6367. 'A lion's cub is Judah' means innocence with innate strength. This is clear from the meaning of 'a lion' as the good of love and the truth from that good in their power, dealt with below, so that 'a lion's cub' is innocence with strength. The reason why with innate strength is meant is that here 'Judah' represents the celestial element of love, and the celestial element of love resides in the will part of the mind, 895, 917, 4493, 5117, and thus possesses innate strength. For a person is born into things that belong to the will part. That being so, members of the Most Ancient Church, which was celestial, were born into the good of love, in the measure that good was present in their will. This then is why the strength is said to be innate. The reason 'a lion's cub' means innocence is that 'a lion' is the good of celestial love, and 'a cub', being so to speak its young child, accordingly means innocence.

[2] 'A lion' means the good of celestial love and the truth from that love in their power, and also in the contrary sense the evil of self-love in its power, as is clear from places in the Word where 'a lion' is mentioned. The good of celestial love is meant in John,

Behold, the Lion which is from the Tribe of Judah, the root of David, has prevailed to open the book and to loose its seven seals. Revelation 5:5.

Here the Lord is called 'the Lion' by virtue of the almighty power which His Divine Love and Divine Truth from that Love possess. There are also other places in the Word where Jehovah or the Lord is compared to a lion, as in Hosea,

They will go after Jehovah; He will roar like a lion, for He will roar, and respectfully [His] sons from the west ¹ will draw near. Hosea 11:10.

[3] Also in Isaiah,

Thus said Jehovah to me, As a lion roars, and a young lion over its prey, when there come up against him a full number of shepherds, by whose voice he is not dismayed, and by whose tumult he is not distressed, so Jehovah Zebaoth will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its hill. Isaiah 31:4.

Here the almighty power of Divine Good is compared to 'a lion', and the almighty power of Divine Truth from that Good is compared to 'a young lion'. For it says that 'Jehovah Zebaoth will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its hill', and 'Mount Zion' means the Good of Divine Love and 'its hill' the Divine Truth from that Good, 795, 796, 1430, 4210.

[4] For the same reason the four living creatures in Ezekiel and in John, meaning cherubs, had the faces of a human being, lion, ox, and eagle: In Ezekiel,

The likeness of the faces of the four living creatures - [each of] the four had the face of a human being, and the face of a lion on the right side, and [each of] the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and [each of] the four had the face of an eagle. Ezekiel 1:10; 10:14.

And in John,

Around ² the throne were four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. And the first living creature was like a lion; the second living creature was like a calf; the third living creature had a face like a human being; the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. Revelation 4:6-7.

The fact that the living creatures were cherubs is stated in Ezekiel to, which fact is also evident from the description of them in John, in which he says that they had 'eyes in front and behind'. The Lord's foresight and providence are meant by 'the cherubs', 308; and they had the face of a lion by virtue of the almighty power belonging to providence that Divine Truth from Divine Good possesses. So also with the cherubs around the new temple in Ezekiel 41:19.

[5] Celestial people in possession of the power supplied by the good and the truth from good which come from the Lord are meant by 'lions', as is evident in David,

There is no want to those fearing Jehovah. The young lions will lack and suffer hunger, but those seeking Jehovah will not lack any good thing. Psalms 34:9-10.

In the same author,

The [young] lions are roaring for plunder, and to seek from God their food. The sun rises, they are gathered together, and lie down in their dwelling-places. Psalms 104:21-22.

In Balaam's prophetic utterance,

At that time it will be said to Jacob and to Israel, What has God been doing? See, a people will rise up like an old lion, and like a young lion will lift itself up. He will not rest until he has devoured the prey. Numbers 23:23-24.

[6] And further on,

When Balaam saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes, he said, He crouches, he lies down like a lion, and like an old lion; who will rouse him? Numbers 24:2, 9.

The celestial is what is described here because celestial order is what the tribes represented by their encampments and was what Balaam saw in the spirit when he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes, 6335. That order originates in Divine Good coming through Divine Truth from the Lord; and within that order resides all power, meant here by a crouching and recumbent lion.

[7] In Micah,

The remnant of Jacob will be with the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, who, if he passes through, will tread down and tear in pieces, ³ and there is no deliverer. Your hand will be lifted up over your enemies, and all your adversaries will be cut off. Micah 5:8-9.

Here 'a lion' and a young lion stand for celestial good and celestial truth, which are 'the remnant of Jacob'. They also stand for that good and truth in Isaiah 21:8; Jeremiah 25:38; Ezekiel 38:13; Zechariah 11:3. And that same good and truth were also represented by the lions at Solomon's ivory throne, two next to the armrests ⁴ and twelve on the six steps, 1 Kings 10:18-20, and by the lions on the panels of the ten pedestals made of bronze, 1 Kings 7:29, 36.

[8] In the contrary sense 'a lion' means the evil of self-love in its power, as is evident from the following places: In Isaiah,

There will not be any lion there, and the savage of the wild animals will not go up on it; it will not be found there. But they will go free; thus the redeemed of Jehovah will return, and will come to Zion with song. Isaiah 35:9-10.

In Jeremiah,

Why has Israel become plunder? The young lions roar at him, they sound their voice; they turn his land into a waste. Jeremiah 2:14-15.

In the same prophet,

A lion has risen up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out; he has come from his place to turn the land into a waste. Jeremiah 4:7.

In the same prophet,

They did not know the way of Jehovah, the judgement of their God, therefore a lion from the forest has struck them down, and a wolf of the plains will devastate them. Jeremiah 5:4, 6.

In Nahum,

Where is the dwelling-place of lions, and the feeding-place ⁵ of the young lions, where the lion walked, the old lion, the lion's cub, and there is no one making them afraid? The lion tears in pieces enough for the cubs, and strangles for his old lionesses, and fills his caves with plunder, and his dwelling places with what he has pounced on. Behold, I am against you, said Jehovah Zebaoth, and I will burn her chariot in the smoke; but the sword will devour your young lions, and I will cut off your plunder from the earth. Nahum 2:11-13.

This refers to Nineveh.

In all these places 'a lion' stands for the power that the evil of self-love possesses, when it destroys and lays waste. 'A lion' has a like meaning in Jeremiah 12:8; 49:19; 50:17, 44; 51:38; Ezekiel 19:2-9; 32:2; Joel 1:6; Zephaniah 3:3; Psalms 57:4; 58:6; 91:13; Revelation 13:2.

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139. FROM THE ARCANA COELESTIA.

Of Conscience.

They who have no conscience, do not know what conscience is (n. 7490, 9121). There are some who laugh at conscience, when they hear what it is (n. 721). Some believe that conscience is nothing; some that it is a sad, doleful, natural something, arising from bodily or worldly causes; and some that it is an effect of religion on the minds of the common people (n. 950). Some know not that they have conscience, when yet they have it (n. 2380).

The good have conscience, but not the evil (n. 831, 965, 7490). They who are in love to God and in love towards the neighbor have conscience (n. 2380). Conscience is especially with those who are regenerated by the Lord (n. 977). They who are in truths alone, and not in a life according to them, have no conscience (n. 1076-1077, 1919). They who do good from natural good, and not from religion, have no conscience (n. 6208).

Man's conscience is from the doctrine of his church, or from some religious principle, and is according thereto (n. 9112). Conscience is formed with man from those things which are of his religion, and which he believes to be truths (n. 1077, 2053, 9113). Conscience is an internal bond, by which man is held to thinking, speaking, and doing good; and by which he is withheld from thinking, speaking, and doing evil; and this is not for the sake of self and the world, but for the sake of good, truth, justice, and uprightness (n. 1919, 9120). Conscience is an internal dictate, that one ought to do so or not so (n. 1919, 1935). Conscience is in its essence a conscience of what is true and right (n. 986, 8081). The new will with the spiritual regenerate man is conscience (n. 927, 1023, 1043-1044, 4299, 4328, 4493, 9115, 9596). The spiritual life of man is from conscience (n. 9117).

There is a true conscience, a spurious conscience, and a false conscience, concerning which (n. 1033). Conscience is more true, in proportion as it is formed from more genuine truths (n. 2053, 2063, 9114). In general, conscience is two-fold, interior and exterior, and interior conscience is of spiritual good, which in its essence is truth, and exterior conscience is of moral and civil good, which in its essence is sincerity and justice, in general, uprightness (n. 5140, 6207, 10296).

Pain of conscience is anxiety of mind on account of injustice, insincerity, and any evil, which a man believes to be against God, and against the good of the neighbor (n. 7217). If anxiety is felt when a man thinks evil, it is from conscience (n. 5470). Pain of conscience is an anguish felt on account of the evil which man does, and also on account of the privation of good and truth (n. 7217). Since temptation is a combat of truth and falsity in the interiors of man, and since in temptations there is pain and anxiety, therefore no others are admitted into spiritual temptations, but those who have conscience (n. 847).

They who have conscience speak and act from the heart (n. 7935, 9114). They who have conscience do not swear in vain (n. 2842). They who have conscience are in interior blessedness when they do what is good and just according to conscience (n. 9118). They who have conscience in the world, have conscience in the other life, and are there amongst the happy (n. 965). The influx of heaven flows into conscience with man (n. 6207, 6213, 9122). The Lord rules the spiritual man by conscience, which is an internal bond (n. 1835, 1862). They who have conscience, have interior thought; but they who have no conscience, have only exterior thought (n. 1919, 1935). They who have conscience, think from the spiritual, but they who have no conscience, think only from the natural (n. 1820). They who have no conscience, are only external men (n. 4459). The Lord rules those who have no conscience by external bonds, which are all those things which are of the love of self and of the world, and which thence relate to the fear of the loss of reputation, honor, office, gain, wealth, and the fear of the law, and of the loss of life (n. 1077, 1080, 1835). They who have no conscience, and yet suffer themselves to be ruled by these external bonds, are capable of discharging the duties of high offices in the world, and of doing good, as well as those who have conscience; but the former do it in an external form, and from external bonds, whereas the latter do it in an internal form, and from internal bonds (n. 6207).

They who have no conscience would destroy conscience with those who have it (n. 1820). They who have no conscience in the world, have no conscience in the other life (n. 965, 9122). Hence those who are in hell have no torment of conscience for their evils in the world (n. 965, 9122).

Who and of what quality, and how troublesome, the scrupulously conscientious are, and what they correspond to in the spiritual world (n. 5386, 5724).

They who are in the Lord's spiritual kingdom, have conscience, and it is formed in their intellectual part (n. 863, 865, 875, 895, 927, 1043-1044, 1555, 2256, 4328, 4493, 5113, 6367, 8521, 9596, 9915, 9995, 10124). It is otherwise with those who are in the Lord's celestial kingdom (n. 927, 2256, 5113, 6367, 8521, 9915, 9995, 10124).