced about, and gathered out the stones, signifies the guarding it from falsities and evils. He planted it with a noble vine, signifies that it was gifted with genuine truths. He built a tower in the midst of it, signifies the interior things, which receive influx, and by which there is communication with heaven. Also he hewed out a wine-press in it, signifies the production of truth from good. And he waited for it to bring forth grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes, signifies the hope of the fructification of those things 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; not a cluster to eat; my soul desireth the first-fruits. The holy one has perished from the earth, and the upright one amongst men; all lie in wait for bloods" (7:1, 2).

Grief because of the vastation of good and the 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, nor natural good, from which the Lord is worshipped, is signified by, there is no cluster to eat, my soul desireth the first-fruits. That there is no longer spiritual or natural truth, is signified by the holy one has perished, and the upright one amongst men. That the truths and goods of the Word, and thence 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 wilderness: as the first-fruit on the fig-tree in the beginning. I saw your fathers" (9:10).

These things are said concerning the Ancient Church, and its establishment. That church is here meant by Israel; its first state by, in the wilderness, and in the beginning; and the spiritual good with them, by grapes; and the good therefrom arising in the natural man, by the first-fruit in the fig-tree. That the men of the Ancient Church are there meant by Israel in the wilderness, and by their fathers in the beginning, and not the sons of Jacob, is evident in Moses:

[7] "Their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of gall, clusters of bitterness to them" (Deuteronomy 32:32).

Here the sons of Jacob are described, such as they were in the wilderness. That religion with them was infernal, because they worshipped the gods and idols of the nations, is signified by their vine being of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah. That instead of the goods of charity, they were given to hatred and to the falsities breaking forth therefrom, instead of truths. This is signified by, their grapes are grapes of gall, clusters of bitterness to them.

[8] In Moses:

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

These form the last address of the father of Israel to his sons, here [spoken] to Judah, by whom, in the highest sense, is meant the Lord as to the celestial church, and the Word. And by the blood of grapes is signified the Divine truth from His Divine good; and, in a relative sense, the good of charity. But this and the rest may be seen explained in Arcana Coelestia 6375-6379).

[9] By the blood of the grapes is also signified truth from spiritual good, the same as by wine (also Deuteronomy 22:14). The reason why grapes signify the good of charity is, that by a vineyard is signified the spiritual church, and by a vine the man of that church. Therefore, by clusters or bunches, and by grapes, which are the fruits, are signified the goods which constitute that church; these are called spiritual goods, and also goods of charity. And because all truth is from good, as all wine is from grapes, therefore by wine, in the Word, is signified truth from good. Concerning this signification of wine see above (n. 219, 376). But by clusters or bunches are properly signified the variations of the state of spiritual good, or of the good of charity, because in them many grapes cohere in series. But what is meant by variations of the state of good will be explained elsewhere.

[10] Because the land of Canaan represented and thence signified the church, and the church being a church from spiritual good - for this is the mark of the church, therefore

those who went to explore that land brought from it a cluster of grapes of a remarkable size, which was carried on a staff by two (Numbers 13:23, 24).

This was a representative sign of the church signified by the land of Canaan. The reason why the church is a church from the good of charity is, that this good, strictly considered, is the good of life arising from love to the Lord; consequently, it is the effect of that love. By the good of charity is meant justice, sincerity, and uprightness in every work and in every function, from the love of justice, sincerity, and uprightness; this love comes solely from the Lord.

[11] Because it has been hitherto unknown, what was represented by the Nazarite, and what was signified by his abstaining from grapes and from wine, and by making the hair of his head to grow, it is permitted here to make it known. Concerning his abstinence from grapes and from wine it is thus written:

"He shall abstain from wine and strong drink, vinegar of wine and vinegar of strong drink he shall not drink, yea, he shall not drink any bruising of grapes; the grapes also either fresh or dry he shall not eat. All the days of his Nazariteship, he shall not eat anything that is made of the grape of the vine, from the kernels even to the skin" (Numbers 6:3, 4).

This law was for the Nazarite before he fulfilled the days of his Nazariteship, because he then represented the Lord as to His first state. The Lord, like every man, passed through a first state which was sensual. For every man is first sensual; afterwards he is made natural and rational, then, spiritual; and lastly, if the third degree is opened in him, he becomes celestial, such as an angel of the third heaven becomes. The Sensual of man is signified by the hair of the head (concerning which see above, n. 66, 555). And because the Sensual is the most external of man's life, where all power resides, therefore the Nazarites had such great strength. That all power resides in the extremes or ultimates, consequently, in the ultimate sense of the Word, this being the sense of the letter, which also corresponds to and signifies hair, may be seen above (n. 346, 417, 567, 666, 726). Such power pertained to the Lord in His childhood, by which He overcame and subjugated the most direful hells, where all are sensual.

This state of the Lord was represented by the days of fulfilment with the Nazarites, which being fulfilled, the Lord entered from the sensual and natural into the spiritual and celestial Divine. Now because that state, together with its good and truth, is signified by grapes and wine, therefore it was not lawful for the Nazarite to eat grapes and drink wine, before he had fulfilled those days.

[12] That afterwards it was lawful for him is evident from the twentieth verse of that chapter, where it is said,

"And after that the Nazarite may drink wine."

That at the end of the days of fulfilment,

he should shave his head, and put the hair of his head upon the fire, which was under the sacrifice of the peace offerings (ver. 18),

represented the sensual, then new, from the celestial Divine; for new hair grew afterwards upon the Nazarite. 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 the highest there. For the Lord, while He was in the world, was the Word, because He was the Divine truth, and that more interiorly by degrees, as He grew up, even to the highest, which is purely Divine, entirely above the perceptions of the angels.

It must be known that the Lord, during His abode in the world, from infancy to the last day there, successively advanced to union with the very Divine that was in Him from conception (concerning this successive progression see the Arcana Coelestia 1864, 2033, 2632, 3141, 4585, 7014, 10076). From these considerations it is evident, what was represented by its not being granted to the Nazarite to eat anything of the grape, nor to drink anything of wine, before the fulfilment of the days of his Nazariteship.

5113. 'And behold, a vine before me' means the understanding part. This is clear from the meaning of 'a vine' as the understanding part of the mind as it exists in the spiritual Church, dealt with below. Because 'the cupbearer' means the sensory powers that are subject to the understanding part, and because the subject here is the flow of the understanding into the sensory powers subordinate to it, there appeared in the dream therefore a vine with shoots, blossom, clusters, and grapes, which are used to describe its flow into those powers and the rebirth of them. With regard to the understanding part as it exists in the spiritual Church, it should be recognized that when that Church is the subject in the Word, its understanding is in many instances dealt with too, for the reason that it is the understanding part which is regenerated and made the Church in the case of one belonging to that Church.

[2] There are in general two Churches - the celestial and the spiritual. The celestial Church exists with the person in whom the will part of the mind can be regenerated or made the Church, whereas the spiritual Church exists with one in whom, as stated, solely the understanding part can be regenerated. The Most Ancient Church before the Flood was a celestial one because there existed with those who belonged to it some degree of wholeness in the will part, whereas the Ancient Church after the Flood was a spiritual one because among those who belonged to it no degree of wholeness existed in the will part, only in the understanding part. This explains why, when the spiritual Church is dealt with in the Word, its understanding is dealt with in many instances too. Regarding these Churches, see 640, 641, 765, 863, 875, 895, 927, 928, 1023, 1043, 1044, 1555, 2124, 2256, 2669, 4328, 4493. As regards its being the understanding part that is regenerated in the case of those who belong to the spiritual Church, this may also be recognized from the fact that the member of that Church does not have any good from which he may perceive truth, as those who belonged to the celestial Church had. Rather, he must first learn the truth of faith and absorb it into his understanding, and so come to recognize with the aid of truth what good is. Once truth enables him to recognize what good is, he can think about it, then desire it, and at length put it into practice, in which case he now has a new will formed by the Lord in the understanding part of his mind. The Lord then uses this to raise the spiritual man up to heaven, though evil still remains in the will that is properly his own, which at this point is miraculously set aside. This is accomplished by a higher power which withholds him from evil and maintains him in good.

[3] In the case of the member of the celestial Church however the will part was regenerated. From earliest childhood he was absorbing the good of charity, and once he could see with perception what that good was, he was led on to perceive what love to the Lord was. Consequently all the truths of faith were seen by him in his understanding as if in a mirror. His understanding and will formed one complete mind; for those truths enabled him to perceive in his understanding that which existed as a desire in his will. This is what the wholeness of that first human being consisted in, by whom the celestial Church is meant.

[4] As regards 'the vine' meaning the understanding part in the case of the spiritual Church, this is clear from many other places in the Word, as in Jeremiah,

What have you to do with the way to Egypt, to drink the waters of Shihor? Or what have you to do with the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River? Yet I have planted you as a wholly choice vine, a seed of truth. How therefore have you turned from Me into the degenerate branches of a strange vine? Jeremiah 2:18, 21.

This refers to Israel, which means the spiritual Church, 3654, 4286. 'Egypt' and 'the waters of Shihor' stand for factual knowledge which leads to perversion, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462; 'Assyria' and 'the waters of the River' stand for reasoning based on this, that is, on factual knowledge, against the good of life and the truth of faith, 119, 1186. 'A choice vine' stands for the member of the spiritual Church, who is called 'a vine' because of his understanding, while 'the degenerate branches of a strange vine' stands for someone belonging to the perverted Church.

[5] In Ezekiel,

A riddle and a parable about the house of Israel. A great eagle took some of the seed of the land and planted it in a seed field. It sprouted and became a spreading vine, low in height, so that its branches turned towards him and its roots were under him. So it became a vine which brought forth branches and sent out shoots towards the eagle. This vine directed its roots and sent its branches towards him in a good field by many waters. It was planted to produce a branch, that it might be a magnificent vine. Ezekiel 17:1, 3, 5-8.

An eagle' stands for rational thought, 3901,'the seed of the land' for truth known to the Church, 1025, 1447, 1610, 1940, 2848, 3038, 3310, 3373. Its becoming 'a spreading vine' and 'a magnificent vine' stands for becoming a spiritual Church, which is called 'a vine' because wine is obtained from it - 'wine' meaning spiritual good or the good of charity, the source of the truth of faith implanted in the understanding part.

[6] In the same prophet,

Your mother was like a vine in your likeness, planted beside the waters, fruitful, and made full of branches by reason of many waters. Consequently it had strong rods as sceptres for those who had dominion, and its stature rose up among entangled boughs, so that it was seen in its height amid the multitude of its branches. Ezekiel 19:10-11.

This too refers to Israel, by whom the spiritual Church is meant, which Church is compared to 'a vine' for a similar reason to that mentioned immediately above. It is a description of its derivatives even to the final ones in the natural man, that is to say, even to factual knowledge based on sensory impressions, meant by 'entangled boughs', 2831.

[7] In Hosea,

I will be as the dew of Israel. His branches will go out, and his beauty will be like the olive's, and his odour like that of Lebanon. Those dwelling in its shadow will turn back, they will quicken the grain and will blossom as the vine; the memory of it will be as the wine of Lebanon. O Ephraim, what have I to do any more with idols? Hosea 14:5-8.

'Israel' stands for the spiritual Church, the blossoming of which is compared to 'the vine', and the memory of it to 'the wine of Lebanon', because of the good of faith when that good has been implanted in the understanding part. 'Ephraim' means the understanding part as it exists in the spiritual Church, 3969.

[8] In Zechariah,

The remnant of the people will be the seed of peace; the vine will give its fruit, and the land will give its increase, and the heavens will give their dew. Zechariah 8:11-12.

'The remnant of the people' stands for truths stored away by the Lord within the interior man, 468, 530, 560, 561, 660, 798, 1050, 1738, 1906, 2284. 'The seed of peace' stands for good there, 'the vine' for the understanding part.

[9] In Malachi,

I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that he does not ruin for you the fruit of the land, nor will the vine in the field fail you. Malachi 3:11-12.

'The vine' stands for the understanding part. The expression 'a vine that does not fail' is used when the understanding part is not left bereft of the truths and goods of faith; on the other hand 'an empty vine' is used when falsities exist there together with derivative evils, as in Hosea,

Israel is an empty vine, it bears fruit like itself. Hosea 10:1.

[10] In Moses,

He will bind his ass's colt to the vine, and the foal of his she-ass to a choice vine, after he has washed his clothing in wine, and his garment in the blood of grapes. Genesis 49:11.

This is the prophecy of Jacob, who by then was Israel, regarding his twelve sons, in this case regarding 'Judah', who represents the Lord, 7881. 'The vine' here stands for the understanding part as it exists in the spiritual Church, and 'a choice vine' for the understanding part as it exists in the celestial Church.

[11] In David,

O Jehovah, You caused a vine to journey out of Egypt. You cast out the nations, and You planted it. You cleared the way in front of it and caused its roots to be rooted, so that it might fill the land. The mountains were covered with the shadow of it, and the cedars of God with its branches. You sent out its shoots even to the sea, and its little branches to the Euphrates. The boar out of the forest tramples on it, and the wild animal of the fields feeds on it. Psalms 80:8-11, 13.

'A vine out of Egypt' stands in the highest sense for the Lord, the glorification of His Human being described by it and its shoots. In the internal sense 'a vine' here means the spiritual Church and the member of that Church - what he is like when the understanding and will parts of him have been made new or regenerated by the Lord. 'The boar in the forest' means falsity, and 'the wild animal of the fields' evil, which destroy the Church and faith in the Lord.

[12] In John,

The angel sent his sickle into the earth and harvested the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. The winepress was trodden outside the city, and the blood went out of the winepress up to the horses' bridles. Revelation 14:19-20.

'Harvesting the vine of the earth' stands for destroying the understanding part in the Church. And since 'the vine' means that understanding part it is also said that 'the blood went out of the winepress up to the horses' bridles'; for the powers of understanding are meant by 'horses', 2761, 2762, 3217. In Isaiah,

It will happen on that day, that every place in which there have been a thousand vines, worth a thousand [shekels] of silver, will be briers and brambles. Isaiah 7:23.

In the same prophet,

The inhabitants of the land will be scorched and hardly any men (homo) left. The new wine will mourn, and the vine will languish. Isaiah 14:6-7.

In the same prophet,

They beat themselves on their breasts for the fields of unmixed wine, for the fruitful vine; for over the land of My people the them, the prickle is coming up. Isaiah 32:12-14.

In these places the subject is the spiritual Church when laid waste as regards the good and truth of faith, and so as regards the understanding part, since, as stated above, the truth and the good of faith exist in the understanding part of the mind of the member of that Church. Anyone may see that in these places 'the vine' is not used to mean the vine, nor 'the land' to mean the land, but some feature of the Church.

[13] In the genuine sense 'the vine' means good present in the understanding part, and 'the fig' good present in the natural part; or what amounts to the same, 'the vine' means good present in the interior man, and 'the fig' good present in the exterior man. This being so, when the vine is mentioned in the Word, so also on many occasions is the fig, as in the following places: In Jeremiah,

I will completely devour them. There will be no grapes on the vine or figs on the fig tree; and its leaf has come down. Jeremiah 8:13.

In the same prophet,

I will bring upon you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, which will devour your vine and your fig tree. Jeremiah 5:17.

In Hosea,

I will lay waste her vine and her fig tree. Hosea 2:12.

In Joel,

A nation has come up over the land. It has turned My vine into a waste, and My fig tree into froth. It has stripped it completely bare and cast it aside; its branches have been made white. The vine has withered and the fig tree languishes. Joel 1:6-7, 12.

In the same prophet,

Fear not, you beasts of My fields, for the dwelling places of the wilderness have been made green; for the tree will bear its fruit, and the fig tree and the vine will give their full yield. Joel 2:12, 23.

In David,

He smote their vines and their fig trees, and broke to pieces the trees of their borders. Psalms 105:33.

In Habakkuk,

The fig tree will not blossom; neither will there be any yield on the vines. Habakkuk 3:17.

In Micah,

Out of Zion will go forth teaching, and the Word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. They will sit every one under his vine and under his fig tree, unafraid. Micah 4:1, 4.

In Zechariah,

On that day you will shout, each to his companion, under his vine and under his fig tree. Zechariah 3:10.

In the first Book of Kings,

In Solomon's time there was peace from all the border-crossings round about, and Judah and Israel dwelt with confidence, every one under his vine and under his fig tree. 1 Kings 4:24-25.

The fig tree' means the good of the natural or exterior man, see 217.

[14] 'The vine' may also mean an understanding part that has been made new or regenerated by means of good obtained from truth and of truth obtained from good. This is clear from the Lord's words addressed to the disciples after He instituted the Holy Supper, in Matthew,

I tell you that I shall not drink from now on of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom. Matthew 26:29.

The good obtained from truth and the truth obtained from good, by means of which the understanding is made new, that is, by which a person is made spiritual, is meant by 'the fruit of the vine', while making such one's own is meant by 'drinking'. For 'drinking' means making one's own, and is used in reference to truth, see 3168. The fact that this is fully accomplished only in the next life is meant by 'until that day when I drink it new with you. In My Father's kingdom'; for 'the fruit of the vine', it is quite plain, is not used to mean new wine or matured wine but something of a heavenly nature belonging to the Lord's kingdom.

[15] Because the understanding part of the spiritual man's mind is made new and regenerated by means of truth which comes solely from the Lord, the Lord therefore compares Himself to 'the vine'. He then compares those who are secure in the truth which comes from Him and consequently is His to 'the branches', and the good produced by them to 'the fruit', in John,

I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, but every one that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I him, he it is that bears much fruit; for apart from Me you cannot do anything. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. John 15:1-5, 12.

[16] Because in the highest sense 'the vine' means the Lord as regards Divine Truth, and from this it means, in the internal sense, a member of the spiritual Church, 'a vineyard' therefore means the spiritual Church itself, 1069, 3220.

[17] Since 'the Nazirite' represented the celestial man - who is regenerated by means of the good of love and not, like the spiritual man, by means of the truth of faith, so that, as may be seen stated above, it is not in the understanding part but in the will part of the celestial man's mind that the regeneration takes place - the Nazirite was therefore forbidden to eat anything that came from the vine and so was forbidden to drink wine, Numbers 6:3-4; Judges 13:14. From this also it is evident that 'the vine', as has been shown, means the understanding part, which belongs to the spiritual man. For details about 'the Nazirite' representing the celestial man, see 3301. From this one may also see that nobody can possibly know why the Nazirite was forbidden anything that came from the vine, and many other things besides, unless he knows what 'the vine' means in the proper sense, and also unless he knows of the existence of a celestial Church and of a spiritual Church, and that the member of the celestial Church is regenerated in a different way from a member of the spiritual Church. The former is regenerated by means of seed implanted in the will part, the latter by seed implanted in the understanding part. These are the kinds of arcana stored away in the internal sense of the Word.