9995. “你要用细麦面来作它们” 表源于神性良善的真理 (良善的那些属天种类就是由这些真理构成的). 这从 “细面”, “麦 (子)” 和 “作它们” 的含义清楚可知: “细面” 是指真理, 如下文所述; “麦 (子)” 是指爱之良善 (参看3941节), 因而在至高意义上是指神性良善; “作它们” 是指无酵的饼, 糕饼和薄饼所表示的属天良善的这些种类必须由这真理构成的要求. 此处的情形如下: 存在于天堂里的一切真理和良善皆来源于从主的神性良善发出的神性真理. 这神性真理在属天国度被天使接受, 就被称为属天良善; 但在属灵国度, 当被那里的天使接受时, 它就被称为属灵良善; 因为从主的神性良善发出的神性真理不管如何被称为真理, 它仍是良善. 它之所以被称为真理, 是因为它在天堂, 在那里的天使的外在视觉面前显为光; 事实上, 天堂里的光是神性真理, 但这光里面的热, 也就是爱之良善, 使得它成为良善. 这和世人的情况相似. 当信之真理从仁之良善发出时, 如当一个人已经重生时的情形, 真理就显为良善, 也由此被称为 “属灵良善”, 因为真理的内在存在是良善, 真理是良善的外在形式.

由此可见为何一个人很难分清思考和意愿; 因为当他意愿某事时, 却说自己在思考它; 而常常是, 当他思考某事时, 却说自己在意愿它. 然而, 它们就像真理和良善那样有别并分离; 因为思维的内在存在是意愿, 意愿的外在形式是思维; 正如真理的内在存在是良善, 良善的外在形式是真理一样, 如刚才所述. 一个人因很难分清这二者, 故不知道其生命的内在存在是什么, 或不知道构成它的, 是良善, 而不是真理, 除非这真理源于良善. 良善属于意愿, 意愿就是一个人的所爱之物; 因此, 在一个人热爱真理之前, 真理不会成为他生命的存在; 当此人热爱真理时, 他就会实行真理. 然而, 真理属于理解力, 理解力的功能是思考; 当一个人思考它时, 他就能谈论它. 此外, 理解并思考真理, 却不意愿或实行它是有可能的; 但当真理缺乏意愿时, 它不会变成此人自己的, 成为他生命的一部分, 因为它没有其生命的内在存在在自己里面. 人因对这一切一无所知, 故将救恩完全归于信, 几乎不归于仁; 而事实上, 信从仁获得自己的内在存在, 如同真理从良善获得自己的内在存在.

此外, 与人同在的一切良善都通过真理被赋予形式; 因为良善经由一条内在途径从主流入, 而真理则经由一条外在途径进入. 然后, 它们在内在人里面结婚; 不过, 对一个属灵人或属灵天使来说, 以一种方式结婚; 对一个属天人或属天天使来说, 则以另一种方式结婚. 对一个属灵人或属灵天使来说, 婚姻在心智的理解力部分实现; 但在一个属天人或属天天使里面, 则在意愿部分实现. 真理进入所经由的外在途径是通过听觉和视觉进入理解力; 但良善从主流入所经由的内在途径是通过此人的至内在之物进入意愿. 关于这个主题, 可参看9596节提到的地方所作的说明. 由此明显可知, 无酵的饼, 糕饼和薄饼所表示的良善的属天种类通过从主的神性良善发出的神性真理存在; 这就是 “你要用细麦面来作它们” 的意思. 这就解释了为何素祭虽制作方式各种各样, 但都用调油的细面来作 (利未记 2:1至末尾; 6:13-16; 民数记 7:13ff; 15:2-15; 28:11-15).

“细面”, 以及 “面粉” 表示源于良善的真理, 这一点从下列经文明显看出来:

你吃的是细面, 蜂蜜并油. 你变得极其美貌. (以西结书 16:13)

这些话论及耶路撒冷, 耶路撒冷在此表示古教会; “细面” 表示源于良善的古教会的真理; “蜂蜜” 表示它的快乐; “油” 表示爱之良善; “吃” 表示将它变成人自己的; 因此, 经上说 “你变得极其美貌”, 因为属灵的美貌来自真理和良善.

何西阿书:

他没有站着的禾稼; 穗子必不出面粉. 即或出了面粉, 外人必吞吃它. (何西阿书 8:7)

“站着的禾稼” 表示在孕育过程中的源于良善的信之真理 (9146节); “穗子必不出面粉” 表示不生育, 因为没有源于良善的真理; “必吞吃它的外人” 表示吞灭它的邪恶所产生的虚假.

列王纪上:

撒勒法的西顿女人对以利亚说, 她没有作糕饼的东西, 缸里只有一把面, 瓶里只有一点油. 以利亚对她说, 只要先为他做一个糕饼, 缸里的面粉必不用尽, 瓶里的油决不短缺; 这事果然发生了. (列王纪上 17:12-15)

“面粉” 在此表示教会的真理; “油” 表示教会的良善; 因为西顿女人代表一个拥有关于真理和良善的认知或知识的教会; 而先知以利亚代表圣言方面的主. 由此明显可知这个奇迹涉及什么, 因为圣言中所描述的一切奇迹都涉及诸如属于教会的那类事物 (7337, 8364, 9086节). 由此明显可知只要妇人用她仅有的一点先为以利亚作糕饼, 后为她儿子作糕饼, “缸里的面粉必不用尽, 瓶里的油决不短缺” 表示什么. “女人” 表示教会 (参看252, 253节); “西顿” 表示关于真理和良善的认知或知识 (1201节); “以利亚” 表示圣言方面的主 (2762, 5247末尾节).

以赛亚书:

巴比伦的女儿啊, 你要拿石磨去磨面. (以赛亚书 47:1, 2)

“巴比伦的女儿” 表示教会里那些外在神圣, 内在亵渎的人; “磨面” 表示从圣言的字义中选取诸如用来强化爱自己爱世界的邪恶的那类事物, 这种邪恶是亵渎的; “磨” 描述了选取, 以及解释, 以支持这些爱; 而 “面” 表示为此而服务的真理 (4335节).

由此明显可知 “推磨” 表示什么, 因而被 “磨碎” 的东西表示什么, 如在这些经文中:

首领被吊起手, 老年人的脸面不受尊敬; 年轻人被带去推磨. (耶利米哀歌 5:12, 13)

摩西五经:

摩西将他们所铸的牛犊用火焚烧, 磨得粉碎, 撒在水面上, 叫以色列人喝. (出埃及记 32:20; 申命记 9:21)

马太福音:

那时, 两个人在田里, 取去一个, 撇下一个. 两个女人推磨, 取去一个, 撇下一个. (马太福音 24:40, 41)

由此明显可知 “推磨” 表示什么, 即: 它表示从圣言选取真理并解释它们, 在好的意义上用来服务良善; 在坏的意义上则用来服务邪恶 (7780节). 由此也明显可知被 “磨碎” 的东西表示什么, 因而 “面粉” 和 “细面” 表示什么.

3147. 'And water to wash his feet' means purification there. This is clear from the meaning of 'water to wash' or 'washing with water' as purifying, dealt with below, and from the meaning of 'feet' as natural things, or what amounts to the same, those things that are in the natural man, dealt with in 2162. In the representative Church washing feet with water was a ceremonial act which meant washing away the filth of the natural man. The filth of the natural man is composed of all the things that belong to self-love and love of the world, and when such filth has been washed away goods and truths flow in, for that filth alone is what hinders the influx of good and truth from the Lord.

[2] For good is flowing in constantly from the Lord, but when by way of the internal or spiritual man it reaches the external or natural man it is either perverted there, or turned away, or stifled. But when indeed the things that belong to self-love and love of the world are removed, good is received there, and bears fruit there, since the person now performs the works of charity. This may become clear from many considerations, such as this: When the things that belong to the external or natural man are quiescent - as they are in times of ill-fortune, wretchedness, and sickness - a person instantly starts to become spiritually-minded and to will what is good, and also to perform acts of devotion insofar as he is able. But when that state alters, these things are altered too.

[3] In the Ancient Church 'washings' were signs meaning these things, and in the Jewish Church the same were representations. The reason why in the Ancient Church they were meaningful signs but in the Jewish Church representations was that members of the Ancient Church regarded that custom as some external act of worship. Nor did they believe that they were purified by that kind of washing but by a washing away of the filth of the natural man, which, as has been stated, is composed of the things that belong to self-love and love of the world. But the member of the Jewish Church did believe that he was purified by such washing, for he did not know, and did not wish to know, that the purifying of a person's interior self was meant.

[4] That 'washing' means the washing away of that filth is clear in Isaiah,

Wash yourselves; purify yourselves; remove the evil of your doings from before My eyes; cease to do evil. Isaiah 1:16.

Here it is evident that 'washing themselves' means purifying themselves and removing evils. In the same prophet,

When the Lord will have washed the excrement of the daughters of Zion and washed away the blood of Jerusalem from its midst in a spirit of judgement and in a spirit of purging. Isaiah 4:4.

Here 'washing the excrement of the daughters of Zion and washing away the blood of Jerusalem' stands for purifying from evils and falsities. In Jeremiah,

Wash your heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem, that you may be saved. How long will your iniquitous thoughts lodge within you? Jeremiah 4:14.

[5] In Ezekiel,

I washed you with water, and washed away the blood from upon you, and anointed you with oil. Ezekiel 16:9.

This refers to Jerusalem, which is used here to mean the Ancient Church. 'Washing with water' stands for purifying from falsities, 'washing away the blood' for purging from evils, 'anointing with oil' for filling with good at that time. In David,

Wash me from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. You will purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; You will wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Psalms 51:2, 7.

'Being washed' plainly stands for being purified from evils and derivative falsities.

[6] These were the things that were meant by 'washing' in the Representative Church. For the sake of the representation, when they had been made unclean and needed to be cleansed, people were commanded in that Church to wash the skin, hands, feet, and also their garments. All these meant things that belong to the natural man. Also for the sake of the representation, lavers made of bronze were placed outside the Temple - that is to say, 'the bronze sea and the ten bronze lavers' mentioned in 1 Kings 7:23-29; there was also the bronze laver from which Aaron and his sons were to wash themselves, placed between the Tent of Meeting and the Altar, and so outside the Tent of Meeting, Exodus 30:18-19, 21 - the meaning of which was that only external or natural things needed to be purified. And unless they have been purified, that is, unless things belonging to self-love and love of the world have been removed from them, internal things which belong to love to the Lord and towards the neighbour cannot possibly flow in, as stated above.

[7] To enable these matters to be understood more easily, that is to say, regarding the need for external things to be purified, let good works - or what amounts to the same, the goods of charity, which are at the present day called the fruits of faith, and which, since they are actions, are external - serve to exemplify and illustrate the point: Good works are bad works unless the things belonging to self-love and love of the world are removed. For until these have been removed works, when performed, are good to outward appearance but are inwardly bad. They are inwardly bad because they are done either for the sake of reputation, or for financial gain, or for improvement of one's position, or for reward. They are accordingly either merit-seeking or hypocritical, for the things that belong to self-love and love of the world cause those works to be such. But when indeed these evils are removed, works become good, and are the goods of charity. That is to say, they are done regardless of self, the world, reputation, or reward, and so are not merit-seeking or hypocritical, because in that case celestial love and spiritual love flow from the Lord into those works and cause them to be love and charity in action. And at the same time the Lord also purifies the natural or external man by means of those things and orders it so that that man receives correspondingly the celestial and spiritual things that flow in.

[8] This becomes quite clear from what the Lord taught when He washed the disciples' feet: In John,

He came to Simon Peter, who said to Him, Lord, do You wash my feet? Jesus answered and said to him, What I am doing you do not know now, but you will know afterwards. Peter said to Him, You will never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me. Simon Peter said to Him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and head! Jesus said to him, He who is washed has no need except that his feet be washed, but is clean all over. Now you are clean, but not all of you. John 13:4-17.

'He who is washed has no need except that his feet be washed' means that anyone who has been reformed needs to be cleansed only in regard to natural things, that is, to have evils and falsities removed from them. For when that happens all is ordered by the influx of spiritual things from the Lord. Furthermore 'feet-washing' was an act of charity, meaning that one ought not to dwell on the evils of another person. It was also an act of humility, meaning the cleansing of another from evils, like filth from the body, as also becomes clear from the Lord's words in verses 12-17 of that chapter in John, and also in Luke 7:37-38, 44, 46; John 11:2; 1 Samuel 25:41.

[9] Anyone may see that washing himself does not purify a person from evils and falsities, only from the filth that clings to him. Yet because it belonged among the religious observances commanded in the Church it follows that it embodies some special idea, namely spiritual washing, which is purification from the filth that clings to man inwardly. Members of that Church therefore who knew these things and thought of purification of the heart, that is, the removal of the evils of self-love and love of the world from the natural man, and tried to achieve it with utmost zeal, practiced ritual washing as an external act of worship, as commanded. But among those who did not know and did not wish to know those things but who supposed that the mere ritual act of washing garments, skin, hands, and feet would purify them, and who supposed that provided they performed such rituals they would be allowed to continue leading lives of avarice, hatred, revenge, mercilessness, and cruelty - all of which constitute spiritual filth - the performance of the ritual was idolatrous. Nevertheless by means of that ritual they were still able to represent, and by means of the representation to display, some vestige of a Church, by means of which heaven was in a way joined to mankind prior to the Lord's Coming. But that conjunction was such that heaven had little or no influence at all on the member of that Church.

[10] The Jews and Israelites were such that they did not think at all of the internal man, nor did they wish to know anything about the same. Thus they knew absolutely nothing about the celestial and spiritual things which belong to the life after death. Nevertheless to prevent the end of all communication with heaven and so with the Lord, they were bound to the performance of external observances by which internal things were meant. All their captivities and plagues were in general to the end that external observances might be duly carried out for the sake of the representation. It was for this reason that the following laws were given:

Moses was to wash Aaron and his sons with water at the tent door, to sanctify them. Exodus 29:4; 40:12; Leviticus 8:6.

Aaron and his sons were to wash their hands and feet before entering the Tent of Meeting and approaching the Altar to minister, lest they died. This was to them a statute for ever. Exodus 30:18-21; 40:30-31.

Before putting on his vestments Aaron was to wash his flesh. Leviticus 16:4, 24.

Levites were to be purified by sprinkling the water of expiation over them, passing a razor over their flesh, and washing their clothes - then they were pure. Numbers 8:6-7.

Anyone who ate the carcass of a clean animal, ¹ or that which had been torn to pieces, was to wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, and if he did not wash himself and bathe his flesh he would bear his iniquity. Leviticus 17:15-16.

Anyone who touched the bed of a person who had a discharge, or sat on a vessel on which that person had sat, and anyone who touched that person's flesh was to wash his clothes and to bathe himself with water, and be unclean until the evening. Leviticus 15:5-7, 10-12 and following verses.

The person who sent the goat away to Azazel was to wash his flesh. Leviticus 16:26.

When a leper was to be cleansed he was to wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, wash himself in water, and then he would be clean. Leviticus 14:8-9.

Even vessels themselves which had become unclean through contact with unclean persons were made to go through water and be unclean until the evening. Leviticus 11:32.

From all these laws it may be seen that nobody was made clean or pure internally through ritual washing, but that such a person merely represented him who was pure or spiritually clean, for the reason stated above. The Lord teaches the same quite explicitly in Matthew 15:1-20; Mark 7:1-23.

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