9780. 'And let them bring to you olive oil' means the good of charity and faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'olive oil' as the good of celestial love, dealt with in 886, but in the present verse the good of spiritual love, which is the good of charity towards the neighbour and the good of faith. The reason why the good of charity and faith is meant here by 'olive oil' is that it was for the light or lampstand, and 'the lampstand' means the spiritual heaven, 9548, the spiritual heaven on earth being the spiritual Church. 'Oil' and 'the olive tree' mean in the Word both celestial good and spiritual good, celestial good when the celestial kingdom or Church is the subject, and spiritual good when the spiritual kingdom or Church is the subject. What makes these kingdoms or Churches different from each other is the types of good. The celestial kingdom or Church's types of good are the good of love to the Lord and the good of mutual love, and the spiritual kingdom or Church's types of good are the good of charity towards the neighbour and the good of faith, 9741. These types of good and the types of truth that spring from them are the subject throughout the Word; for the Word consists wholly of teachings about good. It does so because it consists wholly of teachings about love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour, Matthew 22:35-40, and all good is an attribute of love, including the good of faith since this comes into being from the good of love and does not exist without it.

[2] Since the Word consists of teachings about good, people need to know what good is if they are to have any understanding of the Word. But no one can know what good is unless he tries to lead a good life in accordance with the Word. For when someone tries to lead a good life in accordance with the Word the Lord instills good into that person's life. The person then comes to perceive that good and has a feeling for it, and as a result recognizes the essential nature of it. In no other circumstances does it appear, because it does not come to be perceived. All this makes clear what the condition is of those who merely know the things contained in the Word, convince themselves that they are true, yet fail to act on them. They are people with no real awareness of good, nor consequently of truth, for truth is known from good, and never exists without good except as some piece of lifeless knowledge which passes away in the next life.

[3] The fact that 'oil' and 'olive' mean good is clear from places in the Word where they are mentioned, as in Zechariah,

I saw a lampstand of gold, two olive trees beside it, one on the right of the bowl and one to the left of it. These are the two sons of oil, standing beside the Lord of the whole earth. Zechariah 4:2-3, 14.

'Two olive trees' and 'the two sons of oil' are the good of love to the Lord, which is on His right, and the good of charity towards the neighbour, which is to His left. Something similar occurs in John,

The two witnesses prophesied one thousand two hundred and sixty days. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. Revelation 11:3-4.

'The two olive trees and the two lampstands' are the same two types of good, which, since they come from the Lord, are called 'the two witnesses'.

[4] In the same book,

I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, Do no harm to oil and wine. Revelation 6:6.

'Oil' stands for the good of love and charity, 'wine' for the good and truth of faith. In Isaiah,

I will plant ¹ in the wilderness the cedar of shittah, and the myrtle, and the oil tree. ² Isaiah 41:19.

In Jeremiah,

They will come and sing on the height of Zion, and converge towards the goodness of Jehovah, towards wheat, and towards new wine, and towards oil. Jeremiah 31:12.

In Joel,

The field has been devastated, the land has been mourning because the grain has been laid waste, the new wine has failed, the oil languishes. Joel 1:10.

In the same prophet,

The threshing-floors are full of clean grain, and the presses overflow with new wine and oil. Joel 2:24.

In Moses,

I will give the rain for your land in its season, that you may gather your grain, your new wine, and your oil. Deuteronomy 11:14.

[5] This verse speaks of grain, new wine, and oil, but it becomes clear to anyone who stops to consider the matter that it is not these actual products that are meant. For being Divine the Word is spiritual, not worldly, so that what it says does not have to do with grain, new wine, or oil of the land, inasmuch as they serve the body as forms of food, only inasmuch as they serve the soul. For all forms of food in the world mean, when mentioned in the Word, heavenly kinds of food, as also the bread and wine in the Holy Supper do. What it is that 'grain' and 'new wine' mean in the places quoted above, see 3580, 5295, 5410, 5959, from which it is evident what 'oil' means.

[6] The same applies to all those things spoken by the Lord when He was in the world, such as those regarding the Samaritan - that he went near the one wounded by the robbers, bound his wounds, and poured in oil and wine, Luke 10:33-34. In this instance oil and wine are not what is meant but the good of love and charity, the good of love by 'oil' and the good of charity and faith by 'wine'. For the subject is the neighbour, thus charity towards him. As regards this meaning of 'wine', see 6377.

[7] The same applies to the things spoken by the Lord regarding the ten virgins, five of whom took their lamps without at the same time any oil, and five who took theirs with oil as well - that the latter five were admitted into heaven, whereas the former five were turned away, Matthew 25:3-4ff. 'Oil in the lamps' is the good of love and charity within the truths of faith; 'the virgins who took lamps but no oil' are those who hear the Word, read it, and say that they are believers, yet do not on that account perform any good deed at all, or who if they do, are not moved by a love of good or of truth but by selfish and worldly love.

[8] Since oil was a sign of the good of charity the sick were also anointed with oil and healed, as it says about the Lord's disciples, that when they went out they cast out demons, and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them, Mark 6:13. In David,

You will make my head fat with oil, my cup will overflow. Psalms 23:5.

'Making the head fat with oil' stands for endowing with heavenly good. In Moses,

Jehovah fed [the people] with the produce of the fields; He caused them to suck honey out of the crag and oil out of the stony rock. Deuteronomy 32:13.

This refers to the Ancient Church. 'Sucking oil out of the stony rock' stands for being imbued with good through the truths of faith.

[9] In Habakkuk,

The fig tree will not blossom, neither will there be any produce on the vines; the olive crop will fail, ³ and the fields will not yield food. Habakkuk 3:17.

Neither the fig tree, vines, olives, nor fields should be understood here but the heavenly sources of food to which they correspond. This is also something which all who acknowledge that the Word has to do with such things as belong to heaven and the Church, and so to the soul, can recognize for themselves. But people who have no thought of anything other than worldly, earthly, and bodily things do not see it, indeed have no wish to see it. They say to themselves, What are spiritual things? What are heavenly realities? and so say, What are heavenly sources of food? They indeed know, when they are told, that these are the kinds of things which contribute to intelligence and wisdom, but they have no wish to know that they are what contribute to faith and love. They have no wish to know because they do not let such things enter into their life and as a result do not go far enough to attain intelligence and wisdom in heavenly truths and forms of goodness.

[10] In Ezekiel,

I washed you with water, and washed away the blood ⁴ from upon you, and anointed you with oil. I clothed you with embroidered cloth. Your garments were fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, and honey, and oil. But you took your embroidered garments and covered the images, and you set My oil and My incense before them. Ezekiel 16:9-10, 13, 18.

Is there anyone who cannot see that garments made of embroidered cloth, fine linen, or silk are not meant here, nor oil, honey, or fine flour, but Divine things belonging to heaven and the Church? For these words refer to Jerusalem, by which the Church is meant, and therefore the matters that are mentioned mean such things as have to do with the Church. Each detail clearly means something specific about the Church, for in the Word, which is Divine, not a single word is devoid of meaning. For the meaning of Jerusalem as the Church, see 3654; and as regards what anything further means, for 'embroidered cloth', 9688; 'fine linen', 5319, 9469; 'fine flour', 2177; 'honey', 5620, 6857; 'washing with water', 3147, 5954 (end), 9088; and 'washing away the blood', 4735, 9127.

[11] In Hosea,

Ephraim feeds the wind; they make a covenant with the Assyrian, and oil is carried down into Egypt. Hosea 12:1.

These words are altogether unintelligible unless one knows what is meant by 'Ephraim', 'the Assyrian', and 'Egypt'. They describe the understanding part in the mind of a member of the Church when that part is perverted by means of mere reasonings based on factual knowledge. For 'Ephraim' is that understanding part, 3969, 5354, 6222, 6238, 6267; 'the Assyrian' reasoning, 1186; and 'Egypt' factual knowledge, 9391. Consequently 'carrying oil down into Egypt' means defiling the Church's good in that manner.

[12] The reason why the Lord went so often up to the Mount of Olives, Luke 21:37; 22:39, was that 'oil' and 'olive' were signs of the good of love, as also was 'a mountain', 6435, 8758. This was so because while the Lord was in the world all things in Him were representative of heaven; through them the whole of heaven was linked to Him. Therefore whatever He did and whatever He spoke was Divine and heavenly, and the last and lowest things were representative. The Mount of Olives represented heaven in respect of the good of love and charity, as also becomes clear in Zechariah,

Jehovah will go out and fight against the nations; His feet will stand on that day upon the Mount of Olives, which faces ⁵ Jerusalem. And the Mount of Olives will be split, that part of it [may lean] towards the east and towards the sea, ⁶ with a large valley; and part of the mountain will move away towards the north, and part of it towards the south. Zechariah 14:3-4.

[13] This refers to the Lord and His Coming. 'The Mount of Olives' means the good of love and charity, and so means the Church, for those forms of good make the Church. The fact that the Church would depart from the Jewish nation and be established among gentile nations is meant by the description that this mountain would be split towards the east, towards the sea, and towards the north and south. Something similar is meant by the Lord's words in Luke,

You yourselves will be thrown out of doors. On the other hand people will come from the east and the west, and from the north and the south, and sit at table in the kingdom of God. Luke 13:28-29.

The overall meaning of the statement that Jehovah will go out and fight against the nations, and His feet will stand upon the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem, is that the Lord would fight from Divine Love against the hells; for evils springing from the hells are meant by 'the nations', 1868, 6306, and Divine Love by 'the Mount of Olives' on which His feet will stand.

Notas a pie de página:

2588. 'Abraham's wife' means, in order that spiritual truth might be joined to celestial good. This is clear from the representation of 'Sarah when a wife' as spiritual truth joined to celestial good, dealt with in 1468, 1901, 2063, 2065, 2172, 2173, 2198, 2507, and from the representation of 'Abraham' as celestial good joined to spiritual truth, dealt with in 2010, 2172, 2198, 2501. Whether you say spiritual truth and celestial good, or whether you say the Lord, it amounts to the same, for the Lord is truth itself and good itself, and also the marriage itself of truth and good and of good and truth. These matters may indeed be seen from the explanation given, yet as they belong among those things that are obscure at the present day, let them be illustrated so far as possible. The subject here is the doctrine of faith, about which doctrine the Lord thought when He was a boy; that is to say, He gave thought to whether it was permissible to enter into that doctrine by means of rational conceptions and in that way form ideas for Himself regarding it. This way of thinking was a product of His love and concern for the human race, who are such that they do not believe anything which is not grasped in a rational manner by them. But He perceived from the Divine that one ought not to enter into doctrine that way, and therefore He revealed such doctrine to Himself from the Divine and at the same time also all things in the universe that are subordinate to it, that is, all things of a rational kind, and all those of a natural kind.

[2] People's attitudes to matters of doctrine regarding faith have been spoken of above in 2568. There it was stated that there are two basic attitudes of mind from which people think, the negative and the affirmative; also that they think from a negative attitude who believe nothing unless they are convinced by rational considerations and by facts, and indeed by sensory evidence, whereas those people think from an affirmative attitude who believe that things are true because the Lord has said so in the Word and who thus have faith in the Lord. People who adopt the negative attitude towards the truth of anything in the Word say in their hearts that they are willing to believe when persuaded on rational grounds and by facts. But these are such as never believe, not even indeed if they were convinced by means of the evidence of their own physical senses of seeing, hearing, and touch; for they would always be producing new reasonings against such things, and in so doing they would at length completely destroy all faith and at the same time would turn the light of the rational into darkness, because they would turn it into falsities. People however who adopt the affirmative attitude, that is, who believe that things are true because the Lord has said so, are being confirmed all the time by rational considerations and by facts, and even by sensory evidence, and their ideas are being enlightened and are strengthened by these; for light comes to man through no other channel than the rational ideas and the factual knowledge which he possesses. This is so with everyone. With those who have the affirmative attitude of mind doctrine is certainly living, and of them it is said that they are healed and give birth. But with those who have the negative attitude doctrine certainly dies, and of them it is said that the womb is completely closed. All this shows what it is to enter the doctrine of faith by means of rational ideas, and what it is to enter into rational ideas from the doctrine of faith.

[3] Let these differences be illustrated by examples: The Word teaches that the first and foremost matter of doctrine is love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour. People with the affirmative attitude towards this are able to enter into whatever things of a rational, factual, and indeed sensory kind they please, each according to his ability, knowledge, and experience. Indeed the more they do so the more they are confirmed, for the whole natural order is full of what is confirmatory. But people who deny this first and foremost teaching, and who wish first of all to be convinced by means of factual and rational considerations that a thing is true, never allow themselves to be convinced because they deny in their hearts and are all the time taking their stand on some other basic idea which they believe to be essential. In the end through confirmations of that idea these people so blind themselves that they cannot even know what love to the Lord is and what love towards the neighbour is. And because they confirm themselves in notions contrary to such love they at length also confirm themselves in the idea that no other kind of love can exist that has any delight in it except self-love and love of the world. And this they do to such an extent - if not in doctrine yet in the lives they lead - that they embrace hellish love in place of heavenly love.

[4] But with those who as yet have adopted neither a negative attitude nor an affirmative one but are in a state of doubt that precedes either of these, the position has been stated above in 2568. There it was shown that those who incline towards a life of evil fall into the negative attitude, whereas those who incline towards a life good are brought into the affirmative one. Take a different example: One of the leading ideas of the doctrine of faith is that all good comes from the Lord and all evil from man or self. People with the affirmative attitude that this is so are able to confirm themselves by many rational ideas, and by facts, such as that no good can possibly flow in except from Good itself, that is, from the fountain of good, and so from the Lord, and that good cannot have its first beginnings anywhere else. Such people find these ideas enlightened for them by all things which are truly good within themselves, within others, within society in general, and indeed within the whole of creation. But people with the negative attitude confirm themselves by everything they can possibly think of in ideas to the contrary, so much so that at length they do not know what good is. And disputing among themselves as to what the highest good is, they are profoundly ignorant of the fact that it is by means of celestial and spiritual good from the Lord that every type of good beneath it is made living, and that the delight flowing from it is truly delight. Some also imagine that if good does not come from themselves it cannot possibly come from any other source.

[5] Take another example: Those who are governed by love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour are able to receive the truths of doctrine and to have faith in the Word, but not so those leading a life of self-love and love of the world. Or what amounts to the same, those governed by good are able to believe but not those governed by evil. People with the affirmative attitude of mind are able to confirm this in countless ways - with rational ideas and factual knowledge. With rational ideas they are able to confirm that truth is compatible with good but not with evil, and that as all falsity resides in evil it is also the product of evil, and that if any people governed by evil nevertheless possess any truth, this is on their lips, not in their heart. And with factual knowledge they are able to confirm from many points of view that truths put evils to flight and that evils detest truths. But people with the negative attitude confirm themselves in the idea that everyone, irrespective of what he is like in character - even if he leads a life for ever hating, taking delight in revenge, and practicing deceit - is able to believe as others are able to do so. Yet while holding to this idea they themselves totally reject goodness of life from doctrine, and having rejected it believe nothing whatever.

[6] To make the matter plainer still, take yet another example: Those who adopt the affirmative attitude that the Word has been written in such a way as to have an internal sense that is not apparent in the letter are also able in many ways to confirm themselves through rational considerations, such as the following,

By means of the Word man has a link with heaven.

Correspondences exist of natural things with spiritual, though the spiritual are not very apparent.

The ideas which belong to interior thought are completely different from the material ideas which fall into the words of spoken language. While man is in the world he is able to be in heaven (for he has been born for life in both places) through the Word which is intended for both places.

With some people a certain Divine light flows into the things of the understanding and into the affections when the Word is being read.

It is necessary that something be written which has come down from heaven and thus that the nature of its existence in its origins cannot be the same as its existence in the letter.

It cannot be holy except from a certain holiness which it has within it.

A person with the affirmative attitude is also able to confirm himself by means of certain facts, such as the following,

In former times people were living in an age of representatives. The writings of the Ancient Church contained such representatives, and those of many authors among the gentiles were composed of them, so that in the Churches that style of writing was regarded as being holy, and among the gentiles as being learned (books by many of those authors could also be mentioned).

But people who adopt the negative attitude, though they do not deny all these considerations and facts, nevertheless do not believe them. They persuade themselves that the Word is such as it exists in the letter, where indeed it presents a worldly appearance, but is nevertheless spiritual. They do not have any interest however in where that spiritual element lies, but for a multitude of reasons still want it. And that of which they are persuaded they are able to confirm in many ways.

[7] To present this matter in a way that can be grasped by ordinary people, let the following known fact serve as an example: Those with the affirmative attitude that sight does not belong to the eye but to the spirit which sees objects in the world by means of the eye as an organ of its own body can find confirmation of this fact in many ways. For instance, those people may find confirmation of it in their hearing of words spoken by another, in that these spoken words ally themselves to a certain interior sight, into which those words are converted - something that could not possibly occur but for the existence of that interior sight. These people may also find confirmation of the same in the consideration that whatever they think about is seen with an interior sight, by some more clearly and by others more obscurely, as well as in the consideration that the things produced by their imagination are not unlike actual objects of sight. They may find a further confirmation in the consideration that unless it were the spirit within the body that saw the things taken in by the eye as the organ of sight, the spirit would be unable to see anything in the next life, when in fact it is destined to behold countless and astonishing sights which the eye of the body cannot possibly see. In addition confirmation may be found by these people by reflecting on how in dreams, especially those of the prophets, many things have likewise been seen, yet not with the eyes. Finally, if trained in philosophy, a person may find confirmation in the consideration that things which are more exterior cannot enter into those that are more interior, just as that which is compound cannot enter into that which is simple, so that things of the body cannot enter into those of the spirit; only the reverse is possible. Besides these many other confirmations might be introduced, till at length a person is persuaded that sight belongs to the spirit, and not to the eye except from the spirit. But people with the negative attitude either speak of everything of this kind as that which is natural and physical, or else they speak of it as that which is imaginary. And when they are told that a spirit possesses and enjoys far more perfect sight than man does in the body, they laugh at the idea and dismiss it as nonsense, for they believe that they will be living in darkness when they are deprived of the sight of the eye. But in fact quite the reverse is the case in that they then dwell in the light.

[8] These examples show what it is to enter into things of a rational and factual nature from truths, and what it is to enter into truths from things of a factual and rational nature. The first method of approach is according to order, but the second is contrary to it; and when a person acts according to order he is enlightened, but when he acts contrary to order he is made blind. This makes plain how important it is for people to know and believe truths, for truths enlighten man, but falsities make him blind. Truths open up to the rational a vast and practically unlimited field, whereas falsities provide scarcely any such opening up at all, though this is not very evident. The reason why angels have so much wisdom is that they are enveloped in truths, truth being the light itself of heaven.

[9] Those who have made themselves blind through refusing to believe anything which they do not perceive with the physical senses, till at length they have no belief at all, were in former times called 'serpents belonging to the tree of knowledge'. For they reasoned much from things as perceived by the senses and from the resulting illusions which man accepts and believes all too easily, and by such reasoning they led very many astray, see 195, 196. In the next life they are easily distinguished from other spirits by the fact that in everything which is a matter of faith they reason whether it is so. And if it is demonstrated to them a thousand times, and then another thousand, that it is so they still advance doubts of a negative kind against every confirmation that is offered, and this they would go on doing for ever. They are so blinded therefore that they are lacking in common sense, that is, they are unable to grasp what good and truth are. Yet every one of them imagines that he is wiser than anyone else in the whole universe, making wisdom consist in being able to dispose of what is Divine and to derive the origin of things from what is natural. Many who have been considered wise men in the world are pre-eminently such as these; for the more anyone with the negative attitude of mind possesses talent and knowledge, the more insane he is, more so than all others. But the more anyone with the affirmative attitude possesses talent and knowledge the wiser he is able to become. One is not by any means forbidden to develop the rational by means of factual knowledge, but one is not allowed to use it to harden oneself against the truths of faith which belong to the Word.

[10] Much concerning these matters occurs in the internal sense of the Word, especially in prophetical sections, where the subject is Asshur and Egypt, for 'Asshur' means reasoning, 119, 1186, and 'Egypt' knowledge, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462.

People who wish to enter into matters of doctrine regarding faith and into Divine things by means of things of a factual and of a rational nature, and who are consequently of unsound mind, are referred to in Isaiah as follows,

I will confound Egypt within Egypt, and they will fight every one against his brother, and every one against his companion, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. And the spirit of Egypt will be emptied out in the midst of it, and I will swallow up his plans. The waters from the sea will fail, and the river will be parched and dry; and the streams will depart, and the rivers of Egypt will diminish and become parched. Reed and rush will wither away. Every seed of the river will be dry. Jehovah has mingled in the midst of her a spirit of perversity, and they have made Egypt err in all its work, as a drunken man errs in his vomit. Isaiah 19:2-3, 5-7, 14.

In the same prophet,

Woe to the rebellious children, who depart to go down into Egypt but have not asked at My mouth, to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt. And the strength of Pharaoh will be shame for you, and trust in the shadow of Egypt ignominy. Isaiah 30:1-3.

In the same prophet,

Woe to those who go down into Egypt for help and rely on horses and trust in chariots because they are many, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel and do not seek Jehovah. And Jehovah will stretch out His hand; he who gives help will stumble, and he who is helped will fall, and they will all be destroyed together. And Asshur will fall by a sword, not of man; and a sword, not of man, will devour him. Isaiah 31:1, 3, 8.

In Jeremiah,

My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hollow out pits for themselves, broken pits which do not hold water. Is not Israel a slave? If he is a home-born [servant], why has he become a prey? Are you not bringing this on yourself by forsaking Jehovah your God at a time when He is leading you in the way? And now, what have you to do with the way to Egypt, to drink the waters of Shihor, or what have you to do with the way to Asshur, to drink the waters of the River? O generation, see the Word of Jehovah! Have I been a wilderness for Israel? or a land of darkness? For what reason have My people said, We will be our own masters, we will not come to You any more? Why do you go off so forcefully to change your way? You will also be put to shame by Egypt, as you were put to shame by Asshur. Jeremiah 2:13-14, 17-18, 31, 36.

In the same prophet,

Hear the word of Jehovah, O remnants of Judah, Thus said Jehovah Zebaoth, the God of Israel, If you surely set your faces to come into Egypt, and you enter to sojourn there, then it will be, that the sword of which you are afraid will overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine of which you are terrified will cleave to you there in Egypt, so that you die there. And all the men (vir) who have set their faces to come into Egypt to sojourn there will die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, and none of them will survive or escape from before the evil which I am bringing over you. Jeremiah 42:15-17, and following verses.

In Ezekiel,

And let all the inhabitants of Egypt know that I am Jehovah, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. When they grasp you with the hand, you will be broken, and you will tear for them every shoulder; and when they lean on you you will be broken, and you will make all their loins to be at a stand. Therefore thus said the Lord Jehovih, Behold, I am bringing a sword over you, and I will cause man and beast to be cut off from you; and the land of Egypt will be a desolation and a waste, and they will know that I am Jehovah, for [Egypt] has said, The river is mine, and I made it. Ezekiel 29:6-9, and following verses.

In Hosea,

Ephraim was like a silly dove. They called on Egypt, they went away to Asshur. When they go I will stretch My net over them. Woe to them, for they have strayed away from Me! Hosea 7:11-13.

In the same prophet,

Ephraim feeds the wind, and pursues the east wind. All the day long he multiplies lies and devastation and they make a covenant with Asshur, and oil is carried down into Egypt. Hosea 12:1.

In the same prophet,

Israel has committed whoredom beneath its God. You have taken delight in hiring yourself out on every threshing-floor. Ephraim will return to Egypt, and in Asshur they will eat what is unclean. For behold, they have gone away on account of the devastation, Egypt will gather them, Moph ¹ will bury them; the nettle will possess their precious things of silver, the thorn will be in their tents. Ephraim has been stricken, their root has dried up, they will bear no fruit. Even when they bring forth I will slay the beloved fruits of their womb. My God will cast them away because they have not hearkened to Him, and they will be wanderers among the nations. Hosea 9:1, 3, 6, 16-17.

In Isaiah,

Woe to Asshur, the rod of My anger, and he is the staff, in their hand, of My indignation! He does not think what is right and his heart does not consider what is right, for it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few, for he says, Are not my princes at the same time kings? I will visit upon the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Asshur, for he has said, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have intelligence, and I will remove the boundaries of peoples and will plunder their treasures, and as a powerful man will cast down the inhabitants. Therefore the Lord, the Lord Zebaoth, will send leanness among his fat ones, and instead of his glory a burning of fire will be kindled. Isaiah 10:5, 7-8, 12-13, 16.

[11] In all these places 'Asshur' means reasoning, as has been shown, 'Egypt' and 'pharaoh' mean knowledge, and 'Ephraim' the understanding part of the mind. These and many other places elsewhere describe what man's rational comes to be like when he reasons about the truths of faith from the negative attitude of mind. Similar teaching is embodied in the incidents recorded in Isaiah 36, 37, when the Rabshakeh was sent from the king of Asshur and spoke out against Jerusalem and king Hezekiah, and the angel of Jehovah at that time struck down in the camp of the king of Asshur one hundred and eighty-five thousands. Those descriptions mean the disarray into which all that constitutes man's rationality is thrown when he reasons against Divine things, however much he may seem to himself at that time to be wise.

[12] Such reasoning is also referred to in various places as 'whoredom committed with the sons of Egypt and with the sons of Asshur', as in Ezekiel,

You committed whoredom with the sons of Egypt, your neighbours, great in flesh, and multiplied your whoredom. And you committed whoredom with the sons of Asshur, and were still not satisfied. Ezekiel 16:26, 28; 23:3, 5-21.

See 2466.

[13] People however who enter into things of a rational and factual kind from the doctrine of faith and by so doing are made wise are referred to in Isaiah as follows,

On that day there will be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to Jehovah at its border; and it will be for a sign and a witness to Jehovah Zebaoth in the land of Egypt, for they will cry out to Jehovah because of the oppressors, and He will send a saviour and prince to them, and He will deliver them. And Jehovah will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know Jehovah on that day and will offer sacrifice and minchah, and will make a vow to Jehovah and perform it. Isaiah 19:18-21.

In the same chapter,

On that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Asshur, and Asshur will come into Egypt, and the Egyptians will serve Asshur. ² On that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Asshur, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom Jehovah Zebaoth will bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt My people, and Asshur the work of My hands, and Israel My heritage. Isaiah 19:23-25.

This is referring to the spiritual Church, of which Israel is the spiritual element, Asshur the rational, and Egypt the factual. These three constitute all the intellectual powers of that Church, which come in that order one after another. This explains why it is said, 'On that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Asshur', and 'blessed be Egypt My people, Asshur the work of My hands, and Israel My heritage'.

[14] In the same prophet,

It will be on that day, that a great trumpet will be blown, and they will come - those who are perishing in the land of Asshur, and those who are outcasts in the land of Egypt - and they will bow themselves down to Jehovah on the holy mountain, in Jerusalem. Isaiah 27:13.

In the same prophet,

Thus said Jehovah, The labour of Egypt, and the wares of Cush and of the Sabaeans, men of stature, will come over to you and will be yours. They will follow after you and bow down to you. To you they will make the supplication, God is with you only; and there is no other besides God. Isaiah 45:14.

'Cush and the Sabaeans' are cognitions, 117, 1171. In Zechariah,

Egypt will go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, Jehovah Zebaoth. Zechariah 14:17-18.

In Micah,

As for me, I look to Jehovah, I wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. The day for building your walls, this is the day; and they will come even to you from Asshur and the cities of Egypt even to the River. Micah 7:7, 11-12.

[15] In Ezekiel,

Thus said the Lord Jehovih, At the end of forty years I will gather Egypt from the peoples among whom they were scattered, and I will bring back the captivity of Egypt. Ezekiel 29:13-14.

In the same prophet,

Behold, Asshur was a cedar in Lebanon, beautiful in its branches, and a shady forest, and lofty in height, and its trunk among entangled boughs. The waters caused it to grow, with its streams going around the place of its planting, and he sent out his lines of water to all the trees of the field. Therefore its height was made higher than all the trees of the field, and its branches were multiplied, and its branches were made long by many waters. In its branches all the birds of the air made their nests, and under its branches every wild animal of the field gave birth, and in its shadow dwelt all great nations. And it became beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches, for its root was in many waters. The cedars did not hide it in the garden of God, the fir trees were not equal to its branches. No tree in the garden of God was equal to it in its beauty. I made it beautiful in the mass of its branches, and all the trees of Eden which are in the garden of God envied it. Ezekiel 31:3-9.

Here the Most Ancient Church, which was celestial, is described as to the nature of its rational and so of its wisdom and intelligence, for that Church used to look at things below from those which were Divine. Thus it looked at truths from goods themselves, and then from truths at what was subsidiary to these. By 'Asshur' and 'a cedar' are meant the rational, by 'entangled boughs among which were its branches' is meant factual knowledge, by 'streams' and 'waters' are meant spiritual goods, among which was its 'root', by 'the height and the length of the branches' the extent of it, by 'the garden of God' the spiritual Church, and by 'the trees of Eden' perceptions. This and the other places quoted above show what man's rational is like and what his factual knowledge is like when they are subordinate to Divine truths and serve these by confirming them.

[16] The fact that things of a rational and factual kind serve people who have the affirmative attitude of mind as a means for making them wise was represented and meant by the command to the children of Israel to seek from the Egyptians the loan of vessels of gold and vessels of silver, and clothing, Exodus 3:22; 11:2; 12:35-36. Something similar is meant by what is said in various places in the Word about their possessing the goods, houses, vineyards, and olive-groves, and many other things, of the nations, and also by references to the very gold and silver itself seized from the nations becoming holy, as in Isaiah,

Jehovah will visit Tyre, and she will return to hiring herself out as a harlot, and will commit whoredom with all the kingdoms of the earth on the face of the ground. And its merchandise and its harlot's hire will become holy to Jehovah; it will not be stored or hoarded, for its merchandise will be for them that dwell before Jehovah to eat to satisfaction and for ancient clothing. Isaiah 23:17-18.

'The merchandise of Tyre' stands for cognitions, 1201, which to those with the negative attitude of mind are like 'a harlot's hire' but to those with the affirmative attitude are like that which is holy. Something similar is also meant by the Lord's words,

Make friends for yourselves out of the mammon of unrighteousness, so that when you fail they may receive you into eternal habitations. If then you have not appeared faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust to you the true? Luke 16:9, 11.

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