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.

9410. 'He did not lay a hand' means that truth in its power is not present there. This is clear from the meaning of 'hand' as the power which comes through truth. For the meaning of 'hand' as power, see 878, 3091, 3387, 4931-4937, 5327, 5328, 5544, 6947, 7011, 7188, 7189, 7518, 7673, 8050, 8153, 8281, 9025, 9133; for its coming through truth, 3091, 3503, 6344, 6423, 8304; and for the fact that truth derives all its power from good, that is, from the Lord through good, 6948, 8200, 9327. From all this it is evident that 'He did not lay a hand towards the children of Israel who had been set apart' means that truth in its power is not present with those restricted to the outward sense of the Word, separated from the inward. The reason why truth is not present with them in its power is that they are separated from heaven and so from the Lord; for the Word joins a person to heaven, and through heaven to the Lord, because all the things constituting the sense of the letter of the Word correspond to the spiritual and celestial realities which exist with angels. There is no connection with the angels if the Word is understood according to the letter alone and not at the same time according to some teaching of the Church on the inner level of the Word.

[2] Take for example the Lord's words to Peter,

You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Matthew 16:18-19.

In like manner to the disciples,

Truly I say to you, Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Matthew 18:18.

Those who are restricted to the outward sense of the Word, separated from the inward, thus those who are separated from the true teachings of the Church, convince themselves that such power was given to Peter by the Lord, and also to the rest of the Lord's disciples. This conviction leads to the hellish heresy that certain people possess the power to let into or shut out of heaven whomsoever they please, when in fact according to the true teachings of the Church, which lie on the inward level of the Word, the Lord alone has that power. Those therefore who know the outward sense of the Word and at the same time its inward sense understand that these things spoken by the Lord had regard to faith and the truths of faith which are received from the Lord, and that such faith received from the Lord possesses that power, thus the Lord Himself, and not at all any mere human being.

[3] The truth of this may be recognized from the representation of Peter and of the twelve disciples, also from the meaning of 'rock', and from the meaning of 'keys' as well. Peter represented faith, see Prefaces to Genesis 18, 22, also 3750, 4738, 6000, 6073 (end); the Lord's twelve disciples, like the twelve tribes of Israel, represented all aspects of faith and love, 3488, 3858, 6397; 'rock' means the Lord in respect of faith, and so faith which is received from the Lord, 8581; and 'keys' means power, as is clear from places in the Word where keys are mentioned, such as in John,

I am the First and the Last, He who lives; and I was dead, but behold, I am alive for ever and ever, and have the keys of hell and of death. Revelation 1:17-18.

In the same book,

These things says the One who is Holy, the One who is True, He who has the key of David, He who opens in order that no one may close, and closes in order that no one may open ... Revelation 3:7-8.

And in Isaiah,

I will place the key of the house of David on His shoulder, in order that He may open and none shut, and He may shut and none open. Isaiah 22:22.

In these places it is evident that 'key' means power and that the Lord alone possesses it.

[4] From all this one can see what those people are like who are restricted to the outward sense of the Word, separated from the inward, namely people who are not at all joined to heaven, nor thus to the Lord. This is so with those who explain those words addressed by the Lord to Peter and to the disciples according to their literal meaning, in that they arrogate to themselves the power to save the human race and make themselves the gods of heaven and earth, which they do on account of their insane self-love and love of the world. Anyone sound in mind may see and appreciate that a mere human being cannot absolve any sin at all, because no sin is absolved except through the development of a new life, that is, through being regenerated by the Lord. Regeneration continues right on to the end of a person's life in the world, and after that for evermore, see 8548-8553, 8635-8640, 8742-8747, 8853-8858, 8958-8968.

[5] What truth in its power is must also be stated briefly. In the Word angels are called 'powers'; and it is also well known in the Church that they are such. Yet they are not powers by virtue of anything their own, only by virtue of the Lord; for they are recipients of God's truth which emanates from the Lord. The power they have from the Lord is such that one of them can drive away a thousand of the devil's crew, confine them to the hells, and keep them in check. For God's truth emanating from the Lord fills the heavens and forms them; and if you are willing to believe it, all things were made and created through that truth. The Word which was in the beginning with God and which was God, and through which all things were created and the world was made, spoken of in John 1:1-14, is Divine Truth. Divine Truth is the one true substance from which all things come into being; but this is something few are able to understand, because at the present day the idea which people have of Divine Truth is no different from that of words coming from the lips of one who rules over all, whose orders are carried out according to those words. As for the kind of idea people ought in fact to have of Divine Truth, see 9407 (end). The omnipotence of Divine Truth emanating from the Lord is described in many places in the Word, and especially in John, in the Book of Revelation,

War took place in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought, and his angels, but they did not prevail, nor was their place found any longer in heaven. They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. Revelation 12:7-8, 11.

'The blood of the Lamb', it is evident, is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Human, see 4735, 6978, 7317, 7326, 7850, 9127, 9393, 9395; and 'the word of their testimony' is God's truth which has found acceptance.

[6] People who are restricted to the outward sense of the Word, separated from the inward, that is, those who are separated from the true teachings of the Church, understand these words of prophecy in solely a literal way. That is to say, they take 'blood' to mean blood, thus the Lord's passion, when in fact Divine Truth emanating from the Lord is what is meant in those words by 'blood'. People with the true teachings of the Church are able to know that they are saved not by blood but by hearing God's truth and doing it, thus [that all are saved] who allow the Lord to regenerate them by means of Divine Truth. All who receive enlightenment from the Lord are able to know, understand, see, and perceive this, thus all who are governed by the good of charity and faith are able to do so, since it is they who receive enlightenment. I myself can certainly say that when I read the blood of the Lamb and think of the Lord's blood the angels present with me know no other than that Divine Truth emanating from the Lord is what I read and that that Truth is what I think of. But let simple people hold on to the teaching they have that they are saved by the Lord's blood, so long as they are leading a life in keeping with His Divine Truth; for those who lead such a life receive enlightenment in the next life.

9995. 'Of fine wheat flour you shall make them' means truth which springs from Divine Good, of which those [celestial kinds of good] consist. This is clear from the meaning of 'fine flour' as truth, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'wheat' as the good of love, dealt with in 3941, and so in the highest sense as Divine Good; and from the meaning of 'making them' as the requirement that those kinds of celestial good, meant by unleavened bread, cakes, and wafers, must consist of that truth. The situation in all this is that all the truths and forms of good that exist in heaven have their origin in Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good. This Divine Truth as received by angels in the celestial kingdom is called celestial good, but as received in the spiritual kingdom by angels there it is called spiritual good; for no matter how often Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good is called Truth it is still good. The reason for referring to it as Truth is that it appears in heaven, before angels' outward sight there, as light; for the light there is Divine Truth, but the heat within that light, which is the good of love, causes it to be good. The situation is similar with people in this world. When the truth of faith emanates from the good of charity, as happens when a person has been regenerated, truth appears as good, which is also as a consequence called spiritual good since the inner being of truth is good, and truth is the outward form of good.

[2] From all this it may become clear why a person finds it so hard to distinguish between thinking and willing, for when he wills something he says that he thinks it, and often when he thinks something that he wills it. Yet they are as distinct and separate as truth and good are; for the inner being of thought is the will and the outward form of the will is thought, just as the inner being of truth is good and the outward form of good is truth, as stated immediately above. Since a person finds it so hard to distinguish one from the other he does not know what the inner being of his life is, or that good constitutes it, not truth except insofar as it springs from good. Good belongs to the will, and the will consists in what a person loves, so that truth does not become the being of a person's life until he loves it; and when the person loves it he does it. Truth however belongs to the understanding, whose function is thinking; and when he thinks it he is able to speak about it. Also it is possible to understand the truth and think it without willing or doing it; but then it does not become the person's own, part of his life, because it does not have within itself the inner being of his life. Knowing nothing about any of this a person consequently ascribes salvation wholly to faith and scarcely at all to charity, when in fact faith receives its inner being of life from charity, even as truth receives it from good.

[3] Furthermore all good with a person is given form by truth, for good flows in from the Lord by an inward path, while truth enters by an outward path. They then marry in the internal man, though in one way in the case of a spiritual person or angel and in another in the case of a celestial person or angel. With a spiritual person or angel the marriage takes place in the understanding part of the mind, but in a celestial person or angel in the will part. The outward path by which truth enters lies through hearing and sight into the understanding, but the inward path by which good flows in from the Lord lies through what is inmost in the person into the will. On this subject see what has been shown in the places referred to in 9596. From all this it is evident that the celestial kinds of good meant by unleavened bread, cakes, and wafers, come into being through Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good, and that this is what should be understood by 'of fine wheat flour you shall make them'. This goes to explain why minchahs, though varying in how they were made, all consisted of fine flour mixed with oil, see Leviticus 2:1-16; 6:20-23; Numbers 7:13ff; 15:2-15; 28:11-15.

[4] The fact that 'fine flour', and also 'flour', mean truth that springs from good is clear from the following places: In Ezekiel,

You ate fine flour, honey, and oil; therefore you became extremely beautiful. Ezekiel 16:13.

These things are said of Jerusalem, by which the Ancient Church is meant in that chapter in Ezekiel. 'Fine flour' means that Church's truth which springs from good, 'honey' its delight, 'oil' the good of love, and 'eating' making it one's own. The words 'you became beautiful' are consequently used, for spiritual beauty comes as a result of truths and forms of good.

[5] In Hosea,

He does not have any standing grain; the ears will yield no flour. [If] by chance they do yield it, aliens will swallow it up. Hosea 8:7.

'Standing grain' means the truth of faith springing from good, in the process of being conceived, 9146, 'the ears will yield no flour' sterility because there is no truth springing from good, and 'aliens' who 'will swallow it up' falsities arising from evil that will consume it.

[6] In 1 Kings 17:12-15 the Sidonian woman in Zarephath told Elijah that she had nothing to make a cake with except a handful of flour in a jar and a tiny amount of oil in a flask. So Elijah told her that she should make a cake for him first, and that 'the jar of flour will not be used up, nor will the flask of oil fail', which was indeed what happened. Here 'flour' means the Church's truth, and 'oil' its good; for the woman in Sidon represents a Church that is in possession of cognitions or knowledge of truth and good, while Elijah the Prophet represents the Lord in respect of the Word. From this it is evident what this miracle has to do with, for all the miracles described in the Word have to do with things such as belong to the Church, 7337, 8364, 9086. From this it is evident what is meant by 'the jar of flour will not be used up, nor will the flask of oil fail' if from the little she had she made a cake for Elijah first and for her son after that. For the meaning of 'the woman' as the Church, see 252, 253; for that of 'Sidon' as cognitions of truth and good, 1201; and for that of 'Elijah' as the Lord in respect of the Word, 2762, 5247 (end).

[7] In Isaiah,

O daughter of Babel, take a mill, and grind flour. Isaiah 47:1-2.

'Daughter of Babel' stands for those within the Church who are outwardly holy but inwardly unholy. 'Grinding flour' stands for choosing matters from the literal sense of the Word such as serve to strengthen the evils of self-love and love of the world. For any such evil is unholy, 'grinding' describes choosing, and also explaining in support of those kinds of love, while 'flour' means truth that serves, see 4335.

[8] From all this it is evident what 'grinding' means and therefore what something 'ground up' means, as in Jeremiah,

Princes have been hung up by their hands, the faces of the old men have not been honoured; the young men have been led away to grind at the mill. Lamentations 5:12-13.

In Moses,

Moses took the calf which they had made, and burned it in the fire, and ground it up till it became fine powder ¹ . Then he sprinkled it over the face of the water and made the children of Israel drink it. Exodus 32:20; Deuteronomy 9:21.

And in Matthew,

At that time two will be in the field, one will be taken, the other left behind. Two women grinding; one will be taken, the other will be left behind. Matthew 24:40-41.

From these places it is evident what 'grinding' means, namely this: In a good sense it means choosing truths from the Word and explaining them in such a way that they are made to serve what is good, and in a bad sense in such a way that they are made to serve what is bad, see 7780. And from this it is also clear what something 'ground up' means, consequently what 'flour' and 'fine flour' mean.

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