7519. Ashes of the furnace. That this signifies of exciting the falsities of cupidities through presence with those who infest, is evident from the signification of “ashes of the furnace,” as being the falsities of cupidities (of which below). That it denotes excitation by presence with those who infest, is evident from what follows in this verse, for it is said that “Moses sprinkled it toward heaven in the eyes of Pharaoh.” By “in the eyes” is signified presence, and by “Pharaoh” are signified those who infest (as often shown).

[2] How the case is with these things cannot be known without revelation, for they are such as take place in the other life, and are not known in the world. So long as evil or infernal spirits are removed and separated from heaven, that is, from the good of love and the truth of faith which are there, they do not know that they are in evils and falsities, for they then believe falsities to be truths, and evils to be goods; but as soon as heaven comes nearer to them, that is, some heavenly society, they notice the falsities and evils; for the truth of faith which then flows in causes them to notice the falsities; and the good of love which flows in causes them to notice the evils; and the nearer that heaven comes, or the more presently there inflows its good of love and truth of faith (seeing that they cannot endure these), the more grievously are they reproached by their own evils and falsities.

[3] From all this it can now be seen why it was commanded that Moses should take ashes of the furnace and sprinkle them toward heaven, and that he should do this in the eyes of Pharaoh; also why it was commanded that he, and not Aaron, should sprinkle the ashes toward heaven. For by ashes being sprinkled toward heaven is signified the influx of heaven; by this being done in the eyes of Pharaoh is signified in the presence of those who infest; that Moses was to do this, and not Aaron, is because the truth proceeding immediately from the Divine presents this effect with the evil; Moses being the truth which proceeds immediately from the Divine, and Aaron that which proceeds mediately (n. 7010). From all this it is evident what is meant in the internal sense by the contents of this verse and of that next following, namely, that there would be excited filthy and loathsome things of cupidities together with blasphemies, which are signified by the “sore breaking forth in pustules.” These things are excited when Divine truth flows in, and heaven comes nearer.

[4] Everyone can see that such things would never have been commanded by Jehovah to Moses unless there were a heavenly secret therein; that is to say, that Moses should take ashes of the furnace and sprinkle them toward heaven. Such means of producing the effect would never have been ordered by Jehovah unless they had contained something heavenly, to which these means correspond. From this can be seen the nature of the Word, that it is crowded with secret things, but with such as do not stand forth in the sense of the letter.

[5] That “ashes of the furnace” signify falsities of cupidities, is because they are from burnt things; and “burning,” as also “fire” itself, in the Word, in a good sense, signify the good of heavenly affections; but in the opposite sense, the evil of infernal cupidities. That “fire” has this signification see n. 934, 1861, 2446, 4906, 5071, 5215, 6314, 6832, 6834, 6849, 7324; and that “burning” denotes the evil of cupidities, n. 1297, 5215; hence it is that “ashes” signify falsities, for falsities are from the evils of cupidities. And as the evils of cupidities are signified by “fire,” they are also signified by a “furnace,” which is the containant, and this frequently involves the same as that which it contains.

[6] That a “furnace” has this signification is evident from these passages:

Behold, the day cometh, burning as a furnace; and all the proud, and everyone that worketh wickedness, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall set them on fire, it shall leave them neither root nor branch (Malachi 4:1); where “burning as a furnace” denotes the cupidities of evil; “setting them on fire,” a kindling with cupidities.

[7] In Genesis:

Abraham looked toward the faces of Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward the faces of all the land of the plain, and he saw, and the smoke of the land went up, as the smoke of a furnace (Genesis 19:28); where “the smoke of a furnace” denotes falsities from the evils of cupidities, for “Sodom” denotes the evil of cupidities from the love of self, and “Gomorrah” the falsity thence derived (see n. 2220, 2245, 2322).

In John:

There went up a smoke out of the pit of the abyss, as the smoke of a furnace (Revelation 9:2); where “the smoke of a furnace” in like manner denotes falsities from evils of cupidities; “the pit of the abyss” denotes hell.

[8] In Matthew:

The Son of man shall send His angels, who shall gather out of His kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and them that do iniquity, and shall send them into the furnace of fire (Matthew 13:41-42); where “the furnace of fire” denotes the evils of cupidities; for the fire of cupidities is what is meant in the Word by the “fire of hell;” moreover, loves are nothing else than the fires of life, and cupidity is what is continuous of love.

[9] In Nahum:

Draw thee waters for the siege, strengthen thy fortress; go into the mire, and tread the clay, repair the brick kiln; there shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off (Nah. 3:14-15); where “going into the mire” denotes into falsity; “treading the clay,” evil (n. 6669); “the brick kiln,” or “furnace for brick,” denotes the falsities which they invent, and which are injected by the evil (n. 1296, 6669, 7113); “fire” denotes the cupidity of evil (n. 1861, 2446, 5071, 5215, 6832, 7324); “the sword” denotes falsity (n. 4499).

[10] In Jeremiah:

Take great stones in thy hand, and hide them in clay in the furnace for brick which is at the door of Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes, in the eyes of the men of Judah; and say unto them, Behold I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and I will set his throne upon these stones that I have hid, so that he may spread his tent over them; he shall come and shall smite the land of Egypt (Jeremiah 43:9-11);

what these words signify cannot be known without the internal sense; “great stones” denote falsities; the “furnace for brick” denotes the cupidity of falsity from evil; “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon” denotes the devastator of truth and good; “his throne and tent being set over these stones” denotes that he will cause falsities to reign; “the land of Egypt which he will smite” denotes the natural mind.

5215. And parched with the east wind. That this signifies full of cupidities, is evident from the signification of “parched with the east wind,” as being to be consumed by the fire of cupidities. For the “east wind” and the “east,” in the genuine sense, are love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor (see n. 101, 1250, 3249, 3708, 3762); hence in the opposite sense they are love of self and love of the world, consequently evil desires and cupidities; for these belong to the loves referred to. “Fire” is predicated of these things for the reason spoken of above (see n. 5071), and consequently “to be parched” is predicated of them.

[2] For there are two sources of heat, as also of light; one source of heat is the sun of the world, and the other source is the sun of heaven, which is the Lord. It is known that the sun of the world pours forth heat into its world, and into all the things therein; but that the sun of heaven pours heat into the whole heaven is not so well known. And yet this may be known, if anyone will reflect upon the heat that is within man, and that has nothing in common with the heat of this world, that is, the heat called vital heat. From this it might be known that this heat is of a different nature from that of the heat of this world; and this true heat is living, while that of this world is not living; and that because spiritual heat is living, it kindles man’s interiors, of his will and understanding, and gives him to desire and to love and also to be affected. For this reason also desires, loves, and affections are spiritual heat, and are so called. That they are heat is very manifest, for heat is exhaled on all sides from living bodies, even in the greatest cold; and also when the desires and affections, that is, the loves, grow warmer, the body also grows warm in the same degree. This is the heat that is meant in the Word by “burning,” “fire,” and “flame”; and in the genuine sense it is heavenly and spiritual love, but in the opposite sense bodily and earthly love. From this it is evident that here by being “parched with the east wind” is signified being consumed by the fire of cupidities, and when predicated of memory-knowledges, which are the “thin ears” of corn, there is signified that they are full of cupidities.

[3] That by the “east wind” is signified what is of cupidites and the derivative phantasies is evident from the passages in the Word where it is mentioned, as in David:

He made the east wind to go forth in the heavens, and by His power He brought forth the south wind, and He made it rain down flesh upon them as dust, and winged fowl as the sand of the sea (Psalms 78:26-27).

That by the “flesh” which that wind brought are signified evil desires, and by the “winged fowl” the derivative phantasies, is plain in Moses (Numbers 11:31-35), where it is said that the name of the place in which the people were smitten with a plague because of their eating flesh was called “The graves of lust, because there they buried the people that lusted.”

[4] In Ezekiel:

Behold the vine that has been planted, shall it prosper? Shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? Upon the beds of its shoots it shall wither (Ezekiel 17:10).

The vine was plucked up in anger, it hath been cast forth to the earth, and the east wind hath withered its fruit; all the rods of its strength have been plucked off and withered; the fire hath devoured everyone, for fire hath gone forth from a rod of its branches, it hath devoured its fruit, so that there is not in it a rod of strength, a scepter for ruling (Ezekiel 19:12, 14); where the “east wind” denotes what belongs to cupidities.

In Isaiah:

He meditated upon His rough wind, in the day of the east wind (Isaiah 27:8).

[5] In Hosea:

The east wind shall come, the wind of Jehovah coming up from the wilderness; and its spring shall become dry, and its fountain shall be dried up; it shall make a prey of the treasure of all vessels of desire (Hos. 13:15); where also the “east wind” denotes what belongs to cupidities. Likewise in Jeremiah:

As the east wind I will scatter them before the enemy (Jeremiah 18:17).

[6] In David:

With the east wind thou wilt break the ships of Tarshish (Psalms 48:7).

In Isaiah:

Thou hast forsaken Thy people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with the east wind, and the soothsayers are Philistines (Isaiah 2:6).

In Hosea:

Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind; every day he multiplieth a lie and a wasting (Hos. 12:1);

“wind” here denotes phantasies, and the “east wind,” cupidities. Similar also is the meaning in the internal sense of the “east wind” by which locusts were produced, and by which they were driven into the sea (Exodus 10:13, 19); and also by which the waters of the sea Suph were divided (Exodus 14:21).