872. 'The face ¹ of the ground' means those things that reside with the member of the Church, and the expression 'the ground' is used because it is the first stage at which man comes to be the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'the ground', dealt with already, as the member of the Church who is at that point called 'the ground' when the goods and truths of faith can be sown within him. Previously he is called 'the land', as in Genesis 1 where 'the land' refers to man prior to his becoming celestial, while Chapter 2, when he has become celestial, refers to him as 'the ground' and 'the field'. It is similar in the present chapter. The expression 'the land' and the expression 'the ground' are sufficient by themselves to enable someone to recognize what is meant in the internal sense, not only here but also anywhere else in the Word. 'The ground' in the universal sense means the Church, and as the Church is meant so too is the member of the Church for, as stated already, every member of the Church is the Church.

Bilješke:

5723. Spirits have been present with me who brought on a stomachache so bad that I felt I could scarcely live; it was such as would have caused other people to faint. But those spirits were removed and the ache immediately ceased. I was told that they were the kind of spirits who during their lifetime had had no interest in anything at all, not even in their own home, only in sensual pleasure. They had led disgracefully lazy and inactive lives, showing no concern whatsoever for others. They had also cast all belief aside with contempt. In short, they were simply animals, not human beings. Among people who are sick the sphere emanating from those spirits introduces sluggishness into their members and limbs.