468. THE INTERNAL SENSE

It is clear from what was stated and shown in the previous chapter that names meant heresies and systems of doctrine. From that it becomes clear that the names in this chapter do not mean specific individuals but other things that existed. Here they mean systems of doctrine or Churches which, though they underwent certain changes, were preserved from the time of the Most Ancient Church down to that of Noah. Now it so happens that every Church in the course of time gets smaller until at length it remains among only a few people. The few with whom it remained at the time of the Flood were called Noah.

[2] The fact that the true Church gets smaller and remains among the few becomes clear from other Churches which have in a similar manner got smaller. In the Word those who remain are called 'the Remnant' and 'that which is left', and indeed people 'in the midst (or the middle) of the land'. What applies in general applies in particular also; that is, what is true of the Church is equally true of individuals. If the Lord did not preserve remnants with each individual he would inevitably perish in eternal death, for those remnants contain spiritual and celestial life. The same applies to what is general or universal; were there not always some people among whom the Church, or true faith, existed, the human race would perish. For as is well known, a city, even a whole kingdom, is preserved for the sake of a few. These factors are akin to the heart in man: as long as the heart is sound the surrounding organs can go on living. But when it is weak, deterioration sets into them all and the person dies. Final remnants are meant by Noah, for with the exception of these, as is clear from verse 12 of the next chapter, 'the whole earth was corrupt'.

[3] The remnants residing with the individual or within the Church are frequently the subject in the Prophets, as in Isaiah,

He who remains in Zion, and he who is left in Jerusalem will be called holy to Him, everyone who has been written for life ¹ in Jerusalem, when the Lord will have washed the filth of the daughters of Zion and washed away the blood ² of Jerusalem from its midst. Isaiah 4:3-4.

Here holiness is attributed to the remnants, which mean remnants of the Church, and also of the member of the Church, for those left in Zion and in Jerusalem could not be holy people merely because they had been left there.

Similarly in the same prophet,

On that day, the remnant of Israel and those of the house of Jacob that escaped will no more lean on him that smote them; but they will lean upon Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the God of power. (Isaiah 10:20)

In Jeremiah,

In those days and in that time the iniquity of Israel will be sought, but there will be none, and the sins of Judah, but they will not be found; for I will pardon him whom I shall make one that is left. Jeremiah 50:10.

In Micah,

The remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples, like dew from Jehovah, like showers on the grass. Micah 5:7.

[4] That which is left, or the remnant, whether of the individual or of the Church, was also represented by tenths, which were holy. And any number involving ten was consequently holy too. Ten therefore has reference to things that are left over, as in Isaiah,

Jehovah will remove man far away, and there will be many forsaken places in the midst of the land; yet there will be a tenth part in it, and this will return; it will be a wiping out like an oak or a terebinth when the stump is cast away from them. The holy seed is its stump. Isaiah 6:12-13.

Here that which is left is called 'the holy stump'. In Amos,

Thus said the Lord Jehovah, The city that goes forth a thousand will have a hundred that are left, and that which goes forth a hundred will have ten that are left to the house of Israel. Amos 9:3.

In these and many other places the internal sense means remnants, also the subject here. The fact that a city is preserved for the sake of the remnant of the Church is clear from what Abraham was told concerning Sodom, Abraham said, Perhaps ten may be found there; and He said, I will not destroy it for the sake of ten. Genesis 18:32.

Poznámky pod čarou:

6052. 'For every shepherd of the flock is an abomination to the Egyptians' means thereby a separation from perverted factual knowledge which is opposed to the Church's factual knowledge. This is clear from the meaning of 'an abomination to the Egyptians' as a separation of factual knowledge, for things that are an abomination are separated, and the reason why something is an abomination is that it is contrary and so opposed to ideas that have been adopted and to loves that are present (here it is opposed to perverted factual knowledge, meant by 'the Egyptians', since it says 'every shepherd of the flock is an abomination to them'); and from the meaning of 'a shepherd of the flock' as one who leads to good, dealt with in 6044. Factual knowledge that supports good is what perverted factual knowledge is opposed to. And perverted factual knowledge is what destroys the truth of faith and the good of charity, as well as being what turns order upside down, as magical practices in Egypt did. For there are many things in accord with order that were misused by the magicians of Egypt, such as correspondences and representatives, which existed as factual knowledge more highly developed among them than any other people. This knowledge conforms to order even when the evil make use of it; and when they make use of it to control other people and do harm to other people, that knowledge is perverted because it involves magic. As regards the separation of factual knowledge under consideration here, it is effected by a rearranging; when good accompanied by truths comes to be in the middle or inmost part meant by 'Goshen', perverted factual knowledge that is opposed to it is cast out.

[2] Up to now the subject has been the joining of truths to factual knowledge. Regarding this joining together one should go on to recognize that a joining of the internal or spiritual man to the external or natural man cannot be effected at all unless truths are introduced into factual knowledge. For factual knowledge together with the delights that belong to natural affections constitutes the external or natural man, and therefore unless a joining to factual knowledge is effected, none at all is effected. But if a person is to become regenerated his internal and external must exist joined together. If they do not, then all good flowing in from the Lord by way of the internal man into the external or natural man is either perverted, smothered, or cast aside, in which case there is also a closing of the internal. The method by which that joining together is effected is what the present chapter has described, the execution of which method involves the introduction of truths into factual knowledge.