9372. And He said unto Moses. That this signifies that which concerns the Word in general, is evident from the representation of Moses, as being the Word (of which below); and from the signification of “He said,” as involving those things which follow in this chapter, thus those which concern the Word (see n. 9370). (That Moses represents the Word, can be seen from what has been often shown before about Moses, as from the preface to Genesis 18; and n. 4859, 5922, 6723, 6752, 6771, 6827, 7010, 7014, 7089, 7382, 8601, 8760, 8787, 8805.) Here Moses represents the Word in general, because it is said of him in what follows, that he alone should come near unto Jehovah (verse 2); and also that, being called unto out of the midst of the cloud, he entered into it, and went up the mount (verses 16-18).

[2] In the Word there are many who represent the Lord in respect to truth Divine, or in respect to the Word; but chief among them are Moses, Elijah, Elisha, and John the Baptist. That Moses does so, can be seen in the explications just cited above; that so do Elijah and Elisha, can be seen in the preface to Genesis 18; and n. 2762, 5247; and that John the Baptist does so is evident from the fact that he was “Elias who was to come.” He who does not know that John the Baptist represented the Lord as to the Word, cannot know what all those things infold and signify which are said about him in the New Testament; and therefore in order that this secret may stand open, and that at the same time it may appear that Elias, and also Moses, who were seen when the Lord was transfigured, signified the Word, some things may here be quoted which are spoken about John the Baptist; as in Matthew:

After the messengers of John had departed, Jesus began to speak concerning John, saying, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? a reed shaken by the wind? But what went ye out to see? a man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft things are in kings’ houses. But what went ye out to see? a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, even more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, Behold I send Mine angel before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee. Verily I say unto you, Among those who are born of women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist; nevertheless he that is less in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he. All the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye are willing to believe, he is Elias who was to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear (Matthew 11:7-15; and also Luke 7:24-28).

No one can know how these things are to be understood, unless he knows that this John represented the Lord as to the Word, and unless he also knows from the internal sense what is signified by “the wilderness” in which he was, also what by “a reed shaken by the wind,” and likewise by “soft raiment in kings’ houses;” and further what is signified by his being “more than a prophet,” and by “none among those who are born of women being greater than he, and nevertheless he that is less in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he,” and lastly by his being “Elias.” For without a deeper sense, all these words are uttered merely from some comparison, and not from anything of weight.

[3] But it is very different when by John is understood the Lord as to the Word, or the Word representatively. Then by “the wilderness of Judea in which John was” is signified the state in which the Word was at the time when the Lord came into the world, namely, that it was “in the wilderness,” that is, it was in obscurity so great that the Lord was not at all acknowledged, neither was anything known about His heavenly kingdom; when yet all the prophets prophesied about Him, and about His kingdom, that it was to endure forever. (That “a wilderness” denotes such obscurity, see n. 2708, 4736, 7313.) For this reason the Word is compared to “a reed shaken by the wind” when it is explained at pleasure; for in the internal sense “a reed” denotes truth in the ultimate, such as is the Word in the letter.

[4] That the Word in the ultimate, or in the letter, is crude and obscure in the sight of men; but that in the internal sense it is soft and shining, is signified by their “not seeing a man clothed in soft raiment, for behold those who wear soft things are in kings’ houses.” That such things are signified by these words, is plain from the signification of “raiment,” or “garments,” as being truths (n. 2132, 2576, 4545, 4763, 5248, 6914, 6918, 9093); and for this reason the angels appear clothed in garments soft and shining according to the truths from good with them (n. 5248, 5319, 5954, 9212, 9216). The same is evident from the signification of “kings’ houses,” as being the abodes of the angels, and in the universal sense, the heavens; for “houses” are so called from good (n. 2233, 2234, 3128, 3652, 3720, 4622, 4982, 7836, 7891, 7996, 7997); and “kings,” from truth (n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 6148). Therefore by virtue of their reception of truth from the Lord, the angels are called “sons of the kingdom,” “sons of the king,” and also “kings.”

[5] That the Word is more than any doctrine in the world, and more than any truth in the world, is signified by “what went ye out to see? a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet;” and by, “there hath not arisen among those who are born of women a greater than John the Baptist;” for in the internal sense “a prophet” denotes doctrine (n. 2534, 7269); and “those who are born,” or are the sons, “of women” denote truths (n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 2803, 2813, 3704, 4257).

[6] That in the internal sense, or such as it is in heaven, the Word is in a degree above the Word in the external sense, or such as it is in the world, and such as John the Baptist taught, is signified by, “he that is less in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he;” for as perceived in heaven the Word is of wisdom so great that it transcends all human apprehension. That the prophecies about the Lord and His coming, and that the representatives of the Lord and of His kingdom, ceased when the Lord came into the world, is signified by, “all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.” That the Word was represented by John, as by Elijah, is signified by his being “Elias who is to come.”

[7] The same is signified by these words in Matthew:

The disciples asked Jesus, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come? He answered and said, Elias must needs first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, that Elias hath come already, and they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they wished. Even so shall the Son of man also suffer of them. And they understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist (Matthew 17:10-13).

That “Elias hath come, and they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they wished” signifies that the Word has indeed taught them that the Lord is to come, but that still they did not wish to comprehend, interpreting it in favor of the rule of self, and thus extinguishing what is Divine in it. That they would do the same with the truth Divine itself, is signified by “even so shall the Son of man also suffer of them.” (That “the Son of man” denotes the Lord as to truth Divine, see n. 2803, 2813, 3704)

[8] From all this it is now evident what is meant by the prophecy about John in Malachi:

Behold I send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Jehovah cometh (Malachi 4:5).

Moreover, the Word in the ultimate, or such as it is in the external form in which it appears before man in the world, is described by the “clothing” and “food” of John the Baptist, in Matthew:

John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, had His clothing of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his food was locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:1, 4).

In like manner it is described by Elijah in the second book of Kings:

He was a hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins (2 Kings 1:8).

By “clothing,” or a “garment,” when said of the Word, is signified truth Divine there in the ultimate form; by “camel’s hair” are signified memory-truths such as appear there before a man in the world; by the “leathern girdle” is signified the external bond connecting and keeping in order all the interior things; by “food” is signified spiritual nourishment from the knowledges of truth and of good out of the Word; by “locusts” are signified ultimate or most general truths; and by “wild honey” their pleasantness.

[9] That such things are signified by “clothing” and “food” has its origin in the representatives of the other life, where all appear clothed according to truths from good, and where food also is represented according to the desires of acquiring knowledge and growing wise. From this it is that “clothing,” or a “garment,” denotes truth (as may be seen from the citations above; and that “food” or “meat” denotes spiritual nourishment, n. 3114, 4459, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5576, 5579, 5915, 8562, 9003; that “a girdle” denotes a bond which gathers up and holds together interior things, n. 9341; that “leather” denotes what is external, n. 3540; and thus “a leathern girdle” denotes an external bond; that “hairs” denote ultimate or most general truths, n. 3301, 5569-5573; that “a camel” denotes memory-knowledge in general, n. 3048, 3071, 3143, 3145, 4156; that “a locust” denotes nourishing truth in the extremes, n. 7643; and that “honey” denotes the pleasantness thereof, n. 5620, 6857, 8056). It is called “wild honey,” or “honey of the field,” because by “a field” is signified the church (n. 2971, 3317, 3766, 7502, 7571, 9139, 9295). He who does not know that such things are signified, cannot possibly know why Elijah and John were so clothed. And yet that these things signified something peculiar to these prophets, can be thought by everyone who thinks well about the Word.

[10] Because John the Baptist represented the Lord as to the Word, therefore also when he spoke of the Lord, who was the Word itself, he said of himself that he was “not Elias, nor the prophet,” and that he was “not worthy to loose the latchet of the Lord’s shoe,” as in John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. The Jews from Jerusalem, priests and Levites, asked John who he was. And he confessed, and denied not, I am not the Christ. Therefore they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? But he said, I am not. Art thou the prophet? He answered, No. They said therefore unto him, Who art thou? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said Isaiah the prophet. They said therefore, Why then baptizest thou, if thou art not the Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet? He answered, I baptize with water; in the midst of you standeth one whom ye know not; He it is who is to come after me, who was before me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to unloose. When he saw Jesus, he said, Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, After me cometh a man who was before me; for he was before me (John 1:1, 14, 19-30).

From these words it is plain that when John spoke about the Lord Himself, who was Truth Divine itself, or the Word, he said that he himself was not anything, because the shadow disappears when the light itself appears, that is, the representative disappears when the original itself makes its appearance. (That the representatives had in view holy things, and the Lord Himself, and not at all the person that represented, see n. 665, 1097, 1361, 3147, 3881, 4208, 4281, 4288, 4292, 4307, 4444, 4500, 6304, 7048, 7439, 8588, 8788, 8806.) One who does not know that representatives vanish like shadows at the presence of light, cannot know why John denied that he was Elias and the prophet.

[11] From all this it can now be seen what is signified by Moses and Elias, who were seen in glory, and who spoke with the Lord when transfigured, of His departure which He should accomplish at Jerusalem (Luke 9:29-31); namely, that they signified the Word (“Moses” the historic Word, and “Elias” the prophetic Word), which in the internal sense throughout treats of the Lord, of His coming into the world, and of His departure out of the world; and therefore it is said that “Moses and Elias were seen in glory,” for “glory” denotes the internal sense of the Word, and the “cloud” its external sense (see the preface to Genesis 18, and n. 5922, 8427).

9937. 'And Aaron shall bear the iniquity of the holy things' means a consequent removal or shifting away of falsities and evils with those who are governed by good derived from the Lord. This is clear from the representation of 'Aaron' as the Lord in respect of the good of love, dealt with in 9806, and from the representation of 'the priestly office' in which Aaron served as all the service performed by the Lord as the Saviour, dealt with in 9809; from the meaning of 'bearing the iniquity' as a removal of falsities and evils with those who are governed by good, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'the holy things' as the gifts which they offered to Jehovah or the Lord to expiate them from sins, those gifts being burnt offerings, sacrifices, and minchahs. It is plain that these should be understood by 'the holy things', for it says, Which the children of Israel shall sanctify, even in all their gifts of holy things. The reason why 'bearing the iniquity' means a removal or shifting away of falsities and evils, or sins, with those who are governed by good is that what is said refers to the Lord; for the Lord is represented by Aaron, and all the work of salvation by his service or priestly office. It is well known in the Church that the Lord is said to have borne sins on behalf of the human race, yet there is no knowledge of what to understand by bearing iniquities and sins. Some think it means that He took the sins of the human race onto Himself and allowed Himself to be condemned even to death on a cross, and that since, because of this, the condemnation for sins was cast onto Him, people in the world have been made free from condemnation. It is also thought that condemnation was taken away by the Lord through His fulfilling the law, for the law would have condemned everyone who did not fulfill it.

[2] But no such ideas should be understood by 'bearing iniquity', for every individual person's deeds await him after death, when he is judged according to the essential nature of those deeds either to life or to death. The essential nature of them depends on his love and faith, for love and faith constitute the life of a deed. No one's deeds therefore can be taken away by transference onto another who will bear them. From these considerations it is evident that something other than those ideas should be understood by 'bearing iniquities'; but what should be understood may be recognized from the actual bearing of iniquities or sins by the Lord. The Lord bears them when He fights on behalf of a person against the hells; for no one is able by himself to fight against them. Rather the Lord alone does so, indeed constantly for every individual person, yet differently with each one according to their reception of Divine Good and Divine Truth.

[3] When He was in the world the Lord fought against all the hells and completely subdued them, as a result of which also He became Righteousness. By doing that He has rescued from damnation those who receive Divine Good and Truth from Him. If the Lord had not done so no person could have been saved, for the hells are unceasingly present with a person, exercising control over him to the extent that the Lord does not shift them away. And He shifts them away to the extent that the person refrains from evils. He who is victorious once over the hells is victorious forever over them; and to achieve this the Lord made Divine His Human. The One therefore who alone fights for a person against the hells - or what amounts to the same thing, against evils and falsities, since they arise from the hells - is said to bear sins; for He bears that burden, alone. The reason why 'bearing sins' also means moving evils and falsities away from those who are governed by good is that this is the consequence. For the more remote the hells are from a person, the more remote evils and falsities are, since falsities and evils come, as has been stated, from the hells - evils and falsities being sins and iniquities. For the implications of all this, see what has been shown above in 9715, 9809, where the Lord's merit and righteousness, and also the subjugation of the hells by Him, are dealt with.

[4] The reason for its being said that Aaron would bear iniquities was that He represented the Lord, while his priestly office represented the Lord's entire work of salvation, see 9806, 9809; and the work of salvation consists primarily in rescuing and delivering a person from hell, and so in shifting evils and falsities away. The expression 'a shifting of evils and falsities away' is used because deliverance from sins or forgiveness of them is nothing other than a shifting away of them; for they still remain with the person. But to the extent that the good of love and the truth of faith are implanted evil and falsity are shifted away. The situation in this is like that with heaven and hell. Heaven does not annihilate hell or those who are there, but moves it away from itself; for the good and truth received from the Lord are what compose heaven, and they are what move hell back. The situation is similar with a person. In himself a person is an embodiment of hell, but when he is being regenerated he becomes an embodiment of heaven; and to the extent that he becomes an embodiment of heaven, hell is moved away from him. It is commonly supposed that evils, that is, sins, are not shifted away in that manner, but that they are completely separated from a person. But those who think this do not know that in himself the whole of a person is nothing but evil, and that to the extent that the person is maintained by the Lord in good, the evils that are his appear as though they have been obliterated. For when a person is maintained in good he is withheld from evil. Yet nobody can be withheld from evil and maintained in good except one in whom the good of faith and charity received from the Lord is present, that is, one who allows himself to be regenerated by the Lord. For through regeneration heaven is implanted with a person, and through this the hell residing with him is moved away, as stated above.

[5] From all this it may again be recognized that 'bearing iniquities', when the Lord is the subject, means fighting constantly for a person against the hells, thus constantly moving them away, for that removal of them goes on unceasingly not only while a person is in the world but also forever in the next life. No mere human being is able to move evils away in that manner, for by himself no one is able to move even the smallest amount of evil away, less still to move the hells, and least of all to do so forever. But see what has been shown previously about these matters -

Evils with a person are not completely separated from him, but they are moved away to the extent that he is governed by good received from the Lord, 8393, 9014, 9333-9336, 9444-9454.

While in the world the Lord overcame the hells by means of conflicts brought about by temptations, and thereby set all things in order; He was stirred by Divine Love to do this, in order that the human race might be saved; and He also thereby made Divine His Human, see the places referred to in 9528 (end).

The Lord fights for a person in temptations, which are spiritual conflicts against evils that come from hell, 1692, 6574, 8159, 8172, 8175, 8176, 8273, 8969.

In what way the Lord bore the iniquities of the human race when He was in the world, that is, fought with the hells and subdued them, and in so doing acquired Divine power to Himself to remove them with all who are governed by good, and that He thereby became merit and righteousness, is described in Isaiah 59:16-20, and also 63:1-9, for explanations of which, see 9715, 9809.

[6] From all this, once it is understood, people may then know what all those things mean that are stated regarding the Lord in Chapter 53 of the same prophet, a chapter dealing from beginning to end with the state of temptations He underwent, thus with the state He was passing through when He was engaged in conflict with the hells. For temptations are nothing other than conflicts with them. This state is described in [verses Isaiah 53:4-6, 9-12, of] that chapter in the following way,

He bore our griefs ¹ and carried our sorrows.

He was pierced because of our transgressions and bruised because of our iniquities.

Jehovah has laid on ² Him the iniquity of us all.

So He consigned the wicked to [their] grave.

The will of Jehovah will prosper by means of His hand.

Out of the distress ³ of His soul He will see and be satisfied, and through His wisdom He will justify many, because He has carried their iniquities.

So He has borne the sin of many.

The Lord is also called there [in Isaiah 53:1] the arm of Jehovah, by which Divine Power is meant, 4932, 7205. 'Carrying griefs, sorrows, and iniquities', and 'being pierced and bruised because of them' self-evidently means the state of temptations; for at that time there are experiences involving distress of mind, anguish, and despair, which cause the pain described in those verses. The hells bring such feelings about; for in temptations they assault the actual love of the one against whom they fight. Everyone's love is the inmost core of his life. The Lord's love was that of saving the human race; and this love was the Essential Being (Esse) of His life, since the Divine within Him was that love. This too is so described in Isaiah, where the Lord's conflicts are the subject, in the following words,

He said, Surely they are My people. Therefore He became their Saviour. In all their affliction He suffered affliction; because of His love and His compassion He redeemed them, and took them and carried them all the days of eternity. Isaiah 63:8-9.

[7] The description of the Lord's suffering of such temptations when He was in the world is brief in the Gospels, but in the Prophets, and especially in the Psalms of David, it is extensive. The Gospels merely state that He was led into the wilderness, where He was then tempted by the devil, and that He was there forty days, and was with the beasts, Mark 1:12-13; Matthew 4:1. But the fact that He had been undergoing temptations from earliest childhood through to the end of His life in the world, that is, had been engaged in conflicts with the hells, was not revealed by Him, as accords with the following words in Isaiah,

He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. He is led like a lamb to the slaughter, and like a sheep before its shearers is dumb, He did not open His mouth. Isaiah 53:7.

His final temptation was in Gethsemane, Matthew 26; Mark 14, followed by the passion of the Cross. Through this temptation He completely subdued the hells, as He Himself teaches in John,

Father, rescue Me from this hour. But on account of this I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name. [Then] a voice came from heaven, [saying,] I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. Then Jesus said, Now is the judgement of this world, now will the prince of this world be cast outdoors. John 12:27-28, 31.

'The prince of [this] world' is the devil, thus all hell. 'Glorifying' means making Divine the Human. The reason why only the temptation after the forty days in the wilderness is mentioned is that 'forty days' means and implies temptations to completeness, thus over a number of years, see 8098, 9437. 'The wilderness' means hell, 'the beasts' He fought with there being the devil's crew.

[8] The removal of sins with those who are governed by good or who have repented was represented in the Jewish Church by the he-goat called Azazel. Aaron was to lay his hands on its head and to confess the iniquities of the children of Israel and all transgressions in respect of all their sins, after which he was to send it into the wilderness; thus the he-goat was to bear on itself all their iniquities into a land of separation, Leviticus 16:21-22. 'Aaron' here represents the Lord, 'the he-goat' means faith, 'the wilderness' and 'a land of separation' hell, and 'bearing the iniquities of the children of Israel to that place' removing and casting them into hell. Nobody can know that such things were represented except from the internal sense. For anyone can see that the iniquities of the entire assembly could not have been carried off into the wilderness by any he-goat; for what did a he-goat have in common with iniquities? But since everything representative at that time was a sign of such things as belong to the Lord, heaven, and the Church, so were these things that were done with the he-goat. The internal sense therefore teaches what those things imply, namely that the truth of faith is the means by which a person is regenerated, consequently by which sins are removed. And since faith or belief in what is true is derived from the Lord, the Lord Himself is the One who accomplishes that removal of them, as accords with what has been stated and shown in the Preface to Genesis 22, and also in 2046, 3332, 3876, 3877, 4738. Aaron represents the Lord, see 9806, 9808; and 'a he-goat of the she-goats' is the truth of faith, 4169 (end), 4769. The reason why 'the wilderness' is hell, is that the camp where the children of Israel were meant heaven, 4236; and for the same reason also the wilderness is called 'a land of separation' or a land that is cut off. 'Bearing iniquities into that land' or into the wilderness accordingly means casting evils and falsities into hell from where they come; and they are cast into that place when they become so remote that they cannot be seen, which is what happens when a person is withheld from them because he is maintained in good by the Lord, as accords with what has been stated above.

[9] The same thing as is meant by casting out sins into the wilderness is also meant by casting them into the depths of the sea, as in Micah,

He will be merciful to us, He will sink our iniquities, and He will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Micah 7:19.

'Depth of the sea' too means hell.

[10] From all this it is now evident that the words saying that Aaron was to bear the iniquity of the holy things means a removal or shifting away of sins from those who are governed by good derived from the Lord, and that this removal of them is done constantly by the Lord. This is what 'bearing iniquities' means, as also in another place in Moses,

Jehovah said to Aaron, You and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary. Also you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood. The children of Israel shall no longer come near the tent of meeting, or else they will bear sin and die. ⁴ But Levites shall perform the work of the tent, and these shall bear their iniquity. Numbers 18:1, 22-23.

'Bearing' or 'carrying' is used with a similar meaning in Isaiah,

Hearken to Me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel who have been carried from the womb. Even to [your] old age I am the Same, and even to grey hair I will carry [you]; I have made, and I will carry, and I will bear, and I will deliver. Isaiah 46:3-4.

[11] 'Bearing iniquity' means making expiation, thus removing sins, in Moses,

Moses was annoyed with Eleazar and Ithamar, because the he-goat of the sin-sacrifice had been burnt, saying, Why have you not eaten it in a holy place, since Jehovah has given it to you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make expiation for them before Jehovah? Leviticus 10:16-17.

For the meaning of 'expiation' as cleansing from evils, thus removal from sins, see 9506. Also Aaron was commanded to make expiation for the people, and to pardon their sins, Leviticus 4:26, 31, 35; 5:6, 10, 13, 16, 18; 6:7; 9:7; 15:15, 30. But bearing sins, when the phrase is not used in reference to the priesthood, means being damned, and so means dying, Leviticus 5:1, 17; 7:18; 17:16; 19:8; 20:17, 19-20; 22:9; 24:15; Numbers 9:13; 18:22; Ezekiel 18:19-20; 23:49.

Notes de bas de page:

5113. Behold, a vine was before me. That this signifies the intellectual part, is evident from the signification of a “vine,” as being the intellectual part in the spiritual church, of which hereafter. As by the “butler” is signified the sensuous subject to the intellectual part, and as the influx of the intellectual into the sensuous subordinate thereto is here treated of, therefore in the dream there appeared a vine with shoots, blossom, clusters, and grapes, by which is described influx and the rebirth of this sensuous. As regards the intellectual of the spiritual church, be it known that where this church is described in the Word, its intellectual part is everywhere treated of, for the reason that it is the intellectual part which in the man of this church is regenerated and becomes a church.

[2] For there are in general two churches, the celestial and the spiritual. The celestial church is with the man who can be regenerated or become a church as to the will part; and the spiritual church is with the man who, as just said, can be regenerated only as to the intellectual part. The Most Ancient Church, which was before the flood, was celestial, because with those who belonged to it there was some wholeness in the will part; but the Ancient Church, which was after the flood, was spiritual, because with those who belonged to it there was not anything whole in the will part, but only in the intellectual part. For this reason where the spiritual church is treated of in the Word, its intellectual part is chiefly treated of (on which subject see above, n. 640, 641, 765, 863, 875, 895, 927, 928, 1023, 1043, 1044, 1555, 2124, 2256, 2669, 4328, 4493). That with those who are of the spiritual church it is the intellectual part that is regenerated, may be seen also from the fact that the man of this church has no perception of truth from good, as had they who were of the celestial church; but must first learn the truth which is of faith, and become imbued with what is intellectual, and thus from truth learn what is good; and after he has thus learned it, he is able to think it, and then to will it, and at last to do it; and then a new will is formed in him by the Lord in the intellectual part. By this new will the spiritual man is elevated by the Lord into heaven, evil still remaining in the will that is proper to him; which will is then miraculously separated, and this by a higher force, whereby he is withheld from evil and kept in good.

[3] But the man of the celestial church was regenerated as to the will part, by being imbued from infancy with the good of charity; and when he had attained to a perception of this, he was led into the perception of love to the Lord, whereby all the truths of faith appeared to him in the intellect as in a mirror. The understanding and the will made in him a mind wholly one; for by the things in the understanding it was perceived what was in the will. In this consisted the wholeness of that first “man” by whom the celestial church is signified.

[4] That a “vine” is the intellectual part of the spiritual church is evident from many other passages in the Word; as in Jeremiah:

What hast thou to do with the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Shihor? Or what hast thou to do with the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river? And yet I had planted thee a wholly noble vine, a seed of truth; how then art thou turned to Me into the degenerate shoots of a strange vine? (Jeremiah 2:18, 21);

speaking of Israel, by whom is signified the spiritual church (n. 3654, 4286). “Egypt” and “the waters of Shihor” denote memory-knowledges which pervert (n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462); “Assyria” and “the waters of the river” denote reasoning from these knowledges against the good of life and the truth of faith (n. 119, 1186); a “noble vine” denotes the man of the spiritual church, who is called a “vine” from the intellectual part; the “degenerate shoots of a strange vine” denote the man of the perverted church.

[5] In Ezekiel:

A riddle and a parable concerning the house of Israel. A great eagle took of the seed of the land, and placed it in a field of sowing; it budded and became a luxuriant vine of low stature, so that its shoots looked back toward her, and the roots thereof were under her; so it became a vine that made shoots, and sent forth sprigs to the eagle. This vine applied its roots, and sent its shoots toward her, in a good field by many waters. It was planted that it might make a branch, that it might be for a vine of magnificence (Ezekiel 17:2-3, 5-8).

The “eagle” denotes the rational (n. 3901); the “seed of the land” denotes the truth of the church (n. 1025, 1447, 1610, 1940, 2848, 3038, 3310, 3373); its “becoming a luxuriant vine” and a “vine of magnificence” denotes becoming a spiritual church, which is called a “vine” from the wine thence produced, which signifies spiritual good or the good of charity from whence comes the truth of faith, implanted in the intellectual part.

[6] In the same:

Thy mother was like a vine, in thy likeness, planted by the waters; a fruitful one, and made full of branches by reason of many waters; whence she had rods of strength for the scepter of them that bear rule; and its stature lifted itself above among the tangled boughs, and appeared in its height in the multitude of shoots (Ezekiel 19:10-11);

also said of Israel, by whom is signified the spiritual church, which is compared to a “vine” for a reason like that mentioned just above. In this passage are described its derivations in the natural man even to the last, namely, to memory-knowledges from the senses, which are the “tangled boughs” (n. 2831).

[7] In Hosea:

I will be as the dew to Israel; his branches shall go, and his honor shall be as the olive’s, and his odor as Lebanon’s. They that dwell in his shadow shall return; they shall vivify the corn, and blossom as the vine; his memory shall be as the wine of Lebanon. O Ephraim, what have I to do any more with idols? (Hos. 14:5-8);

“Israel” denotes the spiritual church, whose blossoming is compared to a “vine,” and its memory to the “wine of Lebanon,” from the good of faith implanted in the intellectual part; “Ephraim” is the intellectual part in the spiritual church (n. 3969).

[8] In Zechariah:

The remains of the people; the seed of peace; the vine shall give her fruit, and the earth shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew (Zech. 8:11-12).

The “remains of the people” denote truths stored up by the Lord in the interior man (see n. 468, 530, 560, 561, 660, 798, 1050, 1738, 1906, 2284); the “seed of peace” denotes good there; the “vine,” the intellectual part.

[9] In Malachi:

I will rebuke for you him that consumeth, that he corrupt not for you the fruit of the land; neither shall the vine be bereaved for you in the field (Malachi 3:11).

The “vine” denotes the intellectual part; the vine is said “not to be bereaved” when the intellectual part is not deprived of the truths and goods of faith; on the other hand it is said to be “empty” when there are falsities therein and consequent evils; as in Hosea:

Israel is an empty vine, he maketh fruit like himself (Hos. 10:1).

[10] In Moses:

He shall bind his ass’s colt unto the vine, and the son of his ass unto the choice vine, after he hath washed his clothing in wine, and his covering in the blood of grapes (Genesis 49:11);

from the prophecy of Jacob, then Israel, about his twelve sons, here about Judah, by whom is represented the the Lord, (n. 3881). The “vine” here denotes the intellectual part in the spiritual church, and the “choice vine,” the intellectual part in the celestial church.

[11] In David:

Jehovah, Thou hast made to come forth a vine out of Egypt; Thou didst drive out the nations, and plantedst it. Thou didst cleanse before it, and didst cause its roots to be rooted so that it filled the land. The mountains were covered with the shadow of it, and the cedars of God with the boughs. Thou hast sent forth the shoots thereof even to the sea, and the little branches thereof to the Euphrates. The boar out of the forest trampleth it, and the wild beast of the field grazeth it down (Psalms 80:8-11, 13).

The “vine out of Egypt” in the supreme sense denotes the Lord, the glorification of His Human being described by it and its shoots. In the internal sense the “vine” here is the spiritual church, and also the man of this church, such as he is when made new or regenerated by the Lord as to the intellectual and will parts. The “boar in the forest” is the falsity, and the “wild beast of the fields” the evil, which destroy the church as to faith in the Lord.

[12] In Revelation:

The angel thrust his sickle into the earth, and vintaged the vine of the earth; and cast it into the great winepress of the anger of God; the winepress was trodden outside the city, and there came forth blood out of the winepress even to the horses’ bridles (Revelation 14:19-20);

“to vintage the vine of the earth” denotes to destroy the intellectual part in the church; and because this is signified by the “vine,” it is also said that “there came forth blood out of the winepress even to the horses’ bridles;” for by “horses” are signified intellectual things (n. 2761, 2762, 3217).

In Isaiah:

It shall come to pass in that day, that every place where there were a thousand vines for a thousand of silver, shall be for briars and brambles (Isaiah 7:23).

Again:

The inhabitants of the earth shall be burned, and man shall be left rare; the new wine shall mourn, the vine shall languish (Isaiah 24:6-7).

Again:

They shall beat themselves upon the paps for the fields of unmixed wine, for the fruitful vine. Upon the land of My people come up thorn and briar (Isaiah 32:12-13).

In these passages the subject treated of is the vastation of the spiritual church as to the good and truth of faith, thus as to the intellectual part; for as before said the truth and good of faith are in the intellectual part of the man of this church. Everyone can see that by a “vine” here is not meant a vine, nor by the “earth” the earth; but that they mean something of the church.

[13] As in the genuine sense a “vine” signifies the good of the intellectual part; and a “fig tree” the good of the natural man, or what is the same, that a “vine” signifies the good of the interior man, and a “fig tree” the good of the exterior man, therefore a “fig tree” is often mentioned in the Word at the same time as a “vine”; as in the following passages:

Consuming I will consume them; no grapes on the vine nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf is fallen (Jeremiah 8:13).

I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, which shall eat up thy vine and thy fig tree (Jeremiah 5:15, 17).

In Hosea:

I will lay waste her vine and her fig tree (Hos. 2:12).

In Joel:

A nation is come up upon My land, it hath reduced My vine into a waste, and My fig tree into froth, stripping it hath stripped it, and cast it forth, the shoots thereof are made white; the vine is withered, and the fig tree languisheth (Joel 1:6-7, 12).

Be not afraid, ye beasts of My fields; for the dwelling places of the wilderness are become grassy; because the tree hath made its fruit, and the fig tree and the vine shall yield their strength (Joel 2:22).

In David:

He smote their vine and their fig tree, and brake the tree of their border (Psalms 105:33).

In Habakkuk:

The fig tree shall not blossom, and no produce is in the vines (Hab. 3:17).

In Micah:

Out of Zion shall go forth doctrine, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem; they shall sit everyone under his vine and under his fig tree, and none maketh afraid (Micah 4:2, 4).

In Zechariah:

In that day shall ye call a man to his fellow, under the vine and under the fig tree (Zech. 3:10).

In the first book of Kings:

In the time of Solomon there was peace from all the passes round about; and Judah and Israel dwelt in confidence, everyone under his vine and under his fig tree (1 Kings 4:24-25).

That a “fig tree” is the good of the natural or exterior man, may be seen above (n. 217).

[14] That a “vine” is the intellectual part made new or regenerated by good from truth and by truth from good, is evident from the Lord’s words to the disciples, after he had instituted the holy supper:

I say to you, I will not drink henceforth of this product of the vine, until that day when I shall drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom (Matthew 26:29);

good from truth and truth from good, by which the intellectual part is made new, or man is made spiritual, are signified by the “product of the vine” and the appropriation thereof by “drinking.” (That “to drink” is to appropriate, and that it is predicated of truth, may be seen above, n. 3168.) That this is not done fully except in the other life is signified by “until that day when I shall drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” That by the “product of the vine” is not meant must or wine, but something heavenly of the Lord’s kingdom is very manifest.

[15] As the intellectual part in the spiritual man is made new and regenerated by truth which is from the Lord alone, therefore the Lord compares Himself to a “vine” and those who are implanted in the truth which is from Him, and consequently in Him, He compares to the “shoots” and the good therefrom to the “fruit” in John:

I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine dresser; every shoot in Me that beareth not fruit, He taketh away; but every shoot that beareth fruit, He pruneth it, that it may bear more fruit. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the shoot cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; so neither can ye, except ye abide in Me. I am the vine, ye are the shoots; he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit; for without Me ye can do nothing. This is My commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you (John 15:1-2, 4-15:4-5, 12).

[16] As in the supreme sense a “vine” signifies the Lord as to Divine truth, and hence in the internal sense the man of the spiritual church, therefore a “vineyard” signifies the spiritual church itself (n. 1069, 3220). As the Nazirite represented the celestial man, who is regenerated through the good of love, and not through the truth of faith like the spiritual man, and who consequently is not regenerated as to the intellectual part, but as to the will part (as may be seen above), therefore the Nazirite was forbidden to eat anything which came forth from the vine, thus was not to drink wine (Numbers 6:3-4; Judges 13:14); from this also it is evident that by the “vine” is signified the intellectual part that belongs to the spiritual man, as already shown.

[17] (That the Nazirite represented the celestial man may be seen above, n. 3301.) Hence also it may be seen that it cannot possibly be known why the Nazirite was forbidden whatever came forth from the vine (not to mention many other things regarding him), unless it is known what the “vine” signifies in its own sense, and also unless it is known that there is a celestial church and a spiritual church, and that the man of the celestial church is regenerated in a manner different from the man of the spiritual church-the former by means of seed implanted in the will part, the latter by means of seed implanted in the intellectual part. Such are the arcana stored up in the internal sense of the Word.