627. Verse 1. And there was given to me a reed like a staff, signifies the mode of visitation, that is, of exploring the quality of the church in respect to truth and to good. This is evident from the signification of a "reed," as being that by which the quality is explored, for "to measure" signifies to explore, and a "measure" signifies the quality of a thing; therefore, the "reed," by which he measured the temple and the altar, as now follows, that is, the "measuring reed," signifies the mode of exploring the quality. It means the mode of exploring what the quality of the church is in respect to truth and good, because it says afterwards that "he measured the temple and the altar, and them that worship therein," which signifies the church in respect to truth and good, and thus in respect to worship.

[2] Moreover, a "reed" signifies visitation, because visitation is an exploration of the quality of the men of the church, and because a visitation precedes the Last Judgment, which will be treated of hereafter. What is the nature of that visitation or exploration can be seen from the visitation upon Sodom, that in the first place angels were sent there, and through them visitation or exploration was made of what quality they were in respect to their reception, that is, what was their quality in respect to the reception of Divine truth and Divine good, for these angels represented the Lord in respect to the Divine proceeding; and when it was found that all in Sodom except Lot were unwilling to receive them but wished to do them harm, then their destruction came, which means their last judgment.

[3] The measuring was effected by a reed, because a "reed or cane" signifies Divine truth in the ultimate of order, and a "staff," which the reed was like, signifies power; and by means of truth in the ultimate of order and its power all visitation or exploration is effected; for in the ultimate all truths, even from their firsts, form what is simultaneous, that is, coexist; therefore all things effected by the Divine, are effected from firsts by means of ultimates, therefore here visitation or exploration is so effected, and such truth is signified by a "reed or cane."

[4] So in the following passages. In Revelation:

One of the seven angels had a golden reed, with which he measured the city Jerusalem and its gates and its wall; and he measured the city with a reed unto twelve thousand stadia (Revelation 21:15, 16).

And in Ezekiel:

In the hand of the angel there was a line of flax and a measuring reed, and the reed was of six cubits, and with it he measured the length, the breadth and the height of the building, of the gate, of the porch, of the court, of the temple, and many other things (Ezekiel 40:3, 5, 6, 8, 11, 40:13, 17, et seq.; Ezekiel 41:1-5, 13, 14, 22; 42:1 -20 the end).

Here, too, the "measuring reed" means the mode of exploring the church in respect to truth and good, as can be seen from this, that the angel measured every particular of the temple as to length, breadth, and height; and "length" signifies good, "breadth" truth, and "height" the degrees of good and truth from the highest or inmost to the lowest or ultimate. (On this signification of "length and breadth," see the work on Heaven and Hell 197.) That a "reed" signifies truth in ultimates whereby explorations are effected, is evident also from this, that there was also a "line of flax" in the hand of the angel, "a line of flax" signifying truth; also from this, that "the reed was of six cubits," "six" having a similar signification as "three," namely, truths in the whole complex (See above, n. 384, 532). That "to measure" signifies to explore the quality of a thing will be seen in the following article.

[5] By ultimate truth, or truth in the ultimate of order, is meant sensual truth, such as the truth in the sense of the letter of the Word is to those who are merely sensual. Divine truth in its descent proceeds according to degrees, from the highest or inmost to the lowest or ultimate. Divine truth in the highest degree is such as is the Divine that proceeds most nearly from the Lord, thus such as is the Divine truth above the heavens; and as this is infinite, it cannot come to the perception of any angel. But Divine truth of the first degree is that which comes to the perception of the angels of the inmost or third heaven, and is called celestial Divine truth; from this is the wisdom of those angels. Divine truth of the second degree is that which comes to the perception of the angels of the middle or second heaven, and constitutes their wisdom and intelligence, and is called spiritual Divine truth. Divine truth of the third degree is that which comes to the perception of angels of the lowest or first heaven, and constitutes their intelligence and knowledge [scientia], and is called celestial-natural and spiritual-natural Divine truth. But Divine truth of the fourth degree is that which comes to the perception of the men of the church who are living in the world, and constitutes their intelligence and knowledge [scientia]; this is called natural Divine truth, and its lowest is called sensual Divine truth.

[6] These Divine truths are in the Word in the order of their degrees, and Divine truth in the lowest degree, or in the ultimate of order, is such as is the Divine truth in the sense of the letter of the Word, for children and for the very simple, who are sensual. This Divine truth is what is signified by a "reed or cane." And as explorations with all are effected by this lowest Divine truth, as was said above, so measurings and weighings in the representative churches were made by means of reeds or canes, which signify such Divine truth. It has just been shown that measurings were made by reeds; that weighings were also thus made can be seen in Isaiah:

They weighed silver with a reed (Isaiah 46:6).

[7] Because a "reed" signifies truth in ultimates, such as is for the simple and children, who are not spiritual but natural-sensual, it is also said in Isaiah:

A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, and He will bring forth truth into judgment (Isaiah 42:3).

This treats of the Lord; and "a bruised reed He will not break" signifies that He will not hurt sensual Divine truth with the simple and with children; "smoking flax He will not quench" signifies that He will not destroy the Divine truth that is beginning to live from a very little good of love with the simple and with children, "flax" signifying truth, and "smoking" signifies its being alive from some little love; and because both, that is, the "reed and flax" signify truth, it is said that the Lord "will bring forth truth into judgment," which means that He will bring forth with them intelligence, "judgment" signifying intelligence.

[8] A "reed" signifies also sensual truth which is the lowest, such as exists with natural men, even with the evil. In the same:

The dry place shall become a pool, and there shall be grass instead of the reed and rush (Isaiah 35:7).

This refers to the establishment of the church by the Lord; and that those will then have intelligence through spiritual Divine truth who before had none is signified by "the dry place shall become a pool;" and that those will then have knowledge [scientia] through natural Divine truth who before had only sensual truth, is signified by "there shall be grass instead of the reed and rush," "grass" signifying knowledge from a spiritual origin, or by which spiritual truth is confirmed, while "reed and rush" signify knowledge from a sensual origin, or by which the fallacies of the senses are confirmed. This knowledge, regarded in itself, is only the lowest natural knowledge, which may be called material and corporeal, in which there is little or nothing of life.

[9] In the same:

The streams shall recede, the rivers of Egypt shall be minished and dried up, the reed and flag shall wither (Isaiah 19:6).

In the spiritual sense these words mean that all the understanding of Divine truth will perish; "the streams shall recede" signifies that all things of spiritual intelligence will depart; "the rivers of Egypt shall be minished and dried up" signifies that all things of natural intelligence will perish; "the reed and the flag shall wither" signifies that lowest truth, which is called sensual truth, and which is mere knowledge, will vanish; "streams and rivers" signifying the things of intelligence; "Egypt" the natural; "reed and flag" sensual truth or knowledge, and "to recede," "to be minished," "to be dried up," and "to wither," signifying to perish and disappear.

[10] In the same:

Thou hast trusted on the staff of this bruised reed, on Egypt, upon which when a man leaneth it goeth into his hand and pierceth it; so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust on him (Isaiah 36:6).

"Egypt" signifies the natural man separated from the spiritual, and its knowledge [scientificum]; when this is separated from the intelligence of the spiritual man it is fatuous, and is applied to confirm evils of every kind, consequently it is a false knowledge. This is what is called "a staff of a bruised reed," "reed," as was said, being truth in the ultimate of order, which is sensual knowledge [scientificum]; "bruised" signifies what is broken and not cohering with any interior truth to give it consistency; "staff" means the resulting power to perceive and also to reason about truths. This, therefore, is the meaning of "upon which when a man leaneth it goeth into his hand and pierceth it;" "to lean upon that staff" means to trust in one's own power to perceive truths and reason about them from what is one's own [proprium]; "to enter into the hand and pierce it" signifies to destroy all intellectual power, and to see mere falsities instead of truths and to seize upon them; "so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust on him" signifies that such is the natural man when separated from the spiritual, in respect to its knowledges and intelligence therefrom, and reasoning from that intelligence.

[11] In Job:

Let my shoulder blade fall from the shoulder, and mine arm be broken therefrom by a reed; for the dread of the destruction of God is upon me, and by reason of His majesty I can do nothing. Have I made gold my hope, and said to pure gold, Thou art my confidence? (Job 31:22-24)

This, too, treats of the confidence of self-intelligence, and in the spiritual sense these words describe that from this nothing of truth is seen, but only what is false, which does not cohere with any truth; non-coherence is signified by "let my shoulder blade fall from the shoulder, and mine arm be broken therefrom by a reed," "shoulder blade," "shoulder," and "arm" signifying power, here the power to understand and perceive truth; "to fall from the shoulder," and "to be broken by a reed" signifies to be separated from the spiritual power to perceive truth, and in consequence to be deceived by the sensual-corporeal man, and to perish by falsity, "reed" meaning truth in the ultimate of order, which is called sensual knowledge [scientificum], which becomes mere falsity when it is of the natural man alone separated from the spiritual; "the dread of the destruction of God" signifies the loss of all understanding of truth; "by reason of His majesty to be able to do nothing" signifies that nothing of the understanding and perception of truth is from what is man's own [proprium], but all from God; "to make gold a hope, and to say to pure gold, Thou art my confidence," signifies that he confided not in himself, by believing anything of good to be from himself.

[12] In Ezekiel:

That all the inhabitants of Egypt may know that I am Jehovah, because they have been a staff of a reed to the house of Israel; when they laid hold of thee with the hand thou wast bruised, and thou didst pierce through every shoulder for them; and when they leaned upon thee thou wast broken, and didst make all their loins to stand (Ezekiel 29:6, 7).

Here similar things are said of Egypt as above, and here, too, "Egypt" signifies the natural man separated from the spiritual, and its knowledge [scientificum], which when applied to evils is merely false. This is said of those in the church who trust in self-intelligence; "the sons of Israel" signify those who are of the church; their trust is signified by "a staff of a reed;" that all their ability to perceive truth thus perished is signified by "when they laid hold of thee with the hand thou wast bruised, and didst pierce through every shoulder for them," "shoulder" signifying the power or ability to understand truth; the loss of this is signified by "when they leaned upon thee thou wast broken." That thus every good of love and charity was destroyed and dissipated is signified by "thou didst make all their loins to stand," "loins" signifying the marriage of truth and good, so here that truth was not conjoined to good; truth conjoined to good constitutes the good of love and charity, since all the good of love and charity is formed by truths.

[13] In David:

Rebuke the wild beast of the reed or cane, the congregation of the mighty, among the calves of the peoples; trampling upon the plates of silver, he hath scattered the peoples, he desireth wars; those that are fat shall come out of Egypt, Ethiopia shall hasten her gift ¹ unto God (Psalms 68:30, 31).

This treats of the Lord's kingdom. To beware of false knowledge [scientificum], that is, of falsely applied knowledge from the natural man separated from the spiritual, is meant by "Rebuke the wild beast of the reed, cane or rod;" inasmuch as such knowledges, because they are from the fallacies of the senses, strongly persuade, they are called "the congregation of the mighty;" "the calves of the people" mean the goods of the church in the natural man; "plates of silver" are the truths of the church; "to tread upon" and "to scatter" mean to disperse and dissipate, which is done by those who are natural and sensual, and who think naturally and sensually, and not at the same time spiritually, thus who think from the natural and sensual man separated from the spiritual; this man is meant by "the wild beast of the reed" or "cane;" "to desire wars" signifies reasonings against truths; "those that are fat out of Egypt and Ethiopia" are those who have a knowledge [scientia] of spiritual things, and who are in the cognitions of truth and good, who will draw near to the Lord's kingdom because they are in light from the spiritual man.

[14] In the first book of Kings:

Jehovah shall smite Israel as a reed noddeth in the waters, and he shall pluck away Israel from off the good land (1 Kings 14:15).

The vastation of the church among the sons of Israel is compared to "the nodding of a reed or cane in the waters," because a "reed" or cane signifies the truth of the sensual man, which is the lowest, and when this truth is separated from the light of the spiritual man it becomes falsity. For the sensual man derives all that it has from things appearing in the world; consequently reasonings from these respecting spiritual things are mere fallacies, and from fallacies come falsities. (What the fallacies of the senses are in spiritual things, and that falsities are from them, see in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 53; also above in the explanation of Revelation, n. 575; and that sensual knowledge [scientificum]s [scientifica] are mere fallacies when the sensual man reasons from them, above, n.569, 581 also what the sensual is, and the quality of the sensual man, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 50.)

[15] In the Gospels:

They placed a reed in the Lord's right hand, and afterwards they took the reed and smote His head with it (Matthew 27:29, 30; Mark 15:19);

also:

They put a sponge upon a reed and gave Him vinegar to drink (Matthew 27:48; Mark 15:36).

Those who do not know the spiritual sense of the Word may believe that these and the many other things related of the Lord's passion involve nothing more than common modes of mockery; as that "they set a crown of thorns upon His head;" that "they parted His garments among them, but not the tunic;" that "they bent the knee before Him" for the sake of mocking Him; and also here, that "they placed a reed in His right hand, and afterwards smote His head with it;" and again, that "they filled a sponge with vinegar, or myrrhed wine, and set it upon a reed, and gave Him to drink." But let it be known that all things that are related of the Lord's passion signify the mocking at Divine truth, and thus the falsification and adulteration of the Word; since the Lord, when He was in the world, was the Divine truth itself, which in the church is the Word; and because the Lord was then the Divine truth, He permitted the Jews to treat Him altogether as they were treating the Divine truth or the Word by falsifying and adulterating it. For they applied all things of the Word to their own loves, and derided every truth that disagreed with their loves, as they did the Messiah Himself, because He did not, according to their explanation and religion, become king over the whole world, and exalt them into glory above all peoples and nations. (That all things related of the Lord's passion signify such things, see above, n. 64, 83, 195 at the end.) But that "they placed a reed in the Lord's hand and afterwards smote His head with it" signifies that they falsified Divine truth or the Word, and made an utter mockery of the understanding of truth and of Divine wisdom, a "reed" signifying falsity in what is most external (as above), and "to smite the head" signifying to reject and mock at the understanding of truth and Divine wisdom, which is what "the head of the Lord" signifies; and in "giving the Lord vinegar to drink," which signifies what is falsified, they placed a sponge filled with it on a "reed," which signifies falsity in what is most external, which is falsity sustaining.

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