331. And people and nation. That this signifies those who belong to the Lord's spiritual church, and to His celestial church, is clear from the signification of people and nation in the Word. That by people are signified those who are in spiritual good, and by nation those who are in celestial good; thus those who belong to the Lord's spiritual church, and to His celestial church. That there are two kingdoms into which the heavens are divided, namely, the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom, and that in the celestial kingdom are those who are in the good of love to the Lord, and in the spiritual kingdom those who are in the good of charity towards the neighbour, may be seen in the work concerning Heaven and Hell 20-28). But those two kingdoms are not only in the heavens, they are also on the earth, and they are called there the celestial church and the spiritual church. Few know what is specifically signified in the Word by a people or peoples, and what specifically by a nation or nations; therefore I wish to adduce some passages from the Word where they are named together, from which it will be clear that "people" and "nations " have a distinct signification, for unless this were the case they would not be named together, as in the following passages:

[2] In Isaiah:

"The strong people shall honour thee, the city of the powerful nations shall fear thee. Jehovah will swallow up in this mountain the faces of the covering, the covering upon all peoples, and the veil spread over all nations" (25:3, 7, 8).

Here a distinction is made between peoples and nations, because peoples signify those who belong to the Lord's spiritual kingdom, and nations those who belong to His celestial kingdom; thus, those who are in spiritual good, and those who are in celestial good. Spiritual good is the good of charity towards the neighbour, and hence the good of faith, and celestial good is the good of love to the Lord, and hence the good of mutual love. The truth of this good is what is meant by the city of powerful nations, for a city signifies the doctrine of truth, or truths of doctrine. By swallowing up the covering cast over all peoples, and the veil spread over all nations, is signified that the shade which covers the understanding shall be dispersed lest the truths be seen and the goods perceived that pertain to heaven and the church.

[3] In the same:

"Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye peoples; let the earth hear, and the fulness thereof" (34:1).

Because nations signify those who are in the good of love, and peoples those who are in the good of charity and thence in the truths of faith, it is therefore said of the nations, that they should come near, and of the peoples, that they should hearken; to come near signifies to be conjoined by love, and to hearken signifies to obey, and to be instructed; therefore it is also said, let the earth hear, and the fulness thereof. By the earth is signified the church as to good, and by the fulness thereof are signified truths.

[4] In the same:

"I Jehovah have called thee, in justice, and will hold thine hand, and will give thee for a covenant to the people, for a light of the nations" (42:6).

In the same:

"Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears. Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people assemble" (43:8, 9).

In the same:

"I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a prince and law-giver to the nations" (55:4).

In the same:

"Thus said the Lord Jehovih, Behold, I will lift up mine hand towards the nations, and lift up my standard towards the peoples" (49:22).

In the same:

"The peoples that walked in darkness have seen a great light. Thou hast multiplied the nation, thou hast restored to it great joy" (9:2, 3).

And in the same:

"In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for a standard of the peoples, to it shall the nations seek. And he shall lift up a standard for the nations, and shall gather together the outcasts of Israel" (11:10, 12).

The statements contained in these passages are spoken concerning the Lord; and by peoples and nations are meant all who belong to His church; for all who belong to the Lord's church are either of His celestial kingdom or of His spiritual kingdom; besides those who are in those two kingdoms, there are no others who belong to the church. There are also two things which constitute the church, good and truth, both from the Lord; by nations those who are in good are meant, and by peoples those who are in truth; and, apart from persons, by nations are signified the goods of the church, and by peoples the truths thereof. Peoples signify the truths of the church, because spiritual good, or the good of charity towards the neighbour, in which those are who are meant by people, in its essence is truth. (As may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 8042, 10296; the reason of its being so, n. 863, 875, 895, 927, 1023, 1043, 1044, 1555, 2256, 4328, 4493, 5113, 9596. The nature, consequently, of the distinction between those who belong to the celestial kingdom, and those who belong to the spiritual kingdom, n. 2088, 2669, 2709 ¹ , 2715, 3235, 3240, 4788, 7068, 8521, 9277, 10295.)

[5] In the same:

"At that time a gift shall be brought unto Jehovah Zebaoth; a people divided and pillaged; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of Jehovah, to mount Zion" (18:2, 7).

The subject here treated of is the invitation of all to the church, therefore also people and nation are named. Mount Zion signifies the church, to which they are invited; by a people divided and pillaged, are signified those with whom truths are taken away, altered, or perverted by those who are in falsities of doctrine; by a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, are signified those among whom goods are treated in like manner, rivers denoting falsities and reasonings therefrom.

[6] In Zechariah:

"As yet the peoples shall come, and the inhabitants of great cities to entreat the faces of Jehovah, and so shall come many peoples and numerous nations to seek Jehovah Zebaoth in Jerusalem" (8:20-22).

By peoples and nations are also here signified all those who belong to the Lord's church; by peoples, those who belong to His spiritual church, and by nations, those who belong to His celestial church. Jerusalem, to which they shall come, denotes the church.

[7] In David:

"Thou wilt set me for the head of the nations, a people I had not known shall serve me" (Psalms 18:43).

In the same:

Jehovah "shall subdue the peoples under us, and the nations under our feet. God reigneth over the nations. The willing of the people are gathered together" (47:3, 8, 9).

In the same:

"That thy salvation may be known on the earth, among all nations. The peoples shall confess thee, O God; the nations shall be glad and shout for joy; for thou shalt judge the peoples in uprightness, and shalt lead the nations upon earth" (Psalms 67:2-5).

In the same:

"Remember me, O Jehovah, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people; that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nations" (106:4, 5).

In the same:

"I will confess thee, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing praises unto thee among the peoples" (Psalms [57]:7-9 ² ; 108:1-3).

In these passages also peoples and nations are mentioned, by whom are meant all those who are in truths and goods; the very expressions also that are used of peoples are expressions that are predicated of truths, and the expressions that are used of nations those that are predicated of goods. That no others are meant by nations, is clear also from this, that those things were said by David, who was the enemy of the Canaanitish nations.

[8] In Luke:

"Mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples; a light in revelation of the nations" (2:30-32).

In Zephaniah:

"The remnant of my people shall spoil them, and the residue of my nation shall inherit them" (2:9).

In Moses:

When the two sons struggled together in the womb; Rebecca went to enquire of Jehovah, unto whom Jehovah said, Two nations are in thy womb, and two peoples shall be separated from thy bowels (Genesis 25:22, 23).

And in the same:

"Remember the days of the age, when the Most High gave to the nations the inheritance; when he separated the sons of man, he set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel" (Deuteronomy 32:7, 8).

By the sons of man are signified the same as by peoples, namely, those who are in spiritual truths and goods; therefore it is said concerning them, "When he separated the sons of man, he set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel"; the sons of Israel signifying the spiritual church, and the number of them, or of the twelve tribes named from them, signifying all the truths and goods therein (see just above, n. 330); they therefore are called peoples. To separate them and to set their bounds, signifies to remove from falsities and to gift with truths; and to give the inheritance to the nations, signifies heaven and conjunction with those who are in the good of love.

[9] In Daniel:

"All peoples, nations, and tongues shall worship him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed" (7:14).

This is spoken of the Lord; and by peoples and nations are meant all those who are in truths and goods; and by all tongues are meant, of whatever doctrine or religion; for the Lord's church is universal, as it exists with all those who are in the good of life, and who from their doctrine look to heaven, and thereby conjoin themselves with the Lord (as to whom see the work concerning Heaven and Hell 318-328). Because nations signify those who are in the good of love, and peoples those who are in the good of charity and the truths of faith thence, therefore it is said, "His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom shall not pass away"; dominion in the Word being predicated of good, and kingdom of truth; therefore the Lord is called Lord from Divine good, and King from Divine truth. Besides these passages, there are also others which might be adduced to confirm [the statement], that people signify those who belong to the spiritual church, and nations those who belong to the celestial church; but here those only have been adduced in which people and nations are mentioned together. To these some shall be added in which nations are mentioned alone.

[10] In Isaiah:

"Open the gates, that the just nation which keepeth faithfulness may enter in. Thou hast added to the nation, O Jehovah, thou hast added to the nation; thou art glorified; thou hast removed all the ends of the earth" (26:2, 15).

In David:

"All the ends of the earth shall be turned towards Jehovah; and all the families of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is Jehovah's; and he is the ruler among the nations" (Psalms 22:27, 28).

In Isaiah:

"The nations shall walk to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Thy heart shall enlarge itself, that the multitude of the sea may be turned towards thee; the hosts of the nations shall come unto thee" (60:3, 4).

In the same:

"All nations shall see thy justice, and all kings thy glory" (62:2).

In these passages nations and peoples are not mentioned together, but still in the two last nations and kings [are], because by kings are signified the same as by people, namely, those who are in truths (see above, n. 31). And because by nations are signified those who are in good, and by kings those who are in truths, therefore it is said concerning nations, that they shall see Thy justice, and concerning kings that they shall see Thy glory, justice in the Word being predicated of good, and glory of truth. (That justice in the Word is predicated of Divine good, may be seen, n. 2235, 9857; and glory of Divine truth, n. 4809, 5922, 8267, 8427, 9429.)

[11] From the opposite sense it is further evident that peoples signify those who are in truths, and nations those who are in good; for, in that sense, peoples signify those who are in falsities, and nations those who are in evils; as in the following passages.

In Isaiah:

"Asshur, the rod of mine anger. I will send him against a hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge" (10:5, 6).

In the same:

"The voice of a multitude in the mountains; a voice of the tumult of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together. They come from a land of remoteness, from the end of the heavens. Jehovah, with the vessels of his indignation, to destroy the whole land" (13:4, 5).

In the same:

"Jehovah smiting the peoples with a plague not curable, ruling the nations with anger" (14:6).

In the same:

"By the noise of the tumult the peoples shall wander to and fro; before thy loftiness the nations shall be dispersed (33:3).

In Jeremiah:

"Behold, a people cometh from the land of the north, and a great nation shall be stirred up from the sides of the earth. They lay hold on bow and spear; it is cruel, and it has no mercy" (6:22, 23).

In Ezekiel:

"Neither will I cause thee to hear the calumny of the nations any more, and thou shalt not bear the reproach of the peoples any more" (36:15).

In David:

"Thou makest us a by-word among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples" (Psalms 44:14).

And in the same:

"Jehovah hath made void the counsel of the nations; he hath overthrown the thoughts of the peoples" (Psalms 33:10).

In these passages peoples signify those who are opposed to the truths of the spiritual church, thus those who are in falsities; and nations those who are opposed to the goods of the celestial church, thus those who are in evils. These things are also signified by the peoples and nations who were driven out of the land of Canaan. To these observations may be added what was said above, n. 175.

Fußnoten:

4302. 'And he was limping on his thigh' means that truths were not yet arranged into such an order that together with good they could all enter celestial-spiritual good. This is clear from the meaning of 'limping' as possessing good which does not as yet contain genuine truths but does contain general truths into which genuine ones can be instilled and which are such as do not disagree with genuine ones, dealt with below. In the highest sense, however, in which the Lord is the subject, 'limping on the thigh' means that truths were not yet arranged into such an order that with good they could all enter celestial-spiritual good - 'the thigh' meaning celestial-spiritual good, see above in 4277, 4278.

[2] As regards the order which truths must possess when they enter good, in this case celestial-spiritual good, no intelligible explanation of it is possible, for one needs to know before that what order is, and then what kind of order goes with truths, also what celestial-spiritual good is and then how these truths enter by way of good into that celestial-spiritual good. Even if these matters were described they would not be understood except by those who see with heavenly perception; nothing at all would be understood by those who see with merely natural perception. For those who see with heavenly perception dwell in the light of heaven which comes from the Lord, a light that holds intelligence and wisdom within it. But those who dwell in natural light do not possess any intelligence or wisdom except insofar as the light of heaven flows into that natural light and uses it in such a way that things belonging to heaven may be seen - as in a mirror or in some representative image - within things belonging to natural light. For natural light does not render any spiritual truth visible unless the light of heaven is flowing into it.

[3] This alone can be said regarding the order in which truths must exist to enable them to enter good. As with goods, all truths - not only the general ones but also the particular, and indeed the most specific - must in heaven have been arranged into that order so that one truth relates to another within a form like that in which the members, organs, and viscera of the human body relate to one another. That is, their uses relate to one another in general, also in particular, as well as most specifically, and act so as to be a single whole. From this - that is to say, from the order in which truths and goods exist - heaven itself is called the Grand Man. Its actual life comes from the Lord, who from Himself arranges every single thing into such order. Consequently heaven is a likeness and image of the Lord. When therefore truths have been arranged into an order like that into which heaven is arranged they exist in heavenly order and are able to enter good. Truths and goods exist in such order with every angel, and they are also being arranged into such order with every person who is being regenerated. In short, the order of heaven consists in the proper arrangement of truths that are the truths of faith within goods that are those of charity towards the neighbour, and the arrangement of these goods within the good that is the good of love to the Lord.

[4] The fact that 'limping' means possessing good which does not as yet contain genuine truths but does nevertheless contain general truths into which genuine ones can be instilled, and which are the kind that do not disagree with genuine truths; and thus the fact that 'the lame' are those who do possess good though not genuine good because they are without knowledge of truth - good such as gentiles possess who lead charitable lives with one another - becomes clear from those places in the Word where the lame and those who limp are mentioned in the good sense, as in Isaiah,

The eyes of the blind will be opened. and the ears of the deaf will be opened; then will the lame man leap like a hart, and the dumb man sing with his tongue. Isaiah 35:5-6.

In Jeremiah,

Behold, I am bringing them from the north land, and I will gather them from the extremities of the earth, among them the blind one and the lame, the woman who is with child and her who is giving birth, together. Jeremiah 31-8.

In Micah,

On that day, said Jehovah, I will bring together her who limps and will gather her who has been driven away. And I will make her who limps into the remnant, and her who was driven away into a numerous nation; and Jehovah will reign over them in Mount Zion, from now on and for ever. Micah 4:6-7.

In Zephaniah,

At that time I will save her who limps and will gather her who has been driven away, and I will make them a praise and a name. Zephaniah 3:19.

Anyone can see that in these places 'the lame' and 'her who limps' does not mean the lame or one who limps; for it is said of them that they will leap, be gathered together, be made into the remnant, and be saved. But it is evident that people who are governed by good and less so by truths are meant, as upright gentiles are and also those like them within the Church.

[5] Such persons are also meant by 'the lame' to whom the Lord refers in Luke,

Jesus said, When you give a feast invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind, and you will be blessed. Luke 14:13-14.

And in the same gospel,

The householder said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor, and the maimed, and the lame, and the blind. Luke 14:21.

The Ancient Church distinguished the neighbour or neighbours to whom they were to perform charitable works into different categories. Some they called the maimed, others the lame, some the blind, and others the deaf, by which they meant those who were spiritually such. Some they also called the hungry, the thirsty, strangers, the naked, the sick, or prisoners, as in Matthew 25:35-36, and likewise widows, orphans, the needy, the poor, and the wretched, by whom they meant none others than those who were such so far as truth and good were concerned, who were to be furnished with whatever was appropriate to their needs, led into 'the way', and thereby receive counsel regarding their souls. But because at the present day charity does not constitute the Church but faith, what those categories of people are used to mean in the Word is totally unknown. Yet it is evident to everyone that it is not an inviting of the maimed, the lame, and the blind to a feast that is meant, nor that the householder commanded such persons to be brought in, but that those who are like this spiritually are meant. It is also evident to them that every single utterance of the Lord contains what is Divine, and so has a celestial and a spiritual sense.

[6] The Lord's words in Mark have a similar meaning,

If your foot causes you to stumble cut it off, it is better for you to enter into life lame than having two feet to be cast into the Gehenna of fire, into the unquenchable fire. Mark 9:45; Matthew 18:8.

A foot which has to be cut off if it causes stumbling means the natural which constantly sets itself against the spiritual and has to be destroyed if it is trying to crush truths, and so means that because of the disagreement and contrary-mindedness of the natural man it is preferable to be governed by simple good even though there is a denial of truth. This is what 'entering into life lame' means. As regards 'the foot' meaning the natural, see 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280.

[7] 'The lame' also means in the Word those who possess no good at all and consequently no truth, as in Isaiah,

Then the prey will be divided; the prey multiplying, those who limp will take the prey. Isaiah 33:23.

In David,

When I am limping they are glad and are gathered together; the lame whom I do not know are gathered together against me. Psalms 35:15.

Such persons being meant by 'the lame' it was also forbidden to sacrifice anything that was lame, Deuteronomy 15:21-22; Malachi 1:8, 13. Also, no lame person belonging to the seed of Aaron could serve in the priesthood, Leviticus 21:18. As with the lame likewise with the blind, for 'the blind' in the good sense means people who have no knowledge of truth, and in the contrary sense those who are subject to falsities, 2383.

[8] In the original language one word is used to express a person who is lame, another a person who limps. In the proper sense one who is lame means people who are governed by natural good into which spiritual truths are unable to flow owing to the outward natural appearances and the delusions of the senses, while in the contrary sense one who is lame means those who are not governed by any natural good but by evil, which totally blocks the inflow of spiritual truth. One who limps however means in the proper sense those who are governed by natural good into which general truths are allowed to enter but not particular and specific truths owing to lack of knowledge, whereas in the contrary sense one who limps means those who are subject to evil and so do not even allow general truths to enter in.