10483. 'And Moses stood in the gate of the camp' means where the opening to hell is situated. This is clear from the representation of 'Moses' as the internal, dealt with above in 10468; from the meaning of 'in the gate' as where the opening is situated, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'the camp' as hell, also dealt with above, in 10458. The reason why Moses stood in the gate of the camp and did not go inside the actual camp was in order that the impossibility for the internal to enter hell might be represented; for Moses represented the internal and the camp represented hell. The interest of all those in hell lies in external things separated from what is internal, because self-love and love of the world rule within them. Therefore what is internal cannot go in there since it is not received. Instead some who are there immediately reject it, some smother it and snuff it out, and some pervert it. Whether you say the internal or heaven, it amounts to the same thing; for heaven constitutes what is internal, not only the internal side of the Word but also the internal side of the Church and of worship, consequently the internal of the person who has celestial and spiritual love reigning within him, that is, love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour.

[2] What hell's opening is, meant by 'the gate' of this camp, must be stated briefly. Each hell is closed all the way around it, but it is opened above as necessity and need demand. It is an opening into the world of spirits, the world that lies midway between heaven and hell; for that world serves as the upper boundary of the hells and as the lower boundary of the heavens, 5852. The reason for saying that they are opened as necessity and need demand is that each person in the world has spirits present with him from hell, and angels from heaven. The spirits from hell are present in his bodily and worldly loves, and the angels from heaven in those which are celestial and spiritual; for without the spirits the person can have no life at all. If the spirits were taken away from him he would drop dead as a stone. Consequently to enable a person to lead a life in keeping with his loves the hells are opened of necessity and as need demands, and from there such spirits come out to him as are ruled by loves similar to his.

[3] That opening is what should be understood by the gate of hell. I have been allowed several times to see such openings. They are gates which the Lord guards by means of angels, to stop more spirits than are needed from coming out of there. From this it is evident what 'the gates of hell' and 'the gates of enemies' mean in the Word, as in Matthew,

Jesus said to Peter, On this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Matthew 16:18.

'The gates of hell will not prevail' means that the hells will not dare to come out and destroy the truths of faith, 'the rock' on which the Church stands being faith in the Lord received from the Lord. This faith is the faith of charity because it is rooted in charity and for that reason makes one with it.

'The rock' means that faith, see Preface to Genesis 22, and also 8581, 10438.

Real faith consists in charity, 654, 1162, 1176, 1608, 2228, 2343, 2349, 2419, 2839, 3324, 4368, 6348, 7039, 7623-7627, 7752-7762, 8530, 9154, 9783, 9924.

[4] The like is also meant by your seed will inherit the gate of their enemies, Genesis 22:17; 24:60. 'Inheriting the gate of their enemies' means destroying evils and falsities which come from hell. This was also represented by driving out and destroying the nations in the land of Canaan; for the nations there represented evils and falsities which come from hell, see 1573, 1574, 1868, 4818, 6306, 8054, 8317, 9320, 9327.

Also in David,

Those who dwell in the gate plot against me; those who drink strong wine sing songs. Psalms 69:12.

In the same author,

Blessed is the man who has filled his quiver. They will not be put to shame, for they will speak with enemies in the gate. Psalms 127:5.

'Gates' in the good sense however stands for the opening into heaven.

In David,

Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O eternal doors, and the King of glory will come in. Psalms 24:7-10.

In addition admission into heaven and into the Church through truth and good is meant in the Word by 'gates', and also good and truth flowing in and present with a person.

1573. 'And the Canaanite and the Perizzite were then dwelling in the land' means evils and falsities in the external man. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'the Canaanite' as hereditary evil from the mother in the external man, dealt with already in 1444, and from the meaning of 'the Perizzite' as derivative falsity, dealt with in what follows below. That hereditary evil from the mother resided with the Lord in His external Man, see what has been stated already in 1414, 1444. The fact that falsity resulted from that hereditary evil follows, for where there is hereditary evil falsity is present also. The one is born from the other, but falsity from evil cannot be born until a person has been endowed with facts and cognitions. Evil has nothing to work on or flow into except facts and cognitions. In this way evil belonging to the will part of the mind is turned into falsity in the understanding part, and therefore this falsity also was hereditary because it was born from what was hereditary, though not the falsity that is based on false principles. But it existed in the external man as that which the internal man could see was falsity.

[2] Because hereditary evil from the mother was present before the Lord had been endowed with facts and cognitions, that is, before 'Abram sojourned in Egypt' it is said in verse 6 of the previous chapter that 'the Canaanite was in the land' but not that the Perizzite was there, whereas in the present verse, now that He had been endowed with facts and cognitions, it is said that 'the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelt in the land'. From these considerations it is clear that 'the Canaanite' means evil and 'the Perizzite' falsity. It is also clear from the consideration that the mention of the Canaanite and the Perizzite does not bear any relation to the historical events among which it occurs, for nothing is said about either of them in what has gone before or in what follows. The same is also true with the mention of the Canaanite in verse 6 of the previous chapter. From this it is evident that some arcanum lies concealed here which one cannot know except from the internal sense.

[3] To some it may come as a surprise to say that hereditary evil from the mother was present with the Lord, but as such evil is spoken of so plainly here, and as in the internal sense the Lord is the subject, there can be no doubt that it was present. For no human being can possibly be born from another human being without deriving evil from him or her. But the hereditary evil that is derived from the father is one thing, that from the mother is another. Hereditary evil from the father is more internal and remains for ever, since it can never be rooted out. Such evil did not exist with the Lord because He was born of Jehovah as His Father, and thus was Divine, or Jehovah, as regards internals. But hereditary evil from the mother belongs to the external man, as it did with the Lord, and it is called 'the Canaanite in the land', and derivative falsity 'the Perizzite'. The Lord was in this sense born as any other, and had weaknesses as any other has them.

[4] That the Lord derived hereditary evil from the mother is quite clear from the fact that He underwent temptations. Nobody can ever be tempted who has no evil, for it is the evil present with man that tempts and by means of which he is tempted. That the Lord was tempted, undergoing temptations so serious that no other could ever endure one ten thousandth part of them, that He suffered all alone, and by His own power overcame evil, or the devil and the whole of hell, is also clear. Those temptations are spoken of in Luke as follows,

Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. He was tempted for forty days by the devil, so that He ate nothing in those days. But after the devil had ended every temptation he departed from Him for a time. From there He returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. Luke 4:1-2, 13-14.

[5] And in Mark,

The Spirit, driving Jesus, made Him go away into the wilderness; and He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted; and He was with the wild beasts. Mark 1:12-13.

Here 'beasts' means hell. In addition to this He is spoken of as being tempted to the point of death, so that His sweat was [like] drops of blood,

And when He was in agony He prayed more earnestly; and His sweat became as great drops of blood falling down upon the ground. Luke 22:44.

[6] No angel can possibly be tempted by the devil, the reason being that as an angel abides in the Lord, evil spirits cannot approach him, even when they are a long way off, but are instantly seized with horror and fright. Much less could hell have approached the Lord if He had been born Divine, that is, without evil from the mother clinging to Him.

[7] That the Lord bore the iniquities and evils of the human race is also a statement commonly made by preachers, yet the diversion of iniquities and evils to Himself can never come about except through a hereditary channel. The Divine cannot take evil upon Itself, and therefore in order that He might overcome evil by His own powers - which no human being has ever been able to do or ever can do - and in so doing might make Himself alone Righteousness, He was willing to be born like any other. Otherwise there would have been no need for Him to be born at all, for the Lord could have assumed Human Essence without going through the process of birth, as He had indeed sometimes done when seen by members of the Most Ancient Church, and also by prophets. Therefore in order that He might be furnished with evil against which He was to fight and over which He was to conquer, and in so doing might join together in Himself the Divine Essence to the Human Essence, He came into the world.

[8] In the Lord however there was no evil of His own, that is, He committed no actual evil, as He Himself also says in John,

Who of you is going to convict Me of sin? John 8:46.

From these considerations it may now be quite evident what is meant by the statement immediately preceding - 'there was strife between Abram's herdsmen and Lot's herdsman'. The reason was that 'the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling in the land'.