4299. Omdat ik God van aangezichten tot aangezichten heb gezien en mijn ziel bevrijd is geweest; dat dit betekent dat Hij de zwaarste verzoekingen doorstond, alsof zij uit het Goddelijke waren, staat vast uit de betekenis van ‘God zien’, namelijk de toenadering tot Hem door de innerlijke dingen, namelijk door de goede en ware dingen, vandaar de tegenwoordigheid, zie nr. 4198 en uit de betekenis van de aangezichten, nrs. 1999, 2434, 3527, 3573, 4066;

en dus het denken en de aandoeningen, want deze beide zijn de innerlijke dingen, omdat zij van de ziel en van het gemoed zijn en zich in het aangezicht openbaren; en uit de betekenis van ‘mijn ziel is bevrijd geweest’ namelijk doorstaan, namelijk de Goddelijke tegenwoordigheid. Dat door al die dingen wordt aangeduid dat Hij de zwaarste verzoekingen doorstond alsof zij uit het Goddelijke waren, kan nergens anders vandaan blijken dan uit de naastgelegen en de verderaf gelegen oorzaken van de verzoekingen; de naastgelegen oorzaken zijn de boze en valse dingen bij de mens, die hem in verzoekingen leiden, dus de boze geesten en genieën die ze ingieten, nr. 4249; toch kan niemand verzocht worden, dat wil zeggen, enige geestelijke verzoeking ondergaan, dan alleen degene die een geweten heeft, want de geestelijke verzoeking is niets anders dan een marteling van het geweten; dus kunnen geen anderen verzocht worden dan zij die in het hemels en geestelijk goede zijn, want dezen hebben een geweten; de overigen hebben het niet en weten zelfs niet eens wat een geweten is; het geweten is de nieuwe wil en het nieuwe verstand uit de Heer; en dus is het de tegenwoordigheid van de Heer bij de mens en deze tegenwoordigheid is des te dichter nabij, hoe meer de mens in de aandoening van het goede of van het ware is; indien de tegenwoordigheid van de Heer dichter nabij is dan de mens naar verhouding in de aandoening van het goede of het ware is, dan komt de mens in verzoeking; de oorzaak hiervan is dat de boze en valse dingen die bij de mens zijn, die getemperd zijn met de goede en ware dingen bij hem, de nadere tegenwoordigheid niet kunnen doorstaan; dit kan vaststaan uit wat in het andere leven bestaat, namelijk dat de boze geesten geenszins enig hemels gezelschap kunnen naderen of zij beginnen angstig en gemarteld te worden; verder dat de boze geesten het niet verdragen dat de engelen hen onderzoeken, want zij worden terstond gemarteld en vallen in onmacht; en eveneens hieruit dat de hel van de hemel is verwijderd, met als oorzaak dat de hel de hemel niet verdraagt, dat wil zeggen, de tegenwoordigheid van de Heer die in de hemel is; vandaar komt het, dat in het Woord van hen gezegd wordt:

‘Dan zullen zij aanvangen te zeggen tot de bergen: Valt op ons en tot de heuvelen; Verbergt ons’, (Lukas 23:30);

en elders:

‘Zij zullen tot de bergen en tot de steenrotsen zeggen: Stort over ons en verbergt ons van het aangezicht van Degene die op de troon zit’, (Openbaring 6:16);

ook verschijnt de nevelachtige en duistere sfeer die uitwasemt van de boze en valse dingen van degenen die in de hel zijn, in de gedaante van een berg of een steenrots, waaronder zij verborgen worden, zie de nrs. 1265, 1267, 1270. Hieruit nu kan men weten dat ‘ik heb God van aangezichten tot aangezichten gezien en mijn ziel is bevrijd geweest’ de zwaarste verzoekingen betekent, alsof die uit het Goddelijke waren. De verzoekingen en de martelingen verschijnen alsof zij uit het Goddelijke waren, omdat ze, zoals gezegd, door de Goddelijke tegenwoordigheid van de Heer ontstaan, toch zijn ze niet vanuit het Goddelijke of uit de Heer, maar uit de boze en valse dingen die bij degene zijn die verzocht of gemarteld wordt; uit de Heer immers gaat niet dan het heilige, goede, ware en barmhartige voort; het is dit heilige, namelijk het goede, het ware en het barmhartige, dat diegenen die in de boze en valse dingen zijn, niet kunnen uithouden, omdat die dingen tegenovergesteld of strijdig zijn; de boze dingen, de valse dingen en de onbarmhartigheid streven aanhoudend daarnaar om die heilige dingen te schenden en voor zoveel als zij ze aanvallen voor zoveel worden zij gemarteld; en wanneer zij aanvallen en vandaar gemarteld worden, dan menen zij dat het het Goddelijke is dat hen martelt; dit is het wat wordt verstaan onder ‘alsof zij uit het Goddelijke waren’. Dat niemand Jehovah van aangezicht tot aangezicht kan zien en leven, was aan de Ouden bekend en van daar ging de erkentenis daarover over op de nakomelingen van Jakob; daarom waren zij zozeer verheugd wanneer zij enig engel hadden gezien en toch leefden; zoals in het Boek Richteren:

‘Gideon zag, dat het een engel van Jehovah was; daarom zei Gideon: Heer Jehovah, daarom omdat ik een engel van Jehovah gezien heb van aangezicht tot aangezicht; en Jehovah zei tot hem: Vrede zij u, vrees niet, omdat gij niet sterven zult’, (Richteren 6:22, 23). In hetzelfde Boek:

‘Manoach zei tot zijn echtgenote: Stervende zullen wij sterven, omdat wij God gezien hebben’, (Richteren 13:22);

en bij Mozes:

‘Jehovah zei tot Mozes:

‘Gij zult Mijn aangezichten niet kunnen zien, omdat de mens Mij niet zal zien en leven’, (Exodus 33:20). Dat van Mozes wordt gezegd dat hij met Jehovah sprak van aangezicht tot aangezicht, (Exodus 33:11) en dat ‘Jehovah hem gekend heeft van aangezicht tot aangezicht’, (Deuteronomium 34:10), is omdat Hij hem verscheen in een menselijke vorm die aangepast was aan zijn opneming en die uiterlijk was, namelijk als een oude man met een baard, die bij hem gezeten was, zoals ik door de engelen hierover ben onderricht; vandaar hadden ook de Joden geen andere voorstelling dan zoals van een zeer oud mens met een lange en sneeuwwitte baard, die meer dan de andere goden wonderen kon doen; niet dat Hij de Allerheiligste was, omdat zij niet wisten wat het heilige was; te minder zouden zij ooit het heilige hebben kunnen zien dat uit Hem voortgaat, omdat zij in een lichamelijke en aardse liefde waren, zonder heilig innerlijke, nrs. 4289, 4293.

2468. There is no need to confirm these meanings either, for the explanation itself, and what comes before and after, shows that such things are meant. The form and nature of the religion meant by 'Moab and the children of Ammon' however becomes clear from the description that has been given of their origin, and also from many other places in the Word, the historical as well as the prophetical, where they are mentioned. In general they are people whose worship is external and to some extent appears holy, but is not internal. They are also people who take up the things which belong to external worship as goods and truths but reject and regard as worthless those that belong to internal worship.

[2] This type of worship and religion falls to people with whom natural good exists but who regard other people as worthless in comparison with themselves. They are not unlike fruit which is not unattractive on the outside but which within is mouldy or rotten; they are not unlike marble vases whose contents are impure and sometimes foul; or they are not unlike women whose face, figure, and movements are not unbecoming but who inwardly are diseased and full of foul impurities. For with them a general good exists which does not look unattractive; but things of a particular kind which enter into that good are filthy. This is not so to begin with but becomes so gradually, for such people easily allow themselves to be impregnated with whatever go by the name of goods and consequently by whatever falsities which, because they are confirmatory, they imagine to be truths. This happens because they despise the interior things of worship, which things they despise because they are governed by self-love. Such people come from and originate with those whose worship is purely external and who in this chapter are represented by Lot. They do so when the good contained in truth has been desolated. In the Word the nature of such people is described both in the beginning when their good has not as yet been so defiled, and also subsequently when it is being defiled, as well as after that when it has been defiled completely; and their rejection of the interior things of worship and doctrine is described too.

[3] The nature of those people in the beginning when their good has not as yet been so defiled is described in Daniel,

At the time of the end the king of the south will clash with him; therefore the king of the north will rush upon him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he will enter into countries, and will overflow, and will pass through, and will come into the glorious land, and many countries will collapse; these will be delivered out of his hand, Edom and Moab, and the firstfruits of the children of Ammon. Daniel 11:40-41.

'The king of the south' stands for people with whom goods and truths are present, 'the king of the north' for those with whom evils and falsities are present. 'The king of the north with chariots, horsemen, and ships, entering countries, overflowing, and passing through' stands for evils and falsities, meant by 'chariots, horsemen, and ships', getting the upper hand; 'the deliverance from his hand of Edom, Moab, and the firstfruits of the children of Ammon' stands for people governed by good which has not yet been defiled so much by falsities. This is why they are called 'the firstfruits of the children of Ammon'.

[4] In Moses,

We passed on by the road of the wilderness, and Jehovah said to Moses, Do not harass Moab, nor engage with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land as an inheritance because I have given Ar to the children of Lot as an inheritance. Deuteronomy 2:8-9.

And regarding the children of Ammon,

Jehovah spoke to Moses, Today you are passing over Ar the boundary of Moab, and when you approach from the region of the children of Ammon, do not harass them nor engage with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the children of Ammon as an inheritance, for I have given it to the children of Lot as an inheritance. Deuteronomy 2:17-19.

Here 'Ar' stands for that kind of good, 'Moab and the children of Ammon' for people who are governed by such good, but at the beginning, which explains why it is commanded that they should not be harassed.

[5] This also is the reason why Moab drove out the Emim, and the Rephaim who were similar to the Anakim, and why the children of Ammon too drove out the Rephaim, whom they called the Zamzummim, Deuteronomy 2:9-11, 18-21. 'Emim, Rephaim, Anakim, and Zamzummim' means people who were impregnated with evil and false persuasions, see 581, 1673. 'Moab and the children of Ammon' in the present context means people who have not yet been impregnated. But when these too had been so impregnated, that is, when their good had been defiled by falsities, they also were driven out, Numbers 21:21-31; Ezekiel 25:8-11.

[6] The nature of those people when their good is being defiled is described in Jeremiah,

To Moab Jehovah spoke thus, Woe to Nebo! for it is laid waste; Kiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken; Misgab is put to shame and overwhelmed; the praise of Moab is no more. Give wings to Moab, for it will fly away and its cities will become a desolation, with no one to dwell in them. Leave the cities and dwell in the rock, O inhabitants of Moab, and be like the dove that nests in the sides of the mouth of the hole. I know its anger, says Jehovah, and it is not steadfast, and its falsities do not make for right. Therefore I will howl over Moab and will cry out to the whole of Moab. From the weeping of Jazer I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah. Your branches passed over the sea, they reached as far as the sea of Jazer; on your summer fruits and on your vintage the vastator has fallen. Therefore My heart is moved over Moab like pipes. Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished, for your sons have been taken away into captivity, and your daughters into captivity. And I will bring back the captivity of Moab in the latter days. Jeremiah 48:1-2, 9, 28, 30-32, 36, 46-47.

[7] The whole chapter refers to Moab, but by means of him to the way in which people with whom such good is present allow themselves to be impregnated with falsities. This is why it is said that 'they should give Moab wings so that he may fly away', and that 'his cities will become a desolation', but that 'they were to leave the cities and dwell in the rock, and like a dove were to nest in the sides of the mouth of the hole', and many other things by which they are persuaded to remain with the general goods and truths they possess. And if at such times they were led astray by falsities due to lack of knowledge they would be brought back from captivity in the latter days. But with those people with whom this does not happen it is said, 'I will howl over Moab and will cry out to the whole of Moab', and 'My heart is moved over Moab'. The falsities with which they are impregnated are meant by Nebo, Kiriathaim, Misgab, Sibmah, Jazer, Chemosh, and other names mentioned in that chapter.

[8] In Isaiah,

Like a scattered nest will the daughters of Moab be. Give counsel, execute judgement. Make your whole shade [as the night] in the middle of the day. Hide the outcasts, do not betray the wanderer; let My outcasts, O Moab, dwell together in you; be a refuge to them in the presence of the vastator. We have heard of the pride of Moab - his great pride, his arrogance, and his insolence, and his anger; not so his lies. Therefore Moab will howl for Moab, everyone will howl. Therefore My bowels are played on like a harp for Moab, and My inward parts for the city of Heres. And when Moab is seen exhausted on the high place and he comes to his sanctuary to pray he will not prevail. In three years, like the years of a hireling, the praise of Moab will be brought into contempt, with all his great multitude, and the survivors will be a very small and feeble number. Isaiah 16:2-4, 6-7, 11-12, 14.

The whole of this chapter as well refers to Moab, and by means of him to people with whom such good is present. They are described in various parts of the chapter in words similar to those used in Jeremiah 48 - people that are in like manner persuaded to remain with the general goods and truths they possess and not allow themselves to be impregnated with falsities. General goods and truths are meant by the demand that they should give counsel, execute judgement, hide the outcasts, not betray the wanderer, be a refuge to outcasts in the presence of the vastator, all of which mean the external features of worship. Yet because they allow themselves to be impregnated with falsities, it is said 'in three years, like the years of a hireling, and the praise of Moab will be brought into contempt, with all his great multitude, and the survivors will be a very small and feeble number'.

[9] Because they are led astray easily, Moab is called 'the sending forth of the hand of the Philistines, and the children of Ammon their obedience' in Isaiah,

The root of Jesse; which is standing as an ensign of the peoples, that will the nations seek, and His rest will be glory. The envy of Ephraim will depart, and the enemies of Judah will be cut off. Ephraim will not envy Judah, and Judah will not harass Ephraim. And they will fly down onto the shoulder of the Philistines towards the sea, together they will plunder the people of the east, Edom, Moab the sending forth of their hand, and the children of Ammon their obedience. Isaiah 11:10, 13-14.

'The root of Jesse' stands for the Lord, 'Judah' for those who are governed by celestial good, 'Ephraim' for those who are governed by spiritual truth, 'the Philistines' for those who possess a knowledge of the cognitions of truth but who have no charity, 'the people of the east' for those who possess a knowledge of the cognitions of what is good but who also have no charity. Moab is called 'the sending forth of their hand', the children of Ammon 'their obedience', because they are impregnated with falsities by them.

[10] The nature however of people called Moab and the children of Ammon and what it becomes when their good has been defiled completely by falsities is described in David,

God has spoken in His holiness, Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine; and

Ephraim is the strength of My head, Judah is My lawgiver, Moab is My wash-basin. Psalms 60:6-8; and likewise. Psalms 108:7-9.

'Washbasin' stands for good defiled by falsities.

[11] In Jeremiah,

The praise of Moab is no more. In Heshbon they have thought evil against him: Come, let us cut him off from being a nation. Moab has been at ease from his youth, resting on his lees; he has not been emptied from vessel into vessel, nor has he gone away into exile. Therefore his taste remains in him, and his scent is unchanged. On all the roofs of Moab and in its streets it is all lamentation, for I have broken Moab like a vessel in which no pleasure is taken. Jeremiah 48:2, 11, 38.

The falsities that defile good, which is 'Moab', are here called 'lees'. These are what 'the taste and scent' consists in if no reformation takes place, meant here by being 'emptied from vessel into vessel'. Good itself is called 'a vessel in which no pleasure is taken', as in David where it is called 'a basin for washing in'. In Isaiah,

The hand of Jehovah will rest on this mountain, and Moab will be threshed beneath it, as straw is trodden down in a dung-pit. Isaiah 25:10.

[12] People with whom such good exists are interested solely in the external features of worship and doctrine, and despise, reject, indeed are utterly averse to the internal; and as a consequence they have falsities instead of truths: in Ezekiel,

Son of man, set your face towards the children of Ammon, and prophesy against them, and say to the children of Ammon, Hear the word of the Lord Jehovih: Thus said the Lord Jehovih, Because you say, Aha! against My sanctuary that has been profaned, and against the land of Israel because it has been made desolate, and against the house of Judah because they have gone away into captivity, I will make Rabbah into a dwelling-place for camels, and the children of Ammon into a couching-place for flocks. The Lord Jehovih said, Because you have clapped the hand and stamped with the foot and rejoiced with all the contempt in your soul against the land of Israel, therefore, behold, I will stretch out My hand against you and hand you over as spoil to the nations, and I will cut you off from the peoples and will make you perish out of the countries. Ezekiel 25:2-7.

'Aha! against the sanctuary that has been profaned, against the land of Israel because it has been made desolate, against the house of Judah because they have gone away into captivity', 'you clapped the hand, stamped with the foot, and rejoiced with all the contempt in your soul against the land of Israel' are words expressing contempt for, mockery, and rejection of the interior features of worship and doctrine. When these have been rejected external things cease to have any value and 'are handed over as spoil to the nations', that is, they are invested by evils, and 'cut off from the peoples', that is, invested by falsities, and 'are made to perish out of the countries', that is, become part of what is not the Church.

[13] In Zephaniah,

I have heard the taunt of Moab and the blasphemies of the children of Ammon, who have taunted My people and magnified themselves against their border. Therefore as I live, Moab will become like Sodom, and the children of Ammon like Gomorrah, a place abandoned to the nettle and a saltpit, and they will be a desolation for ever. This will be theirs for their arrogance because they taunted and magnified themselves against the people of Jehovah Zebaoth. Zephaniah 2:8-10.

'Taunting the people, and magnifying themselves against their border, and against the people of Jehovah Zebaoth' is scorning and rejecting interior truths, meant by 'the people of Jehovah Zebaoth'. Goods as a consequence become evils derived from falsity, which are 'Sodom' and 'a place abandoned to the nettle', while truths become falsities, which are 'Gomorrah' and 'a saltpit'. For it is from internal things that external are enabled to be good and true.

[14] In David,

[Your] enemies craftily take secret counsel against Your people, they consult together against Your hidden ones, [saying,] Come, let us cut them off from being a nation, and let not the name of Israel be remembered any more, for they consult together with one accord; against You they make a covenant the tents of Edom, and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites, Gebal and Ammon, and Amalek, Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre: Asshur also is joined with them; they are an arm to the children of Lot. Psalms 83:2-8.

'Consulting against the hidden ones', 'cutting them off from being a nation so that the name of Israel is remembered no more' means being totally averse to interior things. 'The tents of Edom, the Ishmaelites, Moab, the Hagrites, Gebal, and Ammon' means people whose worship and doctrine are external, 'Philistia with Tyre' people who talk about internal things but do not have them, 'Asshur who is an arm to the children of Lot' reasoning with which they fight on behalf of external things and attack internal.

[15] In Moses,

A man shall not take his father's wife nor violate his father's skirt. He who has been severely bruised or crushed in the testicles shall not enter the assembly of Jehovah. The Ammonite and the Moabite shall not enter the assembly of Jehovah; even to the tenth generation they shall not ever enter the assembly of Jehovah. Deuteronomy 22:30-23:7.

This shows what Moab and Ammon were at the end, that is, when they were impregnated completely with falsities. That is to say, they were people with whom good was adulterated and truth falsified through their contempt for, rejection of, and at length total aversion to all interior things. This also is why these two names are mentioned in this quotation after reference has been made to the foul kinds of adultery meant by 'taking one's father's wife' and 'violating one's father's skirt - almost as with the mention made here to Lot's daughters from whom Moab and Ammon were born; and also after reference to those who are 'severely bruised or crushed in the testicles', by whom those who are totally averse to everything that has to do with love and charity are meant. 'The assembly of Jehovah' means heaven, which they are unable to enter because they possess no remnants, which are obtained solely from interior goods and interior truths and which are meant by 'the tenth generation', 576, 1738, 2280.

[16] They also belonged to those nations who used to sacrifice sons and daughters to Molech, by which in the internal sense is meant that they annihilated truths and goods. Actually Moab's god was Chemosh, and the children of Ammon's was Molech or Milcom, 1 Kings 11:7, 33; 2 Kings 23:13, to whom they sacrificed, 2 Kings 3:27. As regards 'sons and daughters' meaning truths and goods, see 489-491, 533, 1147.

[17] Such then is the meaning of Moab and Ammon; but the kinds of falsity by which they adulterate goods and annihilate truths are many. These are listed in Jeremiah, but merely by their names -

Judgement has come to the land of the plain, to Holon, and to Jahzah, and to Mephaath, and on Dibon, and on Nebo, and on Bethdiblathaim, and on Kiriathaim, and on Bethgamul, and on Bethmeon, and on Kirioth, and on Bozrah, and on all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. The horn of Moab has been cut off and his arm broken. Make him drunk, because he magnified himself over Jehovah, and let Moab applaud in his vomit. Jeremiah 48:21-26.

These are the kinds of falsity which come together in those who are called Moab and Ammon. Which particular falsities however, and the nature of them, becomes clear from the meaning of each name in the internal sense; for names in the Word mean nothing other than real things, as has been shown many times.