Arcana Coelestia # 1298
1298. 'They had brick for stone' means that they had falsity in place of truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'brick' as falsity, dealt with just above, and also from the meaning of 'stone' in the broad sense as truth, dealt with already in 643. The reason 'stones' meant truth was that the most ancient people used to mark out boundaries by means of stones and raise up stones to testify that something was so, that is, was the truth. This is clear from the stone which Jacob set up as a pillar, Genesis 28:22; 35:14; from the pillar of stones placed between Laban and Jacob, Genesis 31:46-47, 52; and from the altar which the children of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh erected beside the Jordan as an altar of witness, Joshua 22:10, 28, 34. Consequently 'stones' in the Word means truths, so much so that not only the stones of the altar but also the precious stones in the shoulder-pieces of Aaron's ephod and in the breastplate of judgement meant the holy truths of love.
[2] Regarding the altar, when sacrificial worship on altars was introduced, an altar in that case meant representative worship of the Lord in general. 'The stones' themselves however meant the holy truths belonging to that worship. This was why it was commanded that the altar had to be built of whole and not of hewn stones, and why it was forbidden to use any iron tool on them, Deuteronomy 27:5-7; Joshua 8:31. The reason was that hewn stones, and those on which an iron tool had been used, meant artificialities and thus fabrications in worship. That is to say, they meant things that derive from the proprium, or from the inventions of man's own thought and heart, which was to profane worship, as is clearly stated in Exodus 20:25. For the same reason no tool of iron was used on the stones of the Temple, 1 Kings 6:7.
[3] That the precious stones set in the shoulder-pieces of Aaron's ephod and in the breastplate of judgement in a similar way meant holy truths has been shown already in 114. This is clear also in Isaiah,
Behold, I will set your stones in carbuncle and lay your foundations in sapphires; and I will make your suns (windows) of ruby, and your gates into precious stones, and all your border into pleasant stones And all your sons will be taught by Jehovah, and great will be the peace of your sons. Isaiah 54:11-13
The stones mentioned here stand for holy truths, and this is why it is said that 'all your sons will be taught by Jehovah'. It is also the reason why it is said in John that the foundations of the wall of the city, holy Jerusalem, were adorned with every kind of precious stone, which are each mentioned by name, Revelation 21:19-20. 'The holy Jerusalem' stands for the Lord's kingdom in heaven and on earth, the foundations of which kingdom are holy truths. Holy truths were similarly meant by the tables of stone on which the commandments of the Law, or Ten Commandments, were written. This was why they were made of stone or had a stone base, concerning which see Exodus 24:12; 31:18; 34:1; Deuteronomy 5:22; 10:1; for the commandments themselves are nothing else than truths of faith.
[4] Now because stones in ancient times meant truths, and because later on when worship on pillars, on altars, and in the Temple began, pillars, altars, and the Temple meant holy truths, the Lord also is therefore called 'a Stone': In Moses,
The Mighty One of Jacob - from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel. Genesis 49:24.
In Isaiah,
The Lord Jehovih said, I am laying in Zion for a foundation a Stone, a tested Corner-Stone, precious, of sure foundation. Isaiah 28:16.
In David,
The Stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner Psalms 118:22.
The same is meant in Daniel 2:34-35, 45, by the stone cut out of the rock which smashed Nebuchadnezzar's statue to pieces.
[5] That 'stones' means truths is clear in Isaiah,
By this the iniquity of Jacob will be expiated, and this will be the full fruit to remove his sin, when He makes all the stones of the altar like chalk-stones scattered about. Isaiah 27:9.
'The stones of the altar' stands for truths in worship that have been dissipated. In the same prophet,
Make level the way of the people; level out, level out the highway; gather out the stones. Isaiah 62:10.
'The way' and 'the stones' stand for truths. In Jeremiah,
I am against you, O destroying mountain. I will roll you down from the rocks and I will make you into a mountain of burning. And they will not take from you a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations. Jeremiah 51:25-26.
This refers to Babel. 'A mountain of burning' is self-love. 'Taking no stone from it' means that there is no truth from this source.
Deuteronomy 26
1
It shall be, when you are come in to the land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance, and possess it, and dwell therein,
2
that you shall take of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you shall bring in from your land that Yahweh your God gives you; and you shall put it in a basket, and shall go to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there.
3
You shall come to the priest who shall be in those days, and tell him, "I profess this day to Yahweh your God, that I am come to the land which Yahweh swore to our fathers to give us."
4
The priest shall take the basket out of your hand, and set it down before the altar of Yahweh your God.
5
You shall answer and say before Yahweh your God, "A Syrian ready to perish was my father; and he went down into Egypt, and lived there, few in number; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
6
The Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us, and laid on us hard bondage:
7
and we cried to Yahweh, the God of our fathers, and Yahweh heard our voice, and saw our affliction, and our toil, and our oppression;
8
and Yahweh brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terror, and with signs, and with wonders;
9
and he has brought us into this place, and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
10
Now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, Yahweh, have given me." You shall set it down before Yahweh your God, and worship before Yahweh your God.
11
You shall rejoice in all the good which Yahweh your God has given to you, and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the foreigner who is in the midst of you.
12
When you have made an end of tithing all the tithe of your increase in the third year, which is the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the foreigner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, that they may eat within your gates, and be filled.
13
You shall say before Yahweh your God, "I have put away the holy things out of my house, and also have given them to the Levite, and to the foreigner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all your commandment which you have commanded me: I have not transgressed any of your commandments, neither have I forgotten them:
14
I have not eaten of it in my mourning, neither have I put away of it, being unclean, nor given of it for the dead: I have listened to the voice of Yahweh my God; I have done according to all that you have commanded me.
15
Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel, and the ground which you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey."
16
This day Yahweh your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances: you shall therefore keep and do them with all your heart, and with all your soul.
17
You have declared Yahweh this day to be your God, and that you would walk in his ways, and keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his ordinances, and listen to his voice:
18
and Yahweh has declared you this day to be a people for his own possession, as he has promised you, and that you should keep all his commandments;
19
and to make you high above all nations that he has made, in praise, and in name, and in honor; and that you may be a holy people to Yahweh your God, as he has spoken.
