163. (Verse 22) Behold, I cast her into a bed. That this signifies that such are left to their own natural man and to the doctrine of falsities therein, is evident from the signification of a bed, as being the natural man, and also the doctrine of falsities, concerning which we shall speak presently. In what now follows, those are treated of who suffer themselves to be led astray by those who are in the doctrine of falsities from the delight of the love of self and of the world, these being meant by Jezebel, as was said above. Those who suffer themselves to be led astray, are not like those who have falsified truths and adulterated goods from the delight of their selfish and worldly loves; for the latter have seen truths, and have applied them to favour their delights, and thus have perverted them. These are they who afterwards cannot turn themselves to truths, and acknowledge them, as shown in the preceding article; whereas those who have not done this, but have suffered themselves to be led astray by others, have not so closed their internal or spiritual man, for they have not themselves falsified truths, but have believed those who have done so, because their falsities sound like truths. For they think so superficially as to suppose the rulers and leaders of the church must be believed because they are intelligent and wise; thus they depend upon the lips of a master. There are many of this description at this day in Christendom, especially those who are born in the countries where the papal religion is established; these, therefore, are they who are meant by those who commit adultery with Jezebel in a bed.

[2] The reason why a bed signifies the doctrine of falsities, and, at the same time, the natural man, is that such doctrine originates only with the natural man separated from the spiritual; and the natural man separated from the spiritual sees worldly things in light, but heavenly things in darkness, therefore falsity in place of truth, and evil in place of good. If he sees truth, he falsifies it, and if good, he adulterates it; for heaven flows through the spiritual or internal man into the natural or external, and not into the natural or external immediately. Into the latter the world in such case flows immediately; and when the natural world with a man is not ruled by the spiritual world, then the bond with heaven is broken; this being broken, he makes the world his all, while heaven, in his estimation, is of little or no account. He also regards self as everything, and God as little or nothing. When the external or natural man is in such a state, it is then in falsities from evils bursting forth from the love of self and of the world. This is why a bed, as it signifies the natural man, so it also signifies the doctrine of falsities. The reason why by a bed is signified the natural man is, that the natural man underlies the spiritual, and thus the latter rests on it, and on the things which are therein, as on its bed.

[3] That a bed signifies the natural man, and also the doctrines which are therein, is evident from the passages where it is mentioned in the Word, as in Amos:

"As the shepherd snatcheth out of the mouth of the lion two legs or a small piece of an ear, so shall the sons of Israel be snatched away that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in the extremity of a couch (3:12).

Here a lion signifies the church; in this case those of the church who destroy goods and truths; the legs or small piece of an ear, denote the goods which are in the natural man, and therefore some perception therefrom of truth; the sons of Israel who dwell in Samaria are those who belong to the church; in the corner of a bed and in the extremity of a couch signify their being in a small degree in natural light from the Spiritual, and consequently in some truths.

[4] In the same:

"Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountains of Samaria; that lie upon beds of ivory, and upon their own couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall; that invent to themselves instruments of music; that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the first fruits of the oils: but they are not affected with grief over the breach of Joseph" (6:1, 4-6).

Here, by trusting in the mountain of Samaria are meant they who trust to themselves and hatch out doctrines from their own intelligence. Samaria is the spiritual church perverted; beds of ivory are the fallacies of the senses upon which doctrine is founded; to stretch themselves upon couches, denotes to confirm and multiply the fallacies thence derived; to eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall, to drink wine in bowls, and to anoint themselves with the first fruits of the oils, denotes to take the goods and truths of the Word from the sense of its letter, and to apply and falsify them. Not to be affected with grief over the breach of Joseph, denotes to make it of no account that the spiritual church perishes, and that its truths are destroyed. (That Joseph, in the highest sense, signifies the Lord as to the Divine Spiritual, in the internal sense, the spiritual kingdom of the Lord, thus also the spiritual church, and, in the external sense, the fructification of good and multiplication of truth, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 3969, 3971, 4669, 6417, 6526.)

[5] In Moses:

"May the blessings of thy father prevail above the blessings of my parents, may they be upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the bed of his brethren" (Genesis 49:26).

Joseph, as stated, denotes the spiritual church of the Lord; the crown of the bed of his brethren, is the Spiritual which flows into all the truths and goods of that church; for the twelve sons or tribes of Israel signify all the truths and goods of the church in the aggregate (seeArcana Coelestia 3858, 3926, 4060, 6335).

[6] In Luke:

"I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left" (17:34-36).

The consummation of the age is here treated of, which is the last time of the church, when judgment comes. To be in one bed, is to be in one doctrine of the church; two women grinding, denote those who collect and learn those things that are serviceable to faith; two men in the field, are those in the church who apply to themselves goods and truths. (That those who grind denote those who collect and learn those things that, are serviceable to faith, see Arcana Coelestia 4335, 7780, 9995. That field denotes the reception of truth and good, see Arcana Coelestia, 368, 3310, 9141, 9295.)

[7] In John:

Jesus said to the sick man at the pool of Bethesda, "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked. Afterwards, Jesus found him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon thee" (5:8, 9, 14).

In Mark:

They uncovered the roof, where Jesus was, and "let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay." Jesus said, "Whether is it easier to say, Thy sins are forgiven thee, or to say, Arise, take up thy bed, and walk?" Then He said, "Arise, take up thy bed" and walk, "and go thy way into thine house. Then immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all" (2:4, 9, 11, 12).

By the Lord saying to those sick men, Arise, take up thy bed, and walk is signified doctrine and life according to it; the bed signifying doctrine, and to walk, life (that to walk signifies to live, may be seen above, n. 97); and a sick person signifies those who have transgressed and sinned; wherefore the Lord said to the sick man at the pool of Bethesda, Behold, thou art made whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee; and to the paralytic, let down in a bed through the roof, "Whether is it easier to say, Thy sins are forgiven thee, or to say, Arise, take up thy bed, and walk?"

Those who do not understand the internal sense of the Word, may suppose that the words which the Lord spoke involve nothing more than appears in the sense of the letter, when, nevertheless, the whole contains in it a spiritual sense; for He spake from the Divine, and thus both at the same time before heaven and before the world (see Arcana Coelestia, 2533, 4637, 4807, 9048, 9063, 9086, 10126, 10276).

[8] The bed of Og, the king of Bashan, is thus described in Moses:

"Og, king of Bashan was left of the remnants of the Rephaim: behold, his bed was a bed of iron; is it not in Rabbah of the sons of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man" (Deuteronomy 3:11).

The bed of Og is here described, because he was of the remnants of the Rephaim, and because he was king of Bashan. For by the Rephaim were signified those who more than all others were in the love of self, and therefore intensely natural, and, from the persuasion of their own importance above others, were in falsities of every kind (see Arcana Coelestia 581, 1268, 1270, 1271, 1673, 7686). By Bashan was signified the external of the church, thus the Natural. For Bashan was outside of the land of Canaan, where the church was: on this account, the bed of Og, king of Bashan, was described, which would not have been done but for the sake of the spiritual signification of Og, as mentioned above. For whatever is related in the Word, even in its historical parts, is significative as to every single expression; this is why everything in the Word, generally and particularly, is spiritual, and consequently Divine from inmosts to ultimates. It is for this reason, that the bed is said to be of iron, and that it was in Rabbath of the sons of Ammon, and that the length thereof was nine cubits, and the breadth thereof four cubits, after the cubit of a man; for iron signifies what is natural (as may be seen below, n. 176). Rabbah of Ammon signifies falsification of truth (as may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 2468); and the length being nine cubits, and the breadth four, after the cubit of a man, signifies the conjunction of evil with falsity.

[9] From these things it may be seen what is the nature of the Word in its inmost bosom. Because bed signifies doctrine, it was therefore amongst the statutes in the church with the sons of Israel, that every bed whereon a person had lain who had a flux should be unclean; and that the man who touched such bed should wash his garments and bathe himself in waters (Leviticus 15:4, 5).

By having a flux are signified those who are in natural separate from spiritual love; to wash the garments and to bathe the body in waters signifies purification by means of the truths of faith (see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 202-209).

Because Jacob, in the Word, signifies the external church amongst those who are in natural light and live a moral life from the obedience of faith, although not from internal affection, therefore, when Jacob is spoken of, there is seen in the spiritual world, from above to the right, as it were a man lying in a bed; hence it is that it is said of him in the Word, when he was dying,

"When Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet upon the bed, and expired" (Genesis 49:33).

It is said he gathered up his feet upon the bed because by the feet also is signified the Natural (see Arcana Coelestia 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952).

10249. 'For him and his seed, [throughout] their generations' means all who receive the things which emanate from the Lord, thus who are being regenerated by Him. This is clear from the representation of 'Aaron' as the Lord in respect of Divine Good, dealt with in 9806, 9946; from the meaning of 'seed' as those who are being born from the Lord, thus who are being regenerated (for those who are being regenerated are called those who have been born from God, and also His children), though in the abstract sense, in which actual persons are not envisaged, 'Aaron's seed' means those things which emanate from the Lord, thus by which a person is being regenerated, namely forms of the good of love, and truths of faith; and from the meaning of 'generations' as other forms of good and truths which emanate from them as their parents, and descendants of these other ones. For in the internal sense of the Word 'generations' is used to mean spiritual generations, which are those of love and faith, see the places referred to in 10204.

[2] Since the Lord is meant in the representative sense by Aaron, 'Aaron's seed' is used to mean in particular those who are in the Lord's celestial kingdom, and 'generations' those who are in His spiritual kingdom; for the forms of good and the truths of love and faith in the heavens arise and emanate from the Lord as those generations from Aaron did. The fact that 'seed', 'those who have been born', and 'generations' are used to mean those who love the Lord and believe in Him, and in the abstract sense forms of the good of love and the truths of faith, is clear from very many places in the Word, of which let just the following be quoted: In Isaiah,

From the east I will bring your seed, and from the west I will gather you. Isaiah 43:5.

These words refer to Jacob and Israel, by whom in the internal sense is meant the Church, external and internal, whose seed is the truth of faith and the good of charity.

[3] In the same prophet,

I will pour out My Spirit upon your seed, and My blessing upon those who have been born from you ¹ . Isaiah 44:3.

'Upon the seed' and 'upon those who have been born' mean upon those who belong to the Church, thus upon those things which are the Church's, namely forms of good and truths, or charity and faith, since these constitute the Church with a person. In the same prophet,

In Jehovah all the seed of Israel will glory. Isaiah 45:25.

Here the meaning is similar. In the same prophet,

If He makes His soul guilt, He will see His seed. Isaiah 53:10.

This refers to the Lord, whose seed is what those who have been born from Him, thus who have been regenerated, are called. In the same prophet,

You will break out to the right and to the left, and your seed will inherit the nations. Isaiah 54:3.

Here the meaning is similar.

[4] In Jeremiah,

Behold, the days are coming in which I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. Jeremiah 31:27.

This verse will be unintelligible to people unless they know what 'the house of Israel and the house of Judah' means, and also what 'the seed of man and the seed of beast' means. Those whose thought does not go beyond the sense of the letter will suppose the meaning to be that man and beast were going to be multiplied in Israel and Judah; but such a meaning implies nothing at all that is holy and the Church's. Rather, 'the house of Israel' is used in that verse to mean the spiritual Church, and 'the house of Judah' to mean the celestial Church, 'the seed of man' being those Churches' internal good, and 'the seed of beast' their external good. 'Beast' means the affection for good, see in the places referred to in 9280; and when the expression 'man and beast' is used, internal and external good is meant, 7523.

[5] In Jeremiah,

As the host of heaven will be unnumbered, and the sand of the sea is immeasurable, so I will multiply the seed of David. Jeremiah 33:22.

And in David,

I have made a covenant with My chosen one, I have sworn to David, Forever ² I will establish your seed, and build your throne from generation to generation. Psalms 89:3-4.

It is not persons descended from David as their father who should be understood by 'the seed of David', for they were not multiplied to so great an extent, nor were they of such great importance that they should be multiplied as the host of heaven or the sand of the sea. On the contrary in these places as in others elsewhere the Lord in respect of Divine Truth should be understood by 'David'. So 'his seed' means those who have been regenerated by or born from the Lord, and in the abstract sense the things which those people have from the Lord, namely the truths of faith and forms of the good of charity. As regards the Lord's being meant by 'David', see 1888, 9954.

[6] In David,

A seed which will serve Jehovah will be recounted ³ to the Lord to the [next] generation. Psalms 22:30.

In Isaiah,

Their seed will become known among the nations, and those born from them ⁴ in the midst of the peoples. Isaiah 61:9.

'Seed' stands for those who have been regenerated, thus for those belonging to the Church who have the Church within them. Thus in the abstract sense, in which actual persons are not envisaged, those things which compose one who has been regenerated, or which compose the Church as it exists with the person, are meant, namely faith and charity from the Lord.

[7] And in John,

The dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her seed, who kept the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus Christ. Revelation 12:17.

'The dragon' is used to mean those who are about to try to destroy the Lord's Church, which is to be established after this, 'the woman' to mean that Church, and those who belong to 'her seed' to mean those who have a love of and belief in the Lord, which they have received from Him.

In the contrary sense however 'seed' means those who are set against the things which the Church possesses, thus who are immersed in evil and consequent falsities, and in the abstract sense it means evils and falsities, as in Isaiah,

Woe to a sinful nation, a seed of evil ones! Isaiah 1:4.

In the same prophet,

Sons of the sorceress, seed of the adulterer, are you not those born of transgression, the seed of deceit? Isaiah 57:3-4.

And in the same prophet,

The seed of evil-doers will never be named. Isaiah 14:20.

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