9341. And from the wilderness even unto the river. That this signifies from the delight of what is sensuous even to the good and truth of the rational, is evident from the signification of “setting a border,” as being extension (as just above, n. 9340); from the signification of “a wilderness,” as being a place uninhabited and not cultivated; thus in application to the spiritual things of faith and to the celestial things of love, “a wilderness” denotes where there is no good and no truth, as is the case with what is sensuous (that the sensuous of man is of this character, see n. 9331). As the sensuous has no celestial good and no spiritual truth, but has delight and pleasure from the body and the world, therefore by “a wilderness” is signified this outermost in the man of the church. And from the signification of “the Euphrates,” which is here “the river,” as being the good and truth of the rational. That “the Euphrates” has this signification is because Assyria was there, and by “Assyria,” or “Asshur,” is signified the rational (n. 119, 1186).

[2] This is meant by “the Euphrates” where it is said, “from the wilderness to the Euphrates,” and “from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates;” as in Joshua:

From the wilderness, and Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, the whole land of the Hittites, and even unto the great sea toward the setting of the sun, shall be your border (Josh. 1:4).

To thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt even unto the great river, the river Euphrates (Genesis 15:18).

Thou madest a vine to journey out of Egypt. Thou hast sent out its shoots even unto the sea, and its twigs unto the river (Psalms 80:8, 11);

“a vine out of Egypt” denotes the spiritual church represented by the sons of Israel; “unto the sea,” and “unto the river,” denote to interior truths and goods. In like manner in Micah:

They shall come unto thee from Assyria and from the cities of Egypt, and thence from Egypt even unto the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain (Micah 7:12).

[3] But something else is signified by “the Euphrates” when it is looked at from the middle of the land of Canaan as its extreme limit on one side, or as what closes it in on one side; in this case by that river is signified that which is the ultimate of the Lord’s kingdom, that is, which is the ultimate of heaven and the church, in respect to rational good and truth. (That the borders of the land of Canaan, which were rivers and seas, signified the ultimates in the Lord’s kingdom, see n. 1585, 1866, 4116, 4240, 6516.) “The Euphrates” therefore signified such truths and such goods as belong to the sensuous mind, and correspond to the truths and goods of the rational. But as the sensuous of man stands forth nearest to the world and the earth, and receives its objects therefrom (n. 9331), it therefore acknowledges nothing else as good than that which delights the body; and nothing else as truth than that which favors this delight. By “the river Euphrates” therefore in this sense is signified the pleasure arising from the loves of self and of the world; and the falsity which confirms it by reasonings from the fallacies of the senses.

[4] This is what is meant by “the river Euphrates” in Revelation:

A voice said to the sixth angel, Loose the four angels which are bound at the great river Euphrates. They were loosed, and they killed the third part of men (Revelation 9:14-15);

“the angels bound at the Euphrates” denote the falsities originating through reasonings from the fallacies of the senses, which falsities favor the delights of the loves of self and of the world. Again:

The sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings who are from the sun rising might be prepared (Revelation 16:12);

“the Euphrates” here denotes falsities from a like origin; “the water dried up” denotes these falsities removed by the Lord; “the way of the kings from the east” denotes that then the truths of faith are seen by and revealed to those who are in love to the Lord. (That “waters” denote truths, and in the opposite sense falsities, see n. 705, 739, 756, 790, 839, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 7307, 8137, 8138, 8568, 9323; that “a way” denotes truth seen and revealed, n. 627, 2333, 3477; that “kings” denote those who are in truths, n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148; that “the east” denotes the Lord, and also love from Him and to Him, n. 101, 1250, 3708; and in like manner “the sun,” n. 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495, 3636, 3643, 4060, 4696, 5377, 7078, 7083, 7171, 7173, 8644, 8812)

[5] In Jeremiah:

Thou hast forsaken Jehovah thy God, when He led thee into the way. And now what hast thou to do with the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Shihor? Or what hast thou to do with the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river? (Jeremiah 2:17-18);

“to lead into the way” denotes to teach truth; “what hast thou to do with the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Shihor?” denotes what hast thou to do with falsities which have been occasioned by memory-knowledges wrongly applied? “What hast thou to do with the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?” denotes what hast thou to do with the falsities which have arisen through reasonings from the fallacies of the senses in favor of the delights of the loves of self and of the world?

[6] In the same:

Jehovah said unto the prophet, Take the girdle that thou hast bought, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock. So I went and hid it at the Euphrates. Afterward it came to pass at the end of many days, that Jehovah said, Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence. Wherefore he went to the Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where he had hidden it; but behold the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing (Jeremiah 13:3-7);

“the girdle of the loins” denotes the external bond containing all things of love and thence of faith; “to be hidden in a hole of the rock by the Euphrates” denotes where faith is in obscurity and has become no faith, through falsities from reasonings; “the girdle marred so that it was profitable for nothing” denotes that all things of love and of faith are then dissolved and dispersed.

[7] That Jeremiah was to tie a stone to the book written by him, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates (Jeremiah 51:63); signified that the prophetic Word would perish through like things. In the same:

Let not the swift flee away, nor the strong one escape; toward the north near the shore of the river Euphrates they have stumbled and fallen. But Jehovah Zebaoth taketh vengeance on His adversaries. The Lord Jehovih Zebaoth hath a sacrifice in the land of the north by the river Euphrates (Jeremiah 46:6, 10); where also “the river Euphrates” denotes truths falsified, and goods adulterated, through reasonings from fallacies and the derivative memory-knowledges which favor the loves of self and of the world.

8812. When it was morning. That this signifies a state when they were in good, is evident from the signification of “morning,” as being a state of the good of love (see n. 8426). From what is here said, that Jehovah, that is, the Lord; descended upon Mount Sinai on the third day, and also on the morning of that day, it is very manifest that this was representative of some Divine thing in heaven, which cannot be made known to anyone except from the correspondence of such things as come forth in the natural world with things that are in the spiritual world, and from the consequent signification; as in the present case what “morning” signifies, and what “the third day.” That “the third day” denotes the end of a former state, is because by “three” is signified what is full from beginning to end (n. 8790); and that “morning” denotes a state of the good of love, is because the sun which in the other life gives light to the angels and to the universal heaven, is the Lord, and the fire there is His Divine love, which gives the heat of life to every living being, and the light there is the Divine truth which enlightens all who receive it; quite differently from the sun of this world, the fire of which is fire and not love, and the light from which is light and not truth.

[2] From all this it can be seen what are the effects of the fire and also of the light from the sun of the world, and what are the effects of the fire and light from the sun of heaven, namely, that from the former the heat and light are devoid of life, but from the latter the heat and light are attended with life. These latter, namely, those which come forth from the sun of heaven, are therefore called “spiritual,” because they have life in them; and the former, which are from the sun of the world, are called “natural,” and have no life in them. The life which in living beings is noticed in heat and from heat, is not from the heat of the sun of the world, but is from the heat of the sun of heaven. When this heat flows into the heat of the world, it produces that effect, and is felt in the body as elementary heat; but there is in it vital heat that has its origin from the love which is heat from the sun of heaven. That the origin of the heat of life is from some other source, and that it is in love and is according to the measure and the quality of the love, everyone can know provided he is willing to reflect aright, except those who do not acknowledge anything internal in man, and who ascribe all things to nature.

[3] As therefore the heat from the sun of heaven, which is the Lord, is the good of love, and as the light therefrom is the truth of faith, it can be seen what is signified by “morning,” and what by “noon,” by “evening” and by “night,” in the other life, namely, that they are states of good and truth, or of love and faith; “morning,” a state of the good of love; “noon,” a state of the truth of faith; and “evening,” and “night,” the privation of these, which is ignorance and blindness in the things that are of faith, also torpor and cold in the things that are of heavenly love.

[4] Moreover the case is similar with the sun of heaven as with the sun of the world, namely, that it is fixed and does not cause those states by any circumgyration; but that they are caused by the surrounding bodies, as by the earth revolving around the sun and at the same time around its own axis; from which comes the appearance that those changes arise from the sun, when yet they are not from the sun, but from the world revolving about it. So also in heaven, the changes of state there, to which morning, noon, evening, and night correspond, do not arise from the sun there, for the sun is always sending forth heat and light, that is, the good of love and the truth of faith; but those changes arise with those who receive, namely, with angels and spirits who by stated alternations according to their life are now in morning, that is, in the good of love; now in noon, that is, in the truth of faith; now in evening and night, that is, in shade and torpor as to love and faith.

[5] The reason why the case is similar in the world as in heaven, with the difference that in the world they are states of times which so succeed each other, and in heaven states of life, is that all things in the world were created after the image of things that are in heaven, because natural things come forth from spiritual things as effects from their causes. Hence there is a correspondence of all things in the world with those which are in heaven, and hence universal nature is a theater representative of the Lord’s kingdom (n. 3483, 4939, 8211).