2946. The field give I thee, and the cave that is therein I give it thee. That this signifies preparation by themselves as to the things that are of the church and of faith, is evident from the signification of “field,” as being the church (see n. 368, 2936); from the signification of the “cave” therein, that is, in the field, as being obscurity of faith (see above, n. 2935); and from the signification of “giving the field” and “giving the cave,” or what is the same, not receiving silver from Abraham, as being not to desire to be redeemed by the Lord, but by themselves, and thus to desire to prepare themselves as to these things. Such is the first state of all who are being reformed and made spiritual, namely, that they do not believe that they are reformed by the Lord but by themselves, that is, they believe all of the will of good and of the thought of truth to be from themselves; they are also left in this state by the Lord, since in no other way can they be reformed. For if before they have been regenerated it should be said to them that they cannot do anything of good from themselves, or think anything of truth from themselves, they would then either fall into the error of thinking that they must wait for influx into the will and influx into the thought, and if this does not take place must attempt nothing; or into the error of thinking that if good and truth were from any other source than themselves, nothing would be imputed to them for righteousness; or into the idea that so they would be as it were machines, and not their own masters, or in control of themselves; or into some other error. It is therefore permitted them at that time to think that good and truth are from themselves.

[2] But after they are regenerate, then by degrees the knowledge is insinuated into them that the case is otherwise, and that all good and truth are solely from the Lord; and still further, when they are becoming more perfected, that whatever does not come from the Lord is evil and false. To the regenerate, if not in the life of the body still in the other life, it is given not only to know this, but also to perceive it; for all the angels are in the perception that it is so. (See what was said above on these subjects, namely, that all good and truth are from the Lord, n. 1614, 2016; that all intelligence and wisdom are from the Lord, n. 109, 112, 121, 124; that man of himself can do nothing of good and think nothing of truth, n. 874-876; that nevertheless everyone ought to do good as if from what is his own, and not hang down his hands, n. 1712; and that if a man compels himself to resist evil and to do good, as from himself, he receives from the Lord a heavenly Own, n. 1937, 1947)

368. That a “field” signifies doctrine, and consequently whatever belongs to the doctrine of faith and charity, is evident from the Word, as in Jeremiah:

O My mountain in the field, I will give thy possessions [facultates] and all thy treasures for a spoil (Jeremiah 17:3).

In this passage “field” signifies doctrine; “possessions” and “treasures” denote the spiritual riches of faith, or the things that belong to the doctrine of faith. In the same:

Shall the snow of Lebanon fail from the rock of My field? (Jeremiah 18:14).

It is declared concerning Zion, when destitute of the doctrine of faith, that she shall be “plowed like a field” (Jeremiah 26:18, Micah 3:12).

In Ezekiel:

He took of the seed of the land, and set it in a field of sowing (Ezekiel 17:5),

treating of the church and of its faith; for doctrine is called a “field” from the seed in it. In the same:

And let all the trees of the field know that I Jehovah bring down the high tree (Ezekiel 17:24).

In Joel:

The field is laid waste, the ground mourneth, for the corn is wasted, the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth, the husbandmen are ashamed, the harvest of the field is perished, all the trees of the field are withered (Joel 1:10-12),

where the “field” signifies doctrine, “trees” knowledges, and “husbandmen” worshipers.

In David:

The field shall exult and all that is therein; then shall all the trees of the forest sing (Psalms 96:12),where it is perfectly evident that the field cannot exult, nor the trees of the forest sing; but things that are in man, which are the knowledges of faith.

In Jeremiah:

How long shall the land mourn, and the herb of every field wither? (Jeremiah 12:4),

where it is also evident that neither the land nor the herbs of the field can mourn; but that the expressions relate to something in man while in a state of vastation. A similar passage occurs in Isaiah:

The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands (Isaiah 55:12).

The Lord also in His prediction concerning the consummation of the age calls the doctrine of faith a “field:”

Then shall two be in the field, the one shall be taken and the other left (Matthew 24:40; Luke 17:36),

where by a “field” is meant the doctrine of faith, both true and false. As a “field” signifies doctrine, whoever receives a seed of faith, whether a man, the church, or the world, is also called a “field.”