2607. As regards the historical narratives, with the exception of those in the initial chapters of Genesis, which are made-up history, and have been dealt with in Volume One, they are all historically true. But although historically true they nevertheless possess an internal sense; and in that sense the one subject, as with the prophetical sections, is the Lord. They do, it is true, have reference as well to heaven and the Church, and to what belongs to heaven and the Church; but as these are the Lord's, historical descriptions, even when they have reference to heaven and the Church, ultimately have regard to the Lord, and on that account are the Word. All the historical events recorded there are representative, and each word used to describe them carries a spiritual meaning. The fact that the historical events are representative is clear from what has been explained up to this point regarding Abraham, and will be clear from the explanations that must be given, in the Lord's Divine mercy, regarding Isaac, Jacob, his twelve sons, Egypt, the people's wandering in the wilderness, their entry into the land of Canaan, and everything else.

[2] That individual words used to describe them carry a spiritual meaning is also evident from what has been shown, for example, about names meaning real things, such as that Egypt means knowledge, Asshur the rational part of the mind, Ephraim the intellectual part, Tyre cognitions, Zion the celestial Church, Jerusalem the spiritual Church, and so on with everything else. The same has been shown to be so with particular expressions, such as that 'a king' means truth, 'a priest' good, and that all other words - such as kingdom, city, house, nation, people, garden, vineyard, olive-grove, gold, silver, bronze, iron, birds, beasts, bread, wine, oil, morning, day, light - each have their specific internal meaning. This is consistently so in the historical books as well as the prophetical, even though they were written by various authors and in different periods. This consistency would never have been possible if the Word had not come down out of heaven. From all this one may know that there is an internal sense in the Word, as well as from the fact that the Divine Word cannot possibly be about mere human beings such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants who formed the worst of the nations; or about their kings, wives, sons, daughters, prostitutes, plunderings, and like matters, all of which regarded in themselves are not worthy of mention in the Word unless by means of them such things as exist in the Lord's kingdom are represented and meant. It is these that are worthy of the Word.

5215. 'And scorched by an east wind' means full of evil desires. This is clear from the meaning of 'being scorched by an east wind' as being consumed by the fire of evil desires. For an east wind' and the east' in the genuine sense mean love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour, lot, 1250, 3249, 3708, 3762, and therefore in the contrary sense self-love and love of the world, and so cravings and evil desires since these spring from those loves. The word 'fire' is used to refer to such desires for the reason dealt with in 5071, and therefore 'being scorched' is used also.

[2] There are two sources of heat, as there are also two sources of light, the one source of heat being the sun of this world, the other source of heat being the sun of heaven, which is the Lord. It is a well known fact that the sun of this world pours out heat into its own world and onto everything there, but it is a less well known fact that the sun of heaven pours out heat into the whole of heaven. Yet this too may become an equally well known fact if one reflects merely on the heat which exists intrinsically in the human being but which has nothing in common with the heat of the world, that is, if one reflects on what is called vital heat. From this one could know that this heat is of a different nature from the world's heat. That is to say, the former is a living heat but the latter is not at all a living one; also the former, being a living one, fires a person interiorly, namely his will and understanding, imparting to him desires and loves, and affections too. This also explains why desires, loves and affections are spiritual forms of heat, and are also called such. The fact that they are forms of heat is quite evident, for heat is radiated from all parts of the bodies of live persons, even where it is intensely cold. More than that, when desires and affections, that is, when loves, increase, the body grows correspondingly warmer. This kind of heat is what is meant in the Word by 'heat', 'fire', and 'flame'; in the genuine sense celestial and spiritual love is meant, in the contrary sense bodily and earthly love. From this it becomes clear that here 'being scorched by an east wind' means being consumed by the fire of evil desires, and that when used in reference to known facts meant by 'heads' that are 'thin', facts full of evil desires are meant.

[3] 'The east wind' means the blasts of evil desires and of derivative false notions, as is clear from places in the Word where that wind is mentioned, for example, in David,

He caused an east wind to blow ¹ in the heavens, and by His power He brought forth the south wind; and He caused flesh to rain onto them like the dust, winged birds like the sand of the sea. Psalms 78:26-27.

'The flesh' which that wind brought meant cravings, and 'winged birds' resulting false notions, as is evident in Numbers 11:31-35, where it is said that the name of the place where the people were struck down for eating flesh was called 'the graves of craving, for there they buried the people who had the craving'.

[4] In Ezekiel,

Behold, the vine that was planted, will it thrive? When the east wind strikes it, will it not wither completely? It will wither on the small spaces where it began to grow. Ezekiel 17:10.

And in the same prophet,

The vine has been plucked up in anger, it has been cast down onto the ground, and the east wind has dried its fruit. They have been plucked out and have withered, each rod of its strength; fire has consumed each one. For fire has gone out from a rod of its branches and has consumed its fruit, so that there is no rod of strength in it, a sceptre for dominion. Ezekiel 19:12, 14.

Here 'the east wind' stands for the blasts of evil desires. In Isaiah,

He gave thought to His rough wind, on the day of the east wind. Isaiah 17:8.

[5] In Hosea,

An east wind will come, Jehovah's wind rising up from the desert, and his spring will become dry, and his fountain dried up. It will strip his treasury of every precious vessel. Hosea 13:15.

Here also 'an east wind' stands for blasts of evil desires. Similarly in Jeremiah,

Like an east wind I will scatter them before the enemy. Jeremiah 18:17.

[6] In David,

By means of an east wind You will shatter the ships of Tarshish. Psalms 48:7.

In Isaiah,

You have forsaken Your people, the house of Jacob, because they have been filled from the east wind, and they are diviners like the Philistines. Isaiah 2:6.

In Hosea,

Ephraim feeds the wind, and pursues the east wind. All the day long he multiplies lies and devastation. Hosea 11:1.

'The wind' here stands for false notions, and 'the east wind' for evil desires. Something similar is also meant in the internal sense by 'an east wind' by means of which 'locusts were brought forth' and by means of which 'the locusts were cast into the sea', ² Exodus 10:13, 19, and also by means of which 'the waters of the sea Suph' were divided, Exodus 14:21.

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