5432. 'You are spies' means that they existed solely for the sake of gain. This is clear from the meaning of 'spies' here as being bent on material gain; indeed it is clear from the train of thought that nothing else is meant in the internal sense by 'spies'. For the internal sense here deals with the truths known to the Church which are to be made over to the natural as its own. But such a making over is not possible unless an influx takes place from the celestial of the spiritual through the intermediary, those truths known to the Church being 'the sons of Jacob', who are 'Joseph's brothers', the celestial of the spiritual being 'Joseph', and the intermediary being 'Benjamin'. The implications of all this have been stated in 5402. There it is shown that when the truths of faith which are known to the Church and are called its teachings are learned at the earliest stage of life, they are taken in and consigned to the memory as facts in the same way as any other factual knowledge. And they remain there as factual knowledge until the person begins to use his own ability to look at those truths and see for himself whether they really are truths, and - having seen that they are such - to act in conformity with them. That ability to look at such truths and this willingness to act in conformity with them cause them to be factual knowledge no longer. Now they are commandments to be obeyed in life, till at length they are his life; for they then pass into the life he leads and are made his own.

[2] People who have reached adult years, and especially those who have arrived at old age, but have not used their own ability to look at the truths known to the Church, called its doctrinal teachings, to see for themselves whether these really are truths, or to form any subsequent wish to live in conformity with them, inevitably retain them in exactly the same way as they do all other factual knowledge. Those truths remain solely in their natural memory, and from there in their mouth. When they speak truths they do so not from their interior man or heart, only from their exterior man or mouth. When this is a person's state he cannot possibly believe that the truths known to the Church are truths, no matter how much it might seem to him that he does believe that they are. The reason why it seems to him that he does believe they are truths is that he trusts other people and their ideas and firmly embraces them. To embrace firmly other people's ideas, no matter whether they are truths or falsities, is very easy, for it involves no more than the use of one's intellect.

[3] These truths known to the Church - that is, those people with whom they exist in the way explained immediately above - are meant by spies coming to see the nakedness of the land. For their belief in the teachings of their Church does not spring from any affection for truth but from an affection for securing important positions and personal gain. For this reason they themselves have scarcely any belief, and there is denial for the most part in their hearts. They regard the Church's teachings in the way a merchant does his wares, in that they seem to themselves to be well-taught and wise when from within themselves they see those teachings as untrue and yet they are able to convince the common people that they are true. It is quite evident from those in the next life that very many leaders of Churches are like this. Wherever they go in the next life they take with them the sphere emanating from their affections and consequent thoughts, and that sphere is clearly perceptible to others. From this sphere one can recognize quite plainly what kind of affection for truth and what kind of faith they have possessed. The same is not made plain in the world because no spiritual perception of such things exists there. This being so, those leaders of Churches do not reveal what they really think, for that would deprive them of what they seek to gain.

[4] The fact that these are 'spies' becomes perfectly clear from the consideration that they are the kind of people who do nothing else than find fault with, so as to accuse and condemn, those who adhere to truths grounded in good. Whether they belong to the Papists so-called, or to the Reformed, or to the Quakers, or to the Socinians, or to the Jews, are not such people, once they have firmly embraced the teachings of their Church, nothing else than 'spies'? They deride and condemn absolute truths, if these are known anywhere; for truths are not embraced by them because they are truths, the reason for this being that they are not moved by any affection for truth for its own sake, let alone for their life's sake, only for the sake of personal gain. Also, when such people read the Word they examine it closely with the sole intention of confirming what is already known and taught, and for the sake of material gain. Many of them examine the Word closely 'to see the nakedness of the land', that is, to see there the truths known to the Church not as truths but merely as means that will serve them to convince others, for the sake of their own personal gain, that they are truths.

[5] People however who are moved by an affection for truth for its own sake and for their life's sake, consequently for the sake of the Lord's kingdom, do indeed have faith in the teachings of the Church. But even so they examine the Word closely with no other end in view than to see the truth itself, as a result of which they develop a faith and a conscience that are their own. If anyone tells them that they ought to keep to the teachings of the Church in which they were born, they then think that they would have been told exactly the same if they had been born within Judaism, within Socinianism, Quakerism, or Christian Gentilism, or even outside the Church, and that everywhere they would say, This is where the Church is, this is where the Church is; truths exist here and nowhere else! This being what they think they decide to examine the Word closely, praying sincerely to the Lord for enlightenment as they do so. People like these do not upset anyone else within the Church, nor do they ever condemn others, for they recognize that the life led by everyone who is a Church is founded on the faith that is his own.

10336. 'And I have put wisdom in the heart of everyone wise in heart' means all those who will and do what is good and true for goodness and truth's sake. This is clear from the meaning of 'heart' as the inmost part of a person, which is called his will, and since that which composes a person's love constitutes his will, 'heart' also means love (for the meaning of 'heart' as love, see 3635, 3883-3896, 9050, and for the meaning of it as the will, 2930, 3888, 7542, 8910, 9113, 9300, 9495); from the meaning of 'the wise in heart' as one who wills and loves what is good and true for goodness and truth's sake, for it is the mark of someone 'wise', and it is wisdom, to be moved by love to put truths into practice, 10331, and the mark of someone 'wise in heart' and wisdom of heart to be moved by love to put good into practice; and from the meaning of 'putting wisdom in the heart' as being moved by the Lord, and so by the good of love, to do those things, for the good of love originates in the Lord. All such people will and do what is good and true for goodness and truth's sake, because good and the truth that goes with good are the Lord as He exists with them; for those things which originate in Him, and so which are His, are also He Himself.

[2] This is the reason for saying that the Lord is Goodness itself and Truth itself. It is clear from the Lord's own words that He is Goodness itself,

Why do you call Me Good? Nobody is Good except the one God. Matthew 19:16-17; Luke 18:18-19.

And where the good deeds of love and charity are listed,

Insofar as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers you did it to Me. Matthew 25:40.

The word 'brothers' describes those who are governed by good, and so describes varieties of good, see 2360, 3803, 3815, 4121, 5409; thus 'the Lord's brothers' are those who are governed by good that originates in Him, 4191, 5686, 5692, 6756. It is likewise clear from the Lord's words that He is Truth itself,

Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. John 14:6.

And elsewhere,

When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth; He will not speak from Himself. He will take from what is Mine and declare it to you. John 16:13-15.

From all this it is evident what 'putting wisdom in the heart' means.

[3] 'Writing the law on the heart' in Jeremiah is also used to mean much the same thing,

I will put My law in the midst of them, and will write it on their heart. No more will every man teach his companion, or every man his brother ¹ , saying, Know Jehovah. For they all will know Me. Jeremiah 31:33-34.

'Writing the law on the heart' means entering Divine Truth into the will, thus in a person's love. When this is done the person no longer has to draw Divine Truth out of store in his memory; instead the good itself belonging to love causes him to perceive intuitively. This is why it says, 'No more will every man teach his companion, or every man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah. For they all will know Me'. This is what celestial angels inhabiting the inmost heaven are like, see in the places referred to in 9277.

[4] What it is to will and do what is good and true for goodness and truth's sake, meant here by 'putting wisdom in the heart of everyone wise in heart', must be stated briefly. All who love the Lord above all things and their neighbour as themselves do what is good and true for goodness and truth's sake. For as has been stated above, goodness and truth are the Lord Himself; therefore since they love what is good and true, that is, since they are moved by love to will and do it, they love the Lord. Those too who love their neighbour as themselves will and love what is good and true for goodness and truth's sake, for in the universal sense that which is good and true constitutes the neighbour. The neighbour is one's fellow citizen, the [local] community, one's country, the Church, and the Lord's kingdom; and loving the neighbour consists in goodwill towards these, that is, in desiring their good, and therefore their good is what must be loved. And when this is loved the Lord is loved, since He is the source of this good.

[5] From all this it is evident that love towards the neighbour, which is called charity, holds love to the Lord within itself. If this love is not held within it, fellow citizens, community, country, Church, and the Lord's kingdom are loved for selfish reasons, and so not from a desire that is good but from one that is bad; for whatever a person does for the sake of self as the end in view springs from a desire that is bad. Loving the neighbour for the sake of self consists in loving him for the sake of gain and important positions as the ends in view. The end in view is what determines whether something springs from a desire that is good or one that is bad. The end in view is identical with the love; for what the person loves, that he has as his end. The end in view is also identical with the will; for what a person wills, that he loves. Consequently the end for the sake of which someone acts, or his intentions, constitutes the real person; for a person's character is determined by the character of his will and of his love.

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