70. The reason why the feet are said to be like unto fine brass is, that by fine brass is meant brass polished and shining, like something fiery; and brass in the Word signifies natural good. Metals, like all other things in the Word, are significative. Gold in the Word signifies celestial good, which is inmost good; silver signifies its truth, which is spiritual good; brass natural good, which is ultimate good, and iron its truth, which is natural truth. That such things are signified by metals, is from correspondence; for many things are seen in heaven shining like gold and silver, and also many things shining like brass and iron. And it is there known, that by those things are signified the above-mentioned kinds of good and truth; this is why the ancients, who were in the knowledge of correspondences, named the ages after those metals. The first age they called the golden age, because innocence, love and wisdom therefrom, then reigned; but the second age they called the silver age, because truth from that good, or spiritual good, and intelligence therefrom, then reigned; the third age they called the brazen, or copper, age, because only natural good, which is what is just and sincere pertaining to moral life, then reigned; but the last age they called the iron age, because only truth without good then reigned, and when that reigns, then also falsity reigns. The reason why the ages were thus distinguished, was from the spiritual signification of those metals.

[2] From these considerations it is evident what is signified by the statue of Nebuchadnezzar, seen in his dream,

"whose head was of gold, the chest and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, the legs of iron, and the feet partly of iron and partly of clay" (Dan. 2:32, 33).

The state of the church from its first time to its last as to good and truth, is here signified; its last time was when the Lord came into the world.

When it is known that gold signifies celestial good, silver spiritual good, brass natural good, and iron natural truth, many arcana in the Word where those metals are mentioned can be known. For example, what is signified by these words in Isaiah:

"For brass I will bring gold, for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron; I will also make thy government peace, and thine exactors justice" (60:17).

[3] But as the signification of brass is what is here treated of, as being natural good, it is necessary only to adduce a few passages where brass is mentioned and signifies that good. Thus in Moses:

"Asher acceptable to his brethren, and dipping his foot in oil; iron and brass thy shoe, and as thy day, thy fame" (Deuteronomy 33:24, 25).

Asher, as one of the tribes, signifies the happiness of life, and the delight of the affections (see Arcana Coelestia 3938, 3939, 6408); to dip the foot in oil signifies natural delight (that oil denotes delight, see n. 9954, and that the foot denotes the Natural, see above, n. 69); the shoe being iron and brass signifies the lowest Natural derived from truth and good, shoe denoting the lowest Natural (see n. 1748, 1860, 6844); iron is its truth, and brass its good, as above. Again,

"Jehovah thy God will bring thee into a rich land; a land out of whose stones thou shalt cut iron, and out of whose mountains brass" (Deuteronomy 8:7, 9).

And in Jeremiah:

"I will give thee unto this people for a fortified wall of brass, that they may fight against thee, and not prevail over thee" (15:20).

And in Ezekiel:

"Javan, Tubal, and Mesech, they were thy merchants; with the soul of man and vessels of brass they gave thy merchandise" (27:13).

In this chapter the merchandises of Tyre are treated of, by which are signified the knowledges (cognitiones) of good and truth. By the names Javan, Tubal, and Mesech, are signified those things that pertain to good and truth, to which the knowledges relate; the soul of man denotes the truth of life; vessels of brass denote scientifics of natural good.

[4] (What is signified by Tyre, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 1201; what by merchandises, n. 2967, 4453; what by Tubal and Mesech, n. 1151; what by Javan, n. 1152, 1153, 1155; what by the soul of man, n. 2930, 9050, 9281; what by vessels, n. 3068, 3079, 3316, 3318.)

Again, in the same prophet:

The feet of the cherubs "shone like the appearance of polished brass" (1:7).

(What the cherubs and the feet signify, may be seen above, n. 69.) And in the same prophet:

"I saw, and, lo, a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, and a thread of flax in his hands; he stood in the gate" (40:3).

Because the angel here mentioned measured the wall and the gates of the house of God, which signify the externals of the church, his appearance was seen to be the appearance of brass.

He who knows that brass signifies the external of the church, which in itself is natural, may in some measure understand why the altar of burnt-offering was overlaid with brass, and the gate round it was of brass, and the vessels of brass (Exodus 27:1-4), also why the great vessel, which was called the sea, with the twelve oxen under it, and the ten lavers with the bases, and also all the vessels of the tabernacle for the house of God, were made by Solomon of polished brass (1 Kings 7:43-47). He who knows what brass signifies, can also enter into the arcanum why a serpent of brass was commanded to be set up for the people to look at, concerning which it is thus written in Moses:

"Jehovah sent serpents among the people, which bit the people. And he said unto Moses, Make thee a serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass that every one that is bitten, when he hath looked upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that when a serpent had bitten any man, and he looked upon the serpent of brass, he lived" (Numbers 21:6, 8, 9).

That the Lord was signified by that serpent, He himself teaches in John:

"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (3:14, 15).

By the serpent is signified the ultimate of life in man, which is called the external Sensual, which is natural. To represent this ultimate, which in the Lord was Divine, among the sons of Israel, with whom all things were representative, a serpent of brass was made; and the signification was, that, if they looked to the Divine Human of the Lord, they would revive, that is, if they believed in Him, they should have eternal life, as the Lord himself also teaches. (That to see in the spiritual sense is to believe, may be seen above, n. 37, 68; and that a serpent denotes the external Sensual, which is the ultimate of the life of man, see Arcana Coelestia 195-197, 6398, 6949, 10313.) That brass and iron in the Word also signify what is hard, as in Isaiah 48:4; Dan. 7:19; and other places, will be seen in the following pages.

1832. 'But the birds he did not cut apart' means that no such parallelism and correspondence existed in the case of spiritual things. This is clear from the meaning of 'birds' as that which is spiritual, dealt with just above in verse 9, and from the fact that he did not part the birds down the middle, which consequently means that no such parallelism and correspondence existed in their case. By spiritual things, as has often been stated already, are meant all those things that constitute faith, consequently all those things which are matters of doctrine, as these are called matters of faith even though in fact they are not so until they have been joined to charity. Between these and the Lord no parallelism and correspondence exists, for they are not such as flow in through an internal dictate and through conscience - as matters of love and charity do - but such as flow in through the reception of teaching and so through hearing, thus not from what is more internal, but from that which is more external; and in this way they form in man their vessels or recipients.

[2] The majority of these have the appearance of being truths but in fact they are not so - like those things which belong to the literal sense of the Word, being also representatives of truth, and meaningful signs of truth, and so not in themselves truths. Some are even falsities, which nevertheless are able to serve as vessels and recipients. With the Lord however only those exist which are wholly and essentially truths, and therefore no parallelism or correspondence exists involving those apparent truths. Yet they may be rendered suitable to serve celestial things - which are matters of love and charity - as vessels. These apparent truths are what constitute the cloud in the understanding part of the mind, dealt with already, into which the Lord infuses charity and so forms conscience.

[3] Take, for example, people who keep to the sense of the letter of the Word and imagine that it is the Lord who brings on temptation, that it is He who at such times tortures a person's conscience, and who imagine that because He permits evil He is the author of evil, that He thrusts the wicked down into hell, and similar ideas. These are not truths, but apparent truths. And because they are not in themselves truths there is no parallelism and correspondence. Nevertheless the Lord leaves these things in man as they are and in a remarkable fashion adapts them by means of charity so that they may serve as vessels for celestial things. The same applies as well to the worship, the teachings, the practices, even the idols, of honest gentiles. In the same way the Lord leaves these things as they are, yet adapts them by means of charity so that they too may serve as vessels. The same was true of so many of the forms of ritual in the Ancient Church, and subsequently in the Jewish Church. In themselves they were nothing more than religious observances that contained no truth in them and which were tolerated and permitted, even prescribed, because they had been held sacred by parents, and so had been implanted in and impressed upon their minds as truths since they were children.

[4] These and other such things are what are meant by the statement that the birds were not divided. For the things that are once implanted in a person's beliefs and are held sacred, provided they are not contrary to Divine order, are left by the Lord as they are; and although no parallelism or correspondence exists He nevertheless adapts them. The same things were also meant in the sacrifices of the Jewish Church by the birds not being divided, for to divide is to set one part opposite the other so that they exactly correspond. But because those things to which reference has been made are not exactly correspondent, they are in the next life blotted out in the case of those who allow themselves to be taught, and truths themselves are implanted in their affections for good. For the sake of this representation and meaning, birds in the Jewish Church were not divided, as is clear in Moses,

If his gift to Jehovah is a burnt offering of a bird, he is to bring a gift of turtle doves or of young pigeons; he will tear it with its wings, he is not to divide it. Leviticus 1:14, 17.

Likewise in sacrifices for sin, Leviticus 5:7-8.