9336. 'Little by little I will drive them out from before you' means a removal effected gradually according to order. This is clear from the meaning of 'little by little' as gradually, thus slowly; and from the meaning of 'driving out' - when it has reference to falsities and evils, meant by the nations of the land of Canaan - as a removal, dealt with just above in 9333. The words 'gradually according to order' are used because everything with a person who is being regenerated is rearranged in accordance with heavenly order. For a person who has been regenerated is a miniature heaven, 9276, and therefore also within that person order exists akin to that which obtains in heaven.

[2] When a person is born he is, so far as his hereditary evils are concerned, a miniature hell. He also becomes an embodiment of hell to the extent that he draws on hereditary evils and adds his own to them. This being so, the order of a person's life which exists by reason of what he receives at birth, and by reason of his own acts in life, is the opposite of heavenly order. For what is a person's own leads him to love self more than the Lord and to love the world more than heaven, whereas the life of heaven consists in loving the Lord above all things and the neighbour as oneself. From this it is evident that the first life, which is that of hell, must be completely destroyed, that is, evils and falsities must be removed, in order that the new life, which is that of heaven, may be implanted, see 4551, 4552, 4839, 6068. This cannot possibly be done hurriedly, for every deep-rooted evil, together with its falsities, is interconnected with all other evils and their falsities. Such evils and falsities are countless, and their interconnection is so complex that it cannot be comprehended, not even by angels, only by the Lord. From this it is evident that the life of hell with a person cannot be destroyed suddenly; for if it were destroyed suddenly the person too would perish. Nor can the life of heaven be implanted suddenly, for if this were implanted suddenly the person would again perish.

[3] There are thousands and thousands of hidden ways, scarcely a single one of which is known to mankind, by which the Lord leads a person from the life of hell to the life of heaven. I have been informed from heaven that this is so, and it has also been corroborated for me by many things that I have been made aware of. Since mankind knows scarcely anything at all about these things many have fallen into errors concerning human deliverance from evils and falsities, which is the forgiveness of sins. They think that the life of hell with a person can be changed to the life of heaven with him in an instant, by mercy. But in actual fact mercy lies in the whole act of regeneration; and none undergo regeneration apart from those who receive the Lord's mercy in faith and life while they are in the world, in keeping with the Lord's words in John,

As many as received Him, to them He gave power to be sons of God, to those believing in His name, who were born, not of blood ¹ , nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man (vir), but of God. John 1:12-13.

What 'blood', 'the will of the flesh', and 'the will of man', also 'born of God' mean, see 5826.

[4] The proper way to understand 'a removal from evils and falsities, effected gradually according to order' must also be stated briefly. Divine Truth which emanates from the Lord's Divine Good arranges all things into order in heaven; consequently this Divine Truth, holding good from the Lord within it, is order itself, see 1728, 1919, 2247, 2258, 5703, 6338, 8700, 8988. In accordance with that order all things there come into being, and in accordance with that same order they remain in being; for remaining in being is a constant coming into being. Therefore to enable heaven to come into being in a person, it is necessary for him to receive Divine Truth in the good he has from the Lord. This can be brought into effect only gradually, according to the order similar to that which governs the way the Lord arranges heaven; for if the essential nature of the thing is the same, then the situation on the smaller scale is the same as on the larger scale. This arranging step-by-step is what should be understood here by order brought into effect gradually. From all this it is also evident that the new creation of a person, which is his regeneration, resembles the creation of heaven and earth. For this reason also in the Word a new heaven and a new earth is used to mean a new Church, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355 (end), 4535; and the creation of heaven and earth in the first chapter of Genesis serves to mean the new creation of a celestial Church, called Man, dealt with in the explanations of that chapter.

फुटनोट:

6239. 'And your offspring that you beget after them' means interior truths and forms of good which are begotten later on. This is clear from the meaning of 'offspring' or 'generation' as matters of faith and charity, dealt with in 613, 2020, 2584, thus truths and forms of good; and from the meaning of 'after them' as interior ones which are begotten later on. The reason interior ones are meant is that what is begotten from the internal at a later time is more interior. For in every consecutive stage all that has already been begotten serves the internal as the means by which what is begotten subsequently can be introduced into a more interior position, for the internal raises the natural by degrees up to itself. This is evident from the birth of all that constitutes the understanding in a person. At first he is on the level of his senses; later on he rises to more and more internal levels until he arrives at full use of his understanding. Similar to this is the new generation or birth which is effected by means of faith and charity. Thus it is that a person is perfected by degrees; see what has been stated in 6183 about the gradual raising up to more interior levels when a person is being regenerated.

[2] In the Word 'generation' means things which have to do with faith and charity, for the reason that no generation other than that of a spiritual kind is meant in the internal sense. That kind of generation is also meant in David,

They will fear greatly, for God is in the generation of the righteous. Psalms 14:5.

'The generation of the righteous' stands for truths that flow from good, for righteousness is an attribute of good. In Isaiah, 41:4.

They will not labour in vain, and they will not produce offspring ¹ in terror; they will be the seed of the blessed of Jehovah. Isaiah 65:23.

In the same prophet,

Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, Jehovah, am the first, and with the last I am the same. Isaiah 41:4.

In Ezekiel,

Your tradings and your births' are of the land of the Canaanite. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. As for your births, ² on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, and you were not washed with water for Me to see. Ezekiel 16:3-4.

In these verses, which refer to the abominations of Jerusalem, it is quite evident that 'generations' or 'births' means generations in a spiritual sense.

[3] In Isaiah,

Awake as in the days of eternity, in the generations of eternity. ³ Isaiah 51:9.

'The days of eternity' stands for the state and time of the Most Ancient Church. The expression 'eternity' is used in reference to that Church because the good of love to the Lord reigned in it, and that good, since it flows directly from the Lord, is called eternal. 'The generations of eternity' stands for the forms of good that spring from that good.

[4] Something similar to this appears in Moses,

Remember the days of eternity, understand the years of generation after generation. Deuteronomy 32:7.

'The days of eternity' stands for the state and time of the Most Ancient Church which existed before the Flood and was a celestial Church. 'The years of generation after generation' stands for the state and time of the Ancient Church which existed after the Flood and was a spiritual Church. Those Churches are the subject at that point in Moses.

[5] In Joel,

Judah will abide into eternity, and Jerusalem into generation after generation. Joel 3:20.

'Eternity' is used in reference to Judah because 'Judah' represents the celestial Church, 3881, and 'generation after generation' is used in reference to Jerusalem because by 'Jerusalem' is meant the spiritual Church, 402.

[6] In Isaiah,

My righteousness will exist into eternity, and My salvation into each generation. ⁴ Isaiah 51:8.

Here 'eternity' has reference to the good of love, for the word 'righteousness' is used in connection with that good, 612, 2235, and 'generation' has reference to the good of faith.

[7] In David,

Your kingdom is a kingdom to all eternity, ⁵ and Your dominion to every generation after generation. Psalms 145:13.

Here the meaning is similar, for unless 'eternity' had had reference to what was celestial, and 'generation' to what was spiritual, one expression alone would have been used. The use of two would be pointless repetition.

[8] Things that have to do with a state of faith are also meant in the laws which forbade one who was illegitimate, down to the tenth generation of his descendants, to come into the assembly of Jehovah, Deuteronomy 23:2, or an Ammonite or Moabite, down to the tenth generation of his descendants, Deuteronomy 23:3; and in the law which allowed the third generation of an Edomite or Egyptian to come into the assembly of Jehovah, Deuteronomy 23:8. Things that have to do with a state of faith are meant similarly in the Ten Commandments, where it says that Jehovah God will visit the iniquity of the fathers on the sons, on the third and the fourth generation, inasmuch as they hate Him, Exodus 20:5.

[9] The reason why forms of faith and charity are meant by 'generations' is that in the spiritual sense no other kinds of offspring are meant than those associated with regeneration or one who has been regenerated. Similarly with references in the Word to birth, bearing. and conception; forms of faith and charity are meant, see 1145, 1255, 3860, 3863, 4668, 5160, 5598.

फुटनोट: