Arcana Coelestia #5202
5202. 'And behold, seven other cows were coming up after them out of the river' means falsities belonging to the natural which are also at the boundary. This is clear from the meaning of 'cows' as the truths belonging to the natural, dealt with just above in 518, so that in the contrary sense 'cows' means falsities (for most things in the Word have a contrary meaning that can be recognized from the genuine one, and therefore since truths of a natural kind are meant by 'cows' in the genuine sense, falsities of the same kind, thus falsities within the natural, are meant in the contrary sense); and from the meaning of 'the river' as the boundary, also dealt with above, in 5196, 5197. The presence of those falsities at the boundary is also evident from the use of the words 'came up out of the river', for coming or going up is used in reference to an advance made from what is exterior towards things that are interior, 3084, 4579, 4969.
[2] The implications of this, since it forms the subject in what follows, must be stated here. The previous chapter dealt with the exterior natural, with the fact that some impressions were the kind that belonged to the understanding while others were the kind that belonged to the will. The former were accepted, but the latter were cast aside. Impressions such as belonged to the understanding were represented by 'the cupbearer', and those such as belonged to the will by 'the baker'. Also, because the kind belonging to the understanding were accepted, they were also made subordinate to the internal natural. These were the matters that were dealt with in the previous chapter, in which the first stage in the rebirth of the natural is described.
[3] In the present chapter however the subject is the influx of the celestial of the spiritual into the impressions in the natural which were retained, that is to say, the impressions belonging to the understanding part there, which are meant now by 'the cows beautiful in appearance and fat-fleshed'. But as the natural cannot undergo any rebirth solely so far as ideas belonging to the understanding are concerned, desires belonging to the will must also be involved; for every individual part of the natural, to be anything at all, must include some element belonging to the understanding and at the same time another element belonging to the will. But because the will element that was present previously has been cast aside a new one must therefore enter in to replace it. This new element is received from the celestial of the spiritual which, together with its influx into the natural, is the subject in the present chapter. What the natural is like in this state is described in the internal sense - a state in which the truths there have been banished by falsities, so that the natural has been left exposed to the celestial of the spiritual. These are the considerations that are meant by the devouring of the good cows by the bad cows and the swallowing up of the full heads of grain by the empty ones, and after this by Joseph's making provision for all the land of Egypt. But in the Lord's Divine mercy more regarding these matters will be stated in what follows.
[4] They are, what is more, the kind of considerations that scarcely fall within the area of light within the human understanding, for they are the arcana of regeneration which in themselves are countless but about which a person knows barely anything at all. The person with whom good is present is undergoing rebirth every moment, from earliest childhood to the final stage of his life in the world, and after that for ever. This is happening to him not only interiorly but also exteriorly; and this rebirth involves processes that are amazing. They are processes which for the most part constitute angelic wisdom, and that wisdom, as is well known, is indescribable, embracing such things as ear has not heard, nor eye seen, and such as have never entered man's thought. 1 The internal sense deals with such matters and so is suited to angelic wisdom; and when this sense passes into the sense of the letter it becomes suited to human wisdom, and in an unseen way it stirs the affections of those who, motivated by good, have the desire to know truths received from the Word.
फुटनोट:
1. This well-known saying occurs in 1 Corinthians 2:9.
Jeremiah 25
1
The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon;
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Which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,
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From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even to this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the LORD hath come to me, and I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.
4
And the LORD hath sent to you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear.
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They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given to you and to your fathers for ever and ever:
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And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.
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Yet ye have not hearkened to me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.
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Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words,
9
Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all these nations around, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations.
10
Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.
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And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
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And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.
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And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations.
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For many nations and great kings shall reduce them to subjection also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.
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For thus saith the LORD God of Israel to me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.
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And they shall drink, and be moved, and enraged, because of the sword that I will send among them.
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Then I took the cup at the LORD'S hand, and made all the nations to drink, to whom the LORD had sent me:
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To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and her kings, and her princes, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse; as it is this day;
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Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;
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And all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod,
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Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon,
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And all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea,
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Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost corners,
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And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert,
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And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes,
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And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
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Therefore thou shalt say to them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and vomit, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.
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And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thy hand to drink, then shalt thou say to them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.
29
For lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.
30
Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say to them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31
A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.
32
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised from the borders of the earth.
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And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.
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Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel.
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And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.
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A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and a howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the LORD hath laid waste their pasture.
37
And the peaceable habitations are cut down, because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
38
He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.
