10483. And Moses stood in the gate of the camp. That this signifies where the opening to hell is, is evident from the representation of Moses, as being the internal (of which above, n. 10468); from the signification of “in the gate,” as being where there is an opening (of which below); and from the signification of “the camp,” as being hell (n. 10458). The reason why Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and did not enter into the camp itself, was in order that it might be represented that what is internal cannot enter into hell; for by Moses was represented what is internal, and by the camp was represented hell. For all who are in hell are in things external separate from what is internal, because they are in the loves of self and of the world, and therefore what is internal cannot enter there, because it is not received, but is at once rejected by some who are there; with some it is suffocated and extinguished; and with others it is perverted. Whether you say “what is internal,” or “heaven,” it is the same, because heaven is in what is internal; it is in the internal of the Word, and in the internal of the church and of worship; consequently it is in the internal of the man who is in celestial and spiritual love; that is, in love to the Lord and in charity toward the neighbor.

[2] It shall be briefly told what is this opening of hell which is signified by “the gate of this camp.” Every hell is closed round about; but is opened above according to necessity and need. This opening is into the world of spirits, which world is midway between heaven and hell, for there the hells terminate upward, and the heavens downward (n. 5852). It is said that they are opened according to necessity and need, because every man has with him spirits from hell and angels from heaven. The spirits from hell are in his bodily and worldly loves, and the angels from heaven are in his heavenly and spiritual loves, for without the presence of spirits no man can possibly live. If spirits were removed from him, he would fall down as dead as a stone. Consequently in order that man may have life according to his loves, the hells are of necessity opened, and according to need, and from them such spirits come forth to him as are in similar loves.

[3] This opening is what is meant by “the gate of hell,” and such openings it has sometimes been granted me to see. The gates are guarded by the Lord by means of angels, to prevent more spirits coming forth than is needful. From this it is evident what is signified in the Word by “the gates of hell,” and by “the gates of enemies,” as in Matthew:

Jesus said unto Peter, Upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18);

“the gates of hell not prevailing” denotes that the hells will not dare to go forth and destroy the truths of faith; “the rock upon which the church is built” denotes faith from the Lord in the Lord, which faith is the faith of charity, because charity is in this faith and thus is one with it. (That a “rock” denotes this faith may be seen in the preface to the twenty-second chapter of Genesis, and also in n. 8581 (2760), 10438; and that real faith is charity, in n. 654, 1162, 1176, 1608, 2228, 2343, 2349, 2419, 2839, 3324, 4368, 6348, 7039, 7623-7627, 7752-7762, 8530, 9154, 9224, 9783)

[4] The like is also signified by the words:

Thy seed shall inherit the gate of thine enemies (Genesis 22:17; 24:60);

“to inherit the gate of enemies” denotes to destroy the evils and falsities which are from hell; and this was also represented by the driving out and destruction of the nations in the land of Canaan; for the nations there represented evils and falsities which are from hell (see n. 1573, 1574, 1868, 4818, 6306, 8054, 8317, 9320, 9327). Also in David:

They that dwell in the gate plot against me; they that drink strong drink sing and dance (Psalms 69:12).

Happy is the man that hath filled his quiver; they shall not be ashamed, for they shall speak with the enemies in the gate (Psalms 127:5).

[5] But in a good sense “gates” denote an opening into heaven, as in David:

Lift up your head, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in (Psalms 24:7-10).

Moreover by “gates” in the Word is signified entrance into heaven and into the church by means of truth and good; and also the influx of truth and good with man.

5117. And the clusters thereof ripened grapes. That this signifies the conjunction of spiritual truth with celestial good, is evident from the signification of “ripening,” as being the progress of rebirth or regeneration even to the conjunction of truth with good, and thus conjunction; and from the signification of “clusters,” as being the truth of spiritual good; and from the signification of “grapes,” as being the good of celestial truth; here both of these in that sensuous which is represented by the butler. The conjunction of these in the sensuous is similar to the ripening of clusters into grapes; for in the rebirth, or regeneration, all truth tends to conjunction with good, truth not receiving life previously to such conjunction, consequently not being made fruitful. This is represented in the fruits of trees when they are ripening. In unripe fruits, which here are the “clusters,” is represented the state when truth still predominates; but in the ripe fruits, which are the “grapes,” is represented the state when good has the predominance, the predominance of good being represented also in the flavor and sweetness which are perceived in ripe grapes. But concerning the conjunction of truth with good in the sensuous which is subject to the intellectual part, further particulars cannot be given, for they are secrets too deep for apprehension, and it is necessary for knowledges about the state of the celestial of the spiritual, and about this sensuous, to come first, and also about the state of the natural in which this conjunction comes into existence.

[2] That “grapes” signify the good of the spiritual man, thus charity, is evident from many passages in the Word; as in Isaiah:

My well beloved had a vineyard in a horn of the son of oil; he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes (Isaiah 5:1-2, 4); where a “vineyard” denotes the spiritual church; his “looking that it should bring forth grapes” denotes the goods of charity; and its “bringing forth wild grapes” the evils of hatred and revenge.

[3] Again:

Thus hath said Jehovah, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it (Isaiah 65:8).

The “new wine in the cluster” denotes truth from good in the natural.

[4] In Jeremiah:

Gathering I will gather them, saith Jehovah; no grapes in the vine, nor figs in the fig tree (Jeremiah 8:13).

There being “no grapes in the vine” denotes that there is no interior or rational good, and “no figs in the fig tree” that there is no exterior or natural good; for a “vine” is the intellectual part (as shown just above, n. 5113); and when the conjunction of truth and good is therein, a “vine” is the rational, for the rational is thence. (That a “fig tree” is the good of the natural or exterior man may be seen above, n. 217)

[5] In Hosea:

I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the first-ripe in the fig tree in its beginning (Hos. 9:10);

“grapes in the wilderness” denote rational good not yet made spiritual; the “first-ripe in the fig tree” denotes natural good in like manner; “Israel” denotes the ancient spiritual church in its beginning (“fathers” in this and other passages not being the sons of Jacob, but those with whom the Ancient Church was first set up).

[6] In Micah:

There is no cluster to eat; my soul desired the first-ripe. The holy is perished out of the earth, and there is none upright among men (Micah 12:1-2 [NCBSP: 7:1-2]).

The “cluster to eat” denotes the good of charity in its beginning; “the first-ripe” the truth of faith also at that time.

[7] In Amos:

Behold the days come that the ploughman shall reach the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that draweth the seed; and the mountains shall drop new wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I will bring back the captivity of My people, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and shall settle and plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; and they shall make clusters, and eat the fruit of them (Amos 9:13-14);

it treats here of the setting up of a spiritual church, which is thus described-the conjunction of spiritual good with its truth by the “ploughman reaching the reaper”; and the conjunction of spiritual truth with its good by the “treader of grapes reaching him that draweth the seed”; the goods of love and charity therefrom are signified by the “mountains dropping new wine and the hills melting”; “bringing back the captivity of the people” denotes deliverance from falsities; “building the waste cities” denotes rectifying the falsified doctrinals of truth; “inhabiting them and planting vineyards” denotes cultivating those things which are of the spiritual church; “drinking the wine thereof” appropriating the truths of that church which are of charity; and “making clusters and eating the fruit of them” appropriating the goods thence derived. Everyone can see that “building cities,” “planting vineyards,” “drinking wine,” “making clusters,” and “eating the fruit of them” are merely natural things, in which there would be nothing Divine unless they contained a spiritual sense.

[8] In Moses:

He hath washed his clothing in wine, and his covering in the blood of grapes (Genesis 49:11);

speaking of the Lord; “wine” denotes spiritual good from the Divine love; the “blood of grapes” celestial good therefrom.

[9] Again:

Butter of the herd, and milk of the flock, with the fat of lambs and of rams the sons of Bashan, and of he-goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and the blood of the grape thou drinkest unmixed (Deuteronomy 32:14);

speaking of the Ancient Church, whose goods of love and charity are thus described, and each expression signifies some specific good: the “blood of the grape” spiritual celestial good, the Divine in heaven proceeding from the Lord being so called. Wine is called the “blood of grapes” because both expressions signify holy truth proceeding from the Lord; but “wine” is predicated of the spiritual church, and “blood” of the celestial church, and for this reason wine was enjoined in the Holy Supper.

[10] Again:

Their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah; the grapes thereof are grapes of gall, they have clusters of bitternesses (Deuteronomy 32:32);

speaking of the Jewish Church, their “vine being of the vine of Sodom and of the fields of Gomorrah” denotes the intellectual part beset by falsities from infernal love; “the grapes thereof grapes of gall” and “their having clusters of bitternesses” denotes that it was similar with the will part therein. For as in a good sense a “grape” signifies charity, it is predicated of the will part, but of the will part within the intellectual part; and similarly in the opposite sense, because all truth is of the understanding and all good is of the will.

[11] In Revelation:

The angel said, Put forth thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe (Revelation 14:18);

“to gather the clusters of the earth” denotes to destroy all things of charity.

[12] In Matthew:

By their fruits ye shall know them. Do they gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? (Matthew 7:16).

And in Luke:

Every tree is known by its own fruit. For of thorns they do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush do they gather the grape (Luke 6:44).

As charity toward the neighbor is treated of in these passages, it is said that they should be “known by their fruits” which are the goods of charity; the internal goods of charity being “grapes” and the external “figs.”

[13] The law enacted in the Jewish Church:

When thou comest into thy companion’s vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes according to thy soul, to thy fill; but thou shalt not put any in thy vessel (Deuteronomy 23:24);

involves that everyone associating with others who are in a different doctrine and religion may learn and accept their goods of charity, but may not become imbued with them and conjoin them with his own truths. As a “vineyard” denotes the church, it denotes where there is doctrine or religion; “grapes” are the goods of charity; and a “vessel” is the truth of the church.