9496. 'And you shall make poles of shittim wood' means power derived from this. This is clear from the meaning of 'poles' as the power which truth from good possesses, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'shittim wood' as the good of merit that is the Lord's alone, dealt with above in 9472, 9486. Here it must now be stated what it was that enabled the ark and the dwelling-place to represent heaven, and at the same time the rim of the ark to represent a border, the corners firmness, the rings the joining of good to truth, and the poles power. It has been shown that the whole natural system, thus every single thing existing in true order there, is representative of the Lord's kingdom, that is, of heaven and heavenly realities present there, 9280. It has also been shown that the whole of heaven resembles a human being, and that for this reason heaven has been called the Grand Man, 9276 (end). From this it now follows that all objects which serve to represent heavenly realities correlate with the human form, and that they carry spiritual meanings according to their similarity to that form.

[2] From this it is now evident how the ark can come to mean heaven where the Lord is, the rim on it to mean a border, the sides to mean good to which truth must be joined, the corners to mean firmness, the rings to mean the actual joining together, and the poles to mean power. For the poles resemble a person's arms and therefore also have a similar meaning to the arms; the rings resemble the ginglymi or sockets where the arms are linked to the breast; the corners resemble the actual protrusions where that link is made; the sides resemble the chest cavity or thorax, and the rim resembles the [shoulder-]girdle which forms a border for it. From this it becomes clear that power is meant by 'poles', as it is by 'arms' (for the meaning of 'arms' and 'hands' as power, see 878, 4931-4937, 5327, 5328, 6292, 6947, 7188, 7189, 7205, 7518, 7673, 8050, 8153, 8281, 9025, 9133); and that the same thing is meant by 'the sides' as by the chest or thorax of the body, namely good, since the chest contains the heart and lungs, and 'the heart' means celestial good and 'the lungs' spiritual good, 3883-3896, 9300. From all this it is evident that by 'rings' the same thing is meant as by ginglymi or joints which join the chest to the shoulders, and the shoulders to the arms, namely the joining of good to truth, and that firmness is meant by 'the corners', for the strength of the body is exerted there, and the body is equipped with strength and power through the arms. From all this one may recognize how it comes about that natural objects which are inanimate can represent the same realities as ones that are animate, that is, as parts of the human body. That is to say, it comes about because heaven resembles a human being, and the things present in heaven resemble those that exist in the human being, as may be seen from what has been shown at great length regarding the correspondence of the human being with the Grand Man or heaven. See the places referred to in 9276 (end).

[3] Just as the poles which were used to carry the ark meant power, so did the poles or bars which were used to secure the gates of cities, as is clear from the following places: In Hosea,

The sword falls on its cities, and consumes its bars. Hosea 11:6.

'The sword' stands for truth battling against falsity, 'cities' for matters of doctrine, and 'bars' for power. In Isaiah,

For your sake I have sent to Babel, and I will break down all the bars. Isaiah 43:14.

In Jeremiah,

The mighty ones of Babel are seated in strongholds; their power has been destroyed. ¹ Its bars have been broken. Jeremiah 51:30.

In Amos,

I will break the bar of Damascus. Amos 1:5.

In Isaiah,

I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut asunder the bars of iron. Isaiah 45:2.

Similar words occur in David, Psalms 107:16. In Jeremiah,

It has no gates or bars; they dwell alone. Jeremiah 49:31.

In Ezekiel,

They all dwell without a wall; ² they do not have bars and gates. Ezekiel 38:11.

In Jeremiah,

Her gates have sunk into the earth, He has destroyed and broken in pieces her bars. Lamentations 2:9.

In David,

Praise your God, O Zion! For He strengthens the bars of your gates. Psalms 147:12-13.

In these places matters of doctrine are meant by 'cities', 2449, 2712, 3216, 4492, 4493, firmness and protection by 'gates', and the power which belongs to truth derived from good by 'bars'. The fact that all power belongs to truth, but to truth that is derived from good, see 6344, 6423, 8200, 8304, 9133, 9327, 9410.

Fußnoten:

9280. 'In order that your ox and your ass may rest' means the peace and serenity that external forms of good and truths enjoy at the same time. This is clear from the meaning of 'resting', when it refers to the seventh day or the sabbath, as peace and serenity, as immediately above in 9279; and from the meaning of 'ox' as external good, and of 'ass' as external truth, dealt with in 2781, 9135, 9255.

Beasts were signs of affections and inclinations such as the human being shares in common with them, see 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 714, 715, 776, 2179, 2180, 2781, 3218, 3519, 5198, 5913, 8937, 9090, 9135.

Beasts were used in sacrifices in accordance with their spiritual meaning, 1823, 2180, 2805, 2807, 2830, 3519.

All things existing in the world, in its three kingdoms, were representative of the spiritual and celestial realities of the Lord's kingdom, 1632, 1881, 2758, 2987-3003, 3213-3227, 3483, 3624-3649, 4939, 5116, 5427, 5428, 5477, 8211.

All things have a correspondence, 2987-3003, 3213-3226, 3337-3352, 3472-3485, 3624-3649, 3745-3750, 3883-3896, 4039-4055, 4218-4228, 4318-4331, 4403-4420, 4523-4533, 4622-4634, 4652-4660, 4791-4806, 4931-4952, 5050-5062, 5171-5189, 5377-5396, 5552-5573, 5711-5727, 8615.

[2] These references have been drawn together to enable it to be seen that not merely all beasts but also all objects in the world have a correspondence, and that in accordance with their correspondences they all represent and serve to mean spiritual and celestial realities, and in the highest sense Divine realities that are the Lord's. And from this the character of the ancient Churches, called representative Churches, may be seen. This character was such that each one of their sacred observances served to represent things that are the Lord's and belong to His kingdom, thus aspects of love to Him and belief in Him. In those times heaven was joined to a member of the Church by means of these observances, since internal aspects were presented in heaven. The Word of the Lord has also been given to the same end, for every detail in it, even to the smallest part of a letter, has a correspondence and spiritual meaning. Through the Word alone therefore is heaven linked to mankind.

[3] No one at the present day knows that this is so. Consequently when the natural man reads the Word and seeks to discover where its Divinity lies, but does not find it in the letter on account of its very ordinary style, he at first begins to disparage it and then to reject the idea that it has been dictated by God and sent down to mankind by way of heaven. The natural man does not know that the Word is Divine by virtue of its spiritual sense, which is not visible in the letter but is nevertheless present within the letter; nor does he know that this sense is presented in heaven when someone on earth reads it devoutly, and that the subject in that sense is the Lord and His kingdom. These are the Divine things which make the Word Divine and through which holiness flows from the Lord by way of heaven, even into the literal sense and into the actual letters. But as long as a person does not know what anything spiritual is he cannot know either what the spiritual sense is, nor thus what correspondence is. And as long as a person loves the world more than heaven, and self more than the Lord, he has no wish to know these things and understand them. Yet they were the source of all intelligence among the ancients, and they are also the source of wisdom among the angels. Hidden mysteries, which numerous diviners have vainly toiled to track down in the Word, lie in those things alone.

4622. CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE GRAND MAN - continued

IN THIS SECTION THE CORRESPONDENCE OF SMELL AND OF THE NOSTRILS WITH THAT GRAND MAN

The dwelling-places of the blessed in the next life are many and varying. They are built so elegantly that they are so to speak the embodiments of architectural art itself or the direct products of that art. Concerning the dwelling-places of the blessed, see what has been described already from experience, in 1119, 1626-1630. The blessed are aware of these dwelling-places not only through the sense of sight but also through that of touch; for everything in that life is suited to the sensory powers which spirits and angels possess. Consequently their dwelling-places are not of the same nature as the objects perceived by man with his physical senses, but as the objects perceived by the senses which those in the next life possess. I realize that many cannot believe this, and the reason they cannot do so lies in their lack of belief in anything which they cannot see with their bodily eyes or touch with their physical hands. As a consequence man today, the interiors of whose being are closed, has no knowledge of the things which come into being in the spiritual world or in heaven. He does, it is true, say - because the Word and doctrine so teach it - that there is a heaven, where angels live in joy and glory; but beyond that he knows nothing. He would indeed like to know what it is like there, but when he is told this he still fails to believe it, because in his heart he denies the very existence of heaven. The reason he would like to know stems from no more than curiosity aroused by what is taught in doctrine; it does not stem from any delight to know because of any real belief. Those who do not have any real belief in heaven also deny its existence in their hearts, whereas those who do have such belief acquire to themselves ideas about heaven, its joy and glory, from various sources. Each individual does so from whatever knowledge or understanding he has gained, or in the case of the simple from what they discern by means of their bodily senses.

[2] Even so, the majority of people do not grasp the idea that spirits and angels have sensory powers that are far keener than men's in the world; that is to say, they have the powers of sight, hearing, smell, something analogous to taste, and touch, and above all else delights belonging to affections. If people did but believe that the inner essence of their being is spirit and that the body, and the senses and members of this, are suited solely to uses that are served in the world, whereas the spirit, and the senses and organs of this, are suited to uses that are served in the next life, they would arrive unaided and almost spontaneously at ideas about the state of their spirit after death. For in that case they would think of a person's spirit as his true self which thinks, has longings, has desires, and feels emotions, and after that they would think of each sensory power manifested in the body as that which belongs to the spirit, and to the body only through influx from this. These thoughts they would subsequently confirm for themselves from many other pieces of evidence, and so at length they would take more delight in the powers of their spirit than in those of their body.

[3] There is something further to be said on this matter, namely that it is not the body which sees, hears, smells, and feels through touch, but a person's spirit. That being so, when the spirit sheds its body it retains the sensory powers it possessed when within the body; indeed these are now far keener. For that which belongs to the body, being gross compared with that belonging to the spirit, has blunted those sensory powers; and these have been made even blunter because of the person's immersion of them in earthly and worldly interests. I can say this quite definitely, that a spirit has far keener eyesight than man has in the body, as well as far keener hearing. A spirit also has - and this fact will astonish people - the sense of smell, and especially the sense of touch. For spirits can see one another, hear one another, and touch one another. Anyone who believes in a life after death would also deduce this from the fact that no life is possible without the senses, and that the exact nature of that life is determined by that of the senses. Indeed he would deduce that the power of understanding is nothing else than a keener sensory awareness of interior things, a more superior power of understanding being a sensory awareness of spiritual realities. This also explains why the powers of the understanding and their perception of things are called the internal senses.

[4] So far as a person's sensory powers immediately after death are concerned, the position is this: As soon as he dies and the parts of the body grow cold, he is raised up into life, into a state which involves each of his sensory powers. At first he is scarcely aware that he is not still in the body, for the experience of his senses leads him to think he is still in it. But when he notices that his sensory powers are keener than before, and especially when he starts to speak to other spirits, he realizes that he is in the next life and that the death of his body has been a continuation of the life of his spirit. I have spoken to two of my acquaintances on the very day they were to be buried, and to one who through my eyes beheld his own coffin and bier. Since he still possessed each of the senses he had in the world, he spoke to me about his burial service even as I was taking part in the funeral procession. Regarding his body he said that they were putting this away because he was alive.

[5] But it should be recognized that those in the next life cannot see anything whatever of what is in the world through the eyes of anyone in the world. The reason they have been able to do so through my eyes is that in my spirit I am present with them at the same time as I am present in my body with those who are in the world; see also 1880. In addition to this it should be recognized that I have not used the eyes of my body to see those I have spoken to in the next life, but the eyes of my spirit. I have seen them as clearly, and sometimes more clearly, than with my bodily eyes, for in the Lord's Divine mercy the sensory powers of my spirit have been opened.

[6] But I realize that what has been stated up to now is not going to be believed by people who are concerned solely with bodily, earthly, and worldly interests, that is, by those of them who have these interests as their end in view. For such people have no conception of anything apart from that which is dissipated by death. I also realize that what has been stated up to now is not going to be believed by those who have thought a lot about the soul and have asked many questions about it, without at the same time grasping the point that man's soul is his spirit and that his spirit is his real self living within the body. For these people have been unable to conceive of the soul as anything else than something like thought, or flame, or what is ethereal, which operates solely within the organic forms of the body, not within purer forms belonging to his spirit within the body, and so is the kind of thing that is dissipated along with the body. This applies especially to those who have convinced themselves of ideas like these because the picture they have of themselves has been magnified out of all proportion by the false notion that they are wiser than others.