8858. A person's whole character is determined by the nature of whatever dominates his life; this is what marks him off from others. His heaven is formed in accordance with it if he is good, or his hell if he is bad. For it constitutes his true will and so the true being of his life, which is unchangeable after death. From all this one may see what the life is like in a person who has been regenerated, and what it is like in one who has not been regenerated.

9832. 'And they shall take the gold' means the good reigning universally. This is clear from the meaning of 'gold' as the good of love, dealt with in 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917, 9490, 9510. Its reigning universally is meant by the fact that the gold was interwoven everywhere in the ephod, as is clear from what is stated later on in this book,

They beat out ¹ the plates of gold and cut them up into threads, to work in among the violet, and in among the purple, and in among the twice-dyed scarlet, and in among the fine linen. Exodus 39:3.

'Reigning universally' describes that which is dominant and so is present in each individual part, see 5949, 6159, 7648, 8067, 8853-8858, 8865. The reason why the gold was interwoven everywhere was that Aaron's garments represented the spiritual heaven, 9814, and in that heaven good holds sway, as it also does in the remaining heavens. In the inmost heaven it is the good of love to the Lord, in the middle one the good of charity towards the neighbour, and in the lowest the good of faith. The truth however which belongs to faith leads the way to good, and afterwards is brought forth from it. From this it is evident that a person is not in heaven until good is present within him. If merely the knowledge of truths, called the truths of faith, is present in a person he does no more than stand in front of the door; or if, knowing those truths, he is looking towards good he goes through into the porch. But if, in knowing those truths, he is not looking towards good he cannot see heaven, not even from a long way off. The reason for saying that a person is not in heaven until good is present within him is that a person must have heaven within him while in the world if he is to enter it after death. For heaven exists within people; and it is granted in mercy to those who during their life in the world allow themselves to be led by means of the truths of faith into charity towards the neighbour and into love to the Lord, that is, into good. People are not in heaven until they have come into that state in which the Lord leads them by means of good, see 8516, 8539, 8722, 8772, 9139. By good is meant the good of life; and the good of life consists in the performance of what is good because there is a will for what is good, and a will for what is good springs from love; for what a person loves, he wills.

Poznámky pod čarou:

6159. 'And for your food, and for those in your households' means so that the good of truth may therefore be present in every single part. This is clear from the meaning of 'food' as the good of truth, dealt with in 5410, 5426, 5487, 5582, 5588, 5655, and from the meaning of 'those who are in households' as every single instance of good derived from truth, so that 'for food for those in your households' is the good of truth in every single part. What is really meant by this - by the statement that the good of truth may be present in every single part - is this: As a person undergoes regeneration, good instills itself into every single part of him, for it then comes about that an affection for good reigns throughout the whole of him. And what reigns throughout the whole reigns in each individual or every single part. This may be recognized from the dominant affection in any person. That affection, whatever it may be, is present in every individual part of his will, and also in every individual part of his thought. Even though it does not seem to be present always in his thought, it is nevertheless there. It does not seem to be there because at such moments it is covered over by other affections that circumstances introduce; but as those affections are stripped away, so the dominant affection comes into view.

[2] There is no better way to demonstrate this than by reference to spirits and angels. Spirits who are evil, that is, ones in whom evil has dominion, are evil in every single part. They are such even when they utter what is true or perform a good action, for in doing so they have nothing else in mind than to deceive others into thinking that they are in fact good spirits, and so to mislead them by an outward appearance of goodness. When they are doing this it can be clearly detected simply from the sound of their voice, and one can also detect it in the sphere emanating from them. Angels in heaven, in whom good has dominion, that is, reigns throughout, are good in every single part. That is, good from the Lord shines out of every single aspect of them. Even if they do something evil to outward appearance, their end or intention nevertheless is that good may be the outcome. From all this it may be seen that where good reigns throughout the whole, it does so in every single part; and the same holds true where evil reigns. For a reigning throughout the whole first begins when every single part is good or evil; and the essential nature and the number of those parts determines the nature of the whole. For what is called the whole is such by virtue of its existence in each separate part .