10284. And in the quality thereof ye shall not make any like it. That this signifies no imitation from the study of man, is evident from the signification of “making any like it in quality,” that is, making the like oil by means of the like spices, as being to prepare in imitation by the study of man. That these things are signified by these words, follows from the connection of the things in the internal sense; for it is said first, that it should “not be poured upon the flesh of man,” by which is signified that which is not communicative to what is man’s own; and next that it shall be “holy unto you;” whereas that which is made from man, and by his study, is made from what is his own, and is not holy, because study from what is man’s own is nothing but falsity from evil, for it regards itself and the world as the end, and not the neighbor and God; and therefore it is called “imitation.”

[2] The case herein is this. Everything that is from the Lord is good and true. But the good and truth in imitation of this by man is not good and true, for the reason that everything good and true has life in it from its end. An end from man is merely for the sake of himself; whereas that which is good and true from the Lord is for the sake of good itself and truth itself as ends, thus for the sake of the Lord, because everything good and true is from Him. With man the end is himself, for it is his will, and it is his love; because that which a man loves, and that which he wills, this he has as his end. All the love with man from man is the love of self and the love of the world for the sake of self; but the love with man from the Lord is love toward the neighbor and love to God. The difference between these loves is as great as that between hell and heaven; and indeed the love of self, and the love of the world for the sake of self, reign in hell and are hell; whereas love toward the neighbor and love to the Lord reign in heaven and are heaven. Moreover, a man is such, and such remains to eternity, as is his love; for love is everything of man’s will, and from this of his understanding, because the love which makes the will continually flows into the understanding, and kindles it, and enlightens it. From this it is that when those who love what is evil are thinking by themselves, they think what is false in conformity with the evil of their love; although before men they speak differently, from hypocrisy, and some from persuasive faith, the quality of which may be seen above (n. 9364, 9369).

[3] Be it known that before men a man is able by study to imitate Divine things themselves, and to present himself as an angel of light; whereas before the Lord and before the angels the external form does not appear, but the internal; and when this is from what is man’s own, it is filthy. Within such persons there is merely what is natural, and nothing spiritual; they see only from natural light, and not at all from the light of heaven. Nay, they do not know what the light of heaven is, and what the spiritual is, for all their interiors are turned outward, almost like the interiors of animals, nor do they suffer themselves to be raised upward by the Lord; when yet man possesses this special privilege above the beasts, that he is capable of being raised by the Lord to heaven and to the Lord, and thus of being led. All those are so raised who love good and truth for the sake of good and truth, which is the same as loving the neighbor and God; for in a general sense the neighbor is what is good and true, and in a lower sense what is just and right; and moreover God is what is good and true, and what is just and right, because these are from God.

[4] From all this it can be seen what it is to imitate Divine things by the study of man; the quality of those who do this is described in the Word throughout by “Egypt” and “Pharaoh,” for by “Egypt” and “Pharaoh” are signified the memory-knowledges that belong to the natural man; and it is also described by “Asshur,” by whom is signified reasoning from memory-knowledges (concerning “Egypt” see the places cited in n. 9340, 9391; and concerning “Asshur,” n. 1186).

[5] Among spirits there are great numbers who imitate Divine things by study and art; for they counterfeit what is sincere, upright, and pious, insomuch that good spirits would be led astray unless the Lord enlightened them, and made them see the interiors of those who would lead them astray, at the sight of which the good are seized with horror, and flee away. But such spirits are stripped of their externals, and are let into their interiors which are diabolical, and thus of themselves they sink down into hell. (More may be seen concerning these spirits in a following article, n. 10286)

5360. And the seven years of famine began to come. That this signifies the following states of desolation, is evident from the signification of “years,” as being states (see n. 482, 487, 488, 493, 893); and from the signification of “famine,” as being a lack of the knowledges of truth and good (n. 1460, 3364), consequently desolation. That a famine denotes such a lack, or desolation, is because celestial and spiritual food are nothing else than good and truth. These are what angels and spirits are nourished by, and what they hunger for when hungry, and thirst for when thirsty; and therefore also material food corresponds thereto-as bread to celestial love, and wine to spiritual love, as well as everything that pertains to bread or food, and to wine or drink. When therefore there is a lack of such things, there is a “famine,” and in the Word this is called “desolation” and “vastation”—“desolation” when truths fail, and “vastation” when goods fail. This desolation and vastation is treated of in many passages of the Word, and is there described by the desolation of the earth, of kingdoms, of cities, of nations, and of peoples, and is also termed a “pouring out,” a “cutting off,” a “consummation,” a “desert,” and a “void;” and the state itself is called the “great day of Jehovah,” the “day of His wrath” and “vengeance,” a “day of darkness,” and “thick darkness,” of “cloud” and of “obscurity,” a “day of visitation,” also the “day when the earth shall perish,” thus the “last day” and the “day of judgment;” and because men have not understood the internal sense of the Word, they have hitherto supposed that it meant a day when the earth will perish, and that then for the first time will there be a resurrection and a judgment, not being aware that by a “day” in such passages is signified a state, and by the “earth” the church, and thus by a “day when the earth will perish,” a state when the church will come to its end; therefore when this perishing is described in the Word, a “new earth” is also described, by which is meant a new church. (In regard to the “new earth” and “new heaven,” see what is said above, n. 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 3355, 4535.) That last state of a church which precedes the state of a new church, is properly meant and described in the Word by “vastation” and “desolation.” By the same words is described also the state that precedes man’s regeneration, which state is here signified by the seven years of famine.