1029. 'With every wild animal of the earth' means lower things of the understanding or will which derive from these. This too is clear from what has been shown already about the meaning of 'a wild animal', for with everybody there are interior things and exterior. The interior are rational concepts which are here meant by 'birds', and affections which are meant by 'beasts'. The exterior are facts and delights which are meant here by 'wild animals of the earth'. That 'bird', 'beast', and 'wild animal' do not mean any bird, beast, or wild animal but that which is living with a regenerate person anyone may know and deduce from the fact that, in spite of the statement, 'I will establish My covenant with every living soul that is with you, with birds, with beasts, and with every wild animal with you', God cannot possibly enter into a covenant with animals. He can do so only with man who is being described by means of those animals as to his interior and exterior things.

A "field" in the Bible usually represents the Lord's church, and more specifically the desire for good within the church. It's where good things start, take root, and grow. When you have a desire to be a good person and to do good things, the natural first questions are "What does that mean?", "What should I do?", "What can I do?". You look for ideas, concepts, direction. Once you figure out something you want to do or a change you want to make in yourself, you seek specific knowledge. If you want to volunteer at a food pantry, say, you'd need to know whom to call, when they need help, where to go, what to bring. Armed with that knowhow, you're ready to get to work. That process could be compared to food production. You start with a field -- which is that desire to be good. Then you plant seeds -- those ideas and concepts. Those seeds sprout into plants -- the specific facts and knowledge needed for the task (easily seen in the food pantry example, but also true with deeper tasks like "being more tolerant of my co-workers" or "taking more time for prayer," or "consciously being a more loving spouse"). Finally, those plants produce food -- the actual good thing that you go and do. The Writings also say that in a number of cases a "field" represents the doctrine, or teachings, of the church. This sounds markedly different. The desire for good is emotional, a drive, a wanting; doctrine is a set of ideas. But for a church to be true, its doctrine must be centered on a desire for good, and must lead people toward doing what is good. So sound doctrine is actually closely bound up with the desire for good.