725. "A son, a male" signifies the doctrine of truth for the church which is called "the New Jerusalem," because "son" signifies truth (as has been shown just above), and "a son, a male" signifies the truth of doctrine from the Word, consequently the doctrine of genuine truth which is for the church. It means the doctrine for the church which is called the New Jerusalem, because "the woman that brought forth a son, a male" means that church (as has also been shown above). The doctrine of truth which is for the church is also signified by "male" in the following passages. In Moses:

God created man into His image, into the image of God created He him. Male and female created He them (Genesis 1:27).

Male and female created He them, and blessed them, and called their name Man, in the day when they were created (Genesis 5:2).

What is involved in the things that are related in the first chapters of Genesis respecting the creation of heaven and earth, paradise, and eating from the tree of knowledge, no one can know except from the spiritual sense, for these historical things are made-up historicals, and yet they are holy, because every least particular is inwardly or in its bosom spiritual.

[2] It describes the establishment of the Most Ancient Church, which surpassed all the churches on this earth; its establishment is meant by the creation of heaven and earth, its intelligence and wisdom by the garden in Eden, and its decline and fall by eating from the tree of knowledge. From this it is clear that "Man," who is called "Adam and Eve," means that church, for it is said "male and female created He them, and called their name Man;" and as that church is meant by the two, it follows that "the male" means its truth, and "the female" its good, so too, "male" means doctrine, and "female," the life, since the doctrine of truth is also the doctrine of love and charity, thus the doctrine of life; and the life of good is also the life of love and charity, thus the life of doctrine, that is, life according to doctrine. These two are meant by "male [and female]," and these taken together and conjoined in marriage are called "Man" [Homo], and also constitute the church, which is meant by "Man," as has been said above. So, again, Adam is from a word that means ground, and ground from its reception of seeds signifies the church in respect to the truths of doctrine, for in the Word seeds signify truths; while Eve is from a word that means life, as it is said:

Because she was to be the mother of all living (Genesis 3:20).

These two, doctrine and life, when taken together and joined as it were in marriage, are called "Man," and also constitute the church, because man is man from the understanding of truth and from the will of good, consequently from the doctrine of life, since this is of the understanding, and from the life of doctrine, because this is of the will. It is similar with the church, for the church is in man, and is the man himself.

[3] That these two, which are signified by "male and female," are not to be two but one, the Lord teaches in the Gospels:

Jesus said, Have ye not read that He who made them from the beginning of creation made them male and female, and they twain shall be one flesh? Therefore they are no more twain, but one flesh (Matthew 19:4-6; Mark 10:6, 8).

This, like every particular of the Word, must be understood not only naturally, but also spiritually, and unless it is also understood spiritually no one can know what is signified by "male and female [or husband and wife] shall be no more twain but one flesh" (as it is also said in Genesis 2:24). Here, as above, "male and female" signify in the spiritual sense truth and good, consequently the doctrine of truth, which is the doctrine of life, and the life of truth, which is the life of doctrine; these must be not two but one, since truth does not become truth with man without the good of life, nor does good become good with anyone without the truth of doctrine, for good becomes spiritual good only by means of truths, and spiritual good is good, but natural good without it is not good. When these are one, then truth is of good and good is of truth, and this one is meant by "one flesh." It is similar with doctrine and life; these also constitute one man of the church when the doctrine of life and the life of doctrine are conjoined with him, for doctrine teaches how one must live and do, and life lives the doctrine and does it. From this it can also be seen that "a son, a male" signifies the doctrine of love and charity, consequently the doctrine of life.

[4] Since the truth of doctrine or the doctrine of truth is signified by the "male," the law was given:

That every male opening the womb should be holy to Jehovah (Exodus 13:12, 15; Deuteronomy 15:19; Luke 2:23).

For from the marriage of truth and good, which, as has been said above, is meant in the spiritual sense by the marriage of man and woman, truths and goods are born, consequently these are signified in that sense by "sons and daughters," truths by "sons," and goods by "daughters;" and as every man is reformed and regenerated by means of truths, for without truths man does not know what is good, or what is the nature of good, thus does not know the way to heaven, so truth, which is what is first born from the marriage of truth and good, was sanctified to Jehovah. This truth first born is also the doctrine of truth, for that which is first is the all in what follows, thus is in all truth, and all truth is doctrine. But it must be carefully noted that "the firstborn" signifies the truth that is of the good of charity, consequently it signifies the good of charity in its form and in its quality, and therefore truth. For truth is the form of good and the quality of good. This is signified by "the firstborn," because from the good of love, which is signified by the womb and the infant in it, nothing else can be born but the good of charity; and this good does not become good until it has been formed and qualified, that is, until it is in the form in which it has its quality, and its form is called truth, and yet it is good in form.

[5] From what has now been said it can be seen why it was commanded:

That every male should appear three times in the year before the face of the Lord Jehovah (Exodus 23:17; 34:23; Deuteronomy 16:16);

namely, at the three feasts, which signified everything of regeneration, from its first to its last; and as everything of regeneration is effected by the truths of doctrine that are made by the Lord to be of the life, so all males, by whom truths were signified, were to present themselves before the Lord that they might be made clean by Him and afterwards be led by Him. Moreover, "three times in the year" signifies continually, and "the face of Jehovah" the Divine love, by which man is led. And this was done because "Jerusalem" signified the church in respect to doctrine, and thence also the doctrine of the church.

[6] Because "burnt-offerings and sacrifices" signified celestial and spiritual things, "burnt-offerings" celestial things, and "sacrifices" spiritual things, the law was given:

That burnt-offerings should be of males without blemish, either from the flock or from the herd; but sacrifices might be either of males or females (Leviticus 1:2, 3; 3:1, 6).

The reasons were that celestial things are such as are of the love to the Lord, thus of the marriage of good and truth, but spiritual things are such as are of charity towards the neighbor, thus not of marriage but of the blood relationship of truth with good; and truths and goods in blood relationship are like sisters and brothers, but in marriage truths and goods are like husband and wife. This is why the burnt-offerings were "of males without blemish," which signify genuine truths from the Word, or from doctrine out of the Word, which have been conjoined to the good of love to the Lord, which good was signified by "the altar and its fire." The sacrifices were "either of males or females," because "males" signified truths, and "females" goods, conjoined not by marriage but by blood relationship; and as both of these, like brothers and sisters, are of one parent, worship was equally well pleasing from truths and from goods, that is, from males and from females.

[7] As all spiritual nourishment is from truths that are from good, the law was also given:

That the male among the priests might eat the holy things (Leviticus 6:18, 29; 7:6).

This was the law because "males" signify the truths of doctrine, which are doctrinals, as above, and "priests" the goods of love, which are the goods of life, and "their eating of the holy things" that belonged to Aaron and his sons signified spiritual nourishment.

[8] In Moses:

When thou draw near unto a city to fight against it, thou shalt invite it to peace; if it does not accept, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword, but the women, the little ones, the beasts, and the prey thou shalt take (Deuteronomy 20:10-14).

Every male in a city that did not accept peace should be smitten with the edge of the sword, but not the women, little ones, and beasts, because "city" signifies doctrine, and "a city of the nations in the land of Canaan" the doctrine of falsity, likewise the males of that city; and "not to accept peace" signifies not to agree with the truths and goods of the church, which were signified by "the sons of Israel;" "the edge of the sword," with which the males should be smitten, signifies truth destroying falsity. And because falsities alone fight against truths and goods and destroy them, but not evils without falsities, "the women, little ones, and beasts," which, with the nations, signified evils, were not smitten, since evils can be subdued, amended, and reformed by means of truths.

[9] In Jeremiah:

Cursed be the man who brought glad tidings to his father, saying, A son, a male is born to thee, in gladdening he hath made him glad; let that man be as the cities that Jehovah overthrew (Jeremiah 20:15, 16).

This is said of those who are in the devastated church, in which nothing but falsities rule and are accepted; therefore "cursed be the man who brought glad tidings to his father, saying, A male is born to thee," signifies one who acknowledges falsity and proclaims it as truth, thus the doctrine of falsity in place of the doctrine of truth; "in gladdening he hath made him glad" signifies the accepting from affection of falsity; "let that man be as the cities that Jehovah overthrew" signifies that it shall be with the doctrines that are from mere falsities, which the Lord exterminated from the church, and as with the cities of the Canaanitish nation that He destroyed; the comparison is with cities because "cities" signify doctrines.

[10] In Ezekiel:

Thou didst take the vessels of thine adorning, of My gold and of My silver which I had given to thee, and madest for thee images of a male with which thou didst commit whoredom (Ezekiel 16:17).

This is said of "the abominations of Jerusalem," which signify the falsifications and adulterations of the Word, which are made by applications to the cupidities of corporeal and earthly loves; "vessels of adorning from the gold and silver of the Lord" signify the knowledges of good and truth, which are the goods and truths of the sense of the letter of the Word; these are called "vessels" because they contain in them spiritual truths and goods, and are called "vessels of adorning" because they are the appearances and thus forms of things interior; the things that are of "gold" signify those that are from good, and those of "silver" those that are from truth; "thou madest for thee images of a male, with which thou didst commit whoredom," signifies falsities appearing as truths of doctrine, but which are falsified; "the images of a male" meaning the appearances of truth, which nevertheless are falsities, and "to commit whoredom" meaning to falsify.

[11] In Malachi:

Cursed be the defrauder in whose flock is a male and he voweth and sacrificeth to the Lord a corrupted thing (Malachi 1:14).

"A male in the flock" signifies the genuine truth of doctrine from the Word; "a corrupted thing" signifies what is falsified; and "to vow and sacrifice" signifies to worship, thus from things falsified when truth is known; that this worship being fraudulent is infernal is signified by "cursed be the defrauder." From what has now been shown from the Word respecting the signification of "male" and of "sons," it can be seen that "the son, a male that was brought forth by the woman arrayed with the sun, and upon whose head was a crown of twelve stars," signifies the doctrine of truth, thus the doctrine of love and charity for the church which is called the New Jerusalem (which is treated of in the twenty-first chapter of this book).

708. And the moon under her feet, signifies faith with those who are natural and who are in charity. This is evident from the signification of "moon" as being faith in which there is charity (of which presently); and from the signification of "feet," as being things natural (of which above n. 69, 600, 632 32); here, therefore, those who are natural, because this is said of the "woman," by whom the church is signified, and the "sun" with which she was arrayed, signifies love to the Lord from the Lord and love to the neighbor (as shown in the preceding article); therefore "the woman arrayed with the sun" signifies the church with those who are celestial and thence spiritual, and "the moon under her feet" signifies the church with those who are natural and sensual, and at the same time in the faith of charity; for the goods and the truths therefrom of heaven and the church succeed in order, like the head, the body, and the feet with man. In the head of the Greatest Man, which is heaven, are those who are in love to the Lord from the Lord, and these are called celestial; but in the body, from the breast even to the loins of that Greatest Man, which is heaven, are those who are in love towards the neighbor, and these are called spiritual; but in the feet of the Greatest Man, which is heaven, are those who are obscurely in the faith of charity, and these are called natural.

[2] But that this may be clearly apprehended it must be known that there are two kingdoms into which the heavens are divided, one called the celestial, and the other the spiritual; and that there are three heavens, the highest called the celestial, the middle called the spiritual, and the lowest called the celestial-natural and the spiritual-natural. Besides these distinctions in the heavens, however, there is the further distinction between those who receive light, that is, intelligence, from the Lord as a sun, and those who receive light and intelligence from the Lord as a moon. Those who receive the light of intelligence from the Lord as a sun are those with whom the intellectual and its rational have been opened, and who have, in consequence, thought rationally about what should be believed from the spiritual affection of truth; while those who receive light from the Lord as a moon are those in whom the intellectual and interior rational have not been opened, but only the natural, and who in consequence have thought from the memory about what should be believed; and to think about this from the memory is to think only from such things as have been heard from a teacher or preacher, which they call truths and believe to be truths although they may be falsities, since they are not seen beyond the memory. If such while in the world were also in the faith of charity, they are in the heavens under the Lord as a moon, for the lumen, from which is their intelligence, is like the moon's lumen in the nighttime, while the light from which is the intelligence of those who are in the heavens under the Lord as a sun is like the light of day. Of what nature the difference is can be seen from the difference between the light of the sun in the day and the light of the moon in the night. There is the further difference that those who are under the Lord as a moon can see nothing in the light that those have who are under the Lord as a sun, for the reason that their light is not genuine light but a reflected light, which can receive falsities as well as truths if only there seems to be good in the falsities. Because all those who are in the heavens under the Lord as a moon are natural and sensual, and have nothing in common with those who are in the heavens under the Lord as a sun, and moreover are in falsities, though in falsities in which there is good, therefore the moon was seen "under the feet" of the woman, which means the faith with those who are natural.

[3] Thus much respecting the faith of those in heaven who are under the Lord as a moon. A few things shall also be said about their affection, from which faith derives its life. Their affection of knowing truth and doing good is, like themselves, natural, thus deriving more or less from the glory of being learned, and from reputation that looks to honors and gain as rewards, differing in this from such spiritual affection of knowing truth and doing good as those have who are in heaven under the Lord as a sun, for with these this affection is so separated from natural affection that the natural affection is under the feet. This, also, is why "the moon," which signifies not only faith but also its affection, was here seen under the feet. (But a fuller idea of this can be gained from what is said and shown in the work on Heaven and Hell, under the heads, Heaven is Divided into Two Kingdoms, n 20-28; The Sun and the Moon in Heaven, Light and Heat in the Heavens, n 116-140; and The Correspondence of Heaven with all Things of Man, n. 87-102; also in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem respecting those who are in falsities from good, n 21.) That "the sun" signifies the Lord in relation to Divine love, and thus love to the Lord from the Lord, and "the moon" the truth of faith, may be seen above n. 401; moreover, respecting the heavens that are under the Lord as a sun, and those under the Lord as a moon, see also above (n. 411, 422, 527). To this is to be added, that there are three heavens that are under the Lord as a moon, a higher, a middle, and a lower; or what is the same, an interior, a middle, and an exterior, but yet all who are in these heavens are natural. These heavens are interior, middle, and exterior, because the natural like the spiritual is divided into three degrees; the exterior-natural communicates with the world, the interior with heaven, and the middle conjoins. Nevertheless, those who are in the heavens under the Lord as a moon cannot enter into the heavens that are under the Lord as a sun, because their interior sight or understanding has been formed to receive the lunar light there, and not to receive the solar light. They are comparatively not unlike those birds that see in the night and not in the daytime, consequently when they come into the sunlight that those have who are under the Lord as a sun their sight is darkened. Those who are in these heavens are those who have been in charity according to their religious principle, or according to their faith; but such as are natural and are not in the faith of charity are in the hells under these heavens. From this it is evident that the "moon" here means faith with those who are natural and are in charity; and the moon was seen "under the feet" because those who are in the heavens under the Lord as a moon have nothing in common with those who are in the heavens under the Lord as a sun, even to the extent that they are unable to rise up to them.