9390. 'And he sent boys of the children of Israel' means those things that belong to innocence and charity. This is clear from the meaning of 'boys of the children of Israel' as things which belong to innocence and charity among members of the Church. For 'sucklings', 'young children', and 'boys' mean those who have innocence and charity, or in the abstract sense, without reference to persons, those things which belong to innocence and charity, 430, 5236; and 'the children of Israel' means members of the Church, or in the abstract sense, without reference to persons, the Church itself, 9340.

9320. 'For you shall utterly destroy them' means that evils must be completely removed. This is clear from the meaning of 'destroying' - when it has reference to evils and falsities, meant by the nations of the land of Canaan and their gods - as removing. The reason why 'destroying' means removing is that those governed by goodness and truth never destroy those ruled by evil and falsity, but merely move them away. This they do because good, not evil, governs their actions, and good comes from the Lord, who never destroys anyone. Those ruled by evil however and consequently by falsity try to destroy, and so far as they can they do destroy those governed by good. This they do because evil rules their actions. But since, when they try to do so, they make their attack on good which comes from the Lord, thus on what is of God, they destroy themselves, that is, they hurl themselves into damnation and into hell. Such is the law of order. And why it is such, see 4299, 7643, 7679, 7710, 7926, 7989, 8137, 8146, 8265, 8945, 8946.

[2] The reason why the Israelites and Jews were to destroy the nations of the land of Canaan was that they themselves represented spiritual and heavenly realities, while the nations represented hellish and devilish things, which can never exist together with those realities since they are opposites. The reason why they were allowed to destroy the nations was that no Church existed among them, only a representative of the Church, so that the Lord was not present among them either except through things of a representative nature, 4307. For they were interested in outward forms but not their inner substances, that is, in the worship that represented goodness and truth but not goodness and truth themselves. People like this are allowed to destroy, kill, and consign to slaughter and complete destruction. But people who are interested in outward forms and at the same time in their inner substance are not allowed to do those things, since their actions must be governed by good, and good comes from the Lord.

[3] The fact that the Jews and Israelites were such is declared explicitly by Moses,

Do not say in your heart, when Jehovah your God has thrust out the nations before you, Because of my righteousness Jehovah has brought me in to possess this land. It is not because of your righteousness and because of the uprightness of your heart; for you are a stiff-necked people. Deuteronomy 9:4-6.

And elsewhere,

They are a nation from whom counsel has perished, nor is there intelligence in them. From the vine of Sodom comes their vine, and from the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of poison, they have clusters of bitterness. The poison of snakes (draco) is their wine, and the cruel poison of asps. Is not this hidden away with Me, sealed up in My treasuries? Deuteronomy 32:28, 32-34.

'The vine' in the internal sense means the Church, 1069, 5113, 6375, 6376, 9277; 'grapes' and 'clusters' mean the internal forms and the external forms of that Church's good, 1071, 5117, 6378; and 'wine' means that Church's internal truth, 1071, 1798, 6377. From this one may see what is meant by the assertions that their vine comes from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah, that their grapes are grapes of poison and clusters of bitterness, and that their wine is the poison of snakes and the cruel poison of asps. The fact that all this was known to Jehovah, that is, to the Lord, is meant by the remarks about its being hidden away with Him and sealed up in His treasuries.

[4] In John,

Jesus said to the Jews, You are from your father the devil, and the desires of your father you will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has not stood in the truth. John 8:44.

This is why they are called a wicked and adulterous generation, Matthew 12:39, as well as a brood of vipers, Matthew 3:7; 12:34; 23:33; Luke 3:7. That they were like this is also described by the Lord in His parables in Matthew 21:33-45; Mark 12:1-9; Luke 14:16-24; 20:9ff.

Regarding that nation, that it was the worst nation; that in their worship they were interested in outward forms but not their inner substance; that no Church existed among them, only a representative of the Church; but that nevertheless they were able to represent the internal realities of the Church, see 3398, 3479, 3480, 3732 (end), 3881 (end), 4208, 4281, 4288-4290, 4293, 4307, 4314, 4316, 4317, 4429, 4433, 4444, 4500, 4503, 4680, 4815, 4818, 4820, 4825, 4832, 4837, 4844, 4847, 4865, 4868, 4874, 4899, 4903, 4911-4913, 5057, 5998, 6304, 6832, 6877, 7048, 7051, 7248, 7401, 7439, 8301, 8588, 8788, 8806, 8814, 8819, 8871, 8882, 9284.

886. That 'olive' means the good that stems from charity is clear not only from the meaning of 'olive' but also from the meaning of 'oil' in the Word. Olive oil in addition to spices was used to anoint priests and kings, and it was also used in the lamps. Concerning the former, see Exodus 30:24, and the latter, Exodus 27:20. The reason olive oil was used in anointing and in lamps was that it represented everything celestial and so everything good that stems from love and charity. Oil is in fact the essential element of the tree, its soul so to speak, as the celestial or the good that stems from love and charity is the essential element or soul itself of faith. This is the origin of its representation. That 'oil' means that which is celestial or the good that stems from love and charity may be confirmed from many places in the Word, but since the olive itself is referred to here, let some that confirm the meaning solely of the olive be quoted. In Jeremiah,

Jehovah called your name, Green Olive Tree, fair with shapely fruit. Jeremiah 11:16.

The name given here applies to the Most Ancient or celestial Church, which was the basis of the Jewish Church. Consequently all the representatives of the Jewish Church had regard to celestial things, and through the latter to the Lord.

[2] In Hosea,

His branches will go out and his beauty will be like the olive, and his smell like that of Lebanon. Hosea 14:6.

This refers to the Church that is to be established. Its beauty is 'the olive', that is, the good that stems from love and charity, while 'the smell like that of Lebanon' is resulting affection for the truth of faith. 'Lebanon' stands for its cedars, which meant spiritual things, or the truths of faith.

In Zechariah,

Two olive trees beside the lampstand, one on the right of the bowl and one on the left of it. These are the two sons of pure oil, standing beside the Lord of the whole earth. Zechariah 4:3, 11, 14.

Here 'the two olive trees' stands for the celestial and the spiritual, and so for love which belongs to the celestial Church and for charity which belongs to the spiritual Church. These stand to the right and to the left of the Lord. 'The lampstand' here means the Lord, just as it used to represent Him in the Jewish Church. 'The lamps' are celestial things from which spiritual things radiate like rays of light, or light itself, from a flame. In David,

Your wife will be like a fruitful vine on the sides of your house, your sons will be like olive shoots. Psalms 128:3.

Here 'a wife like a vine' stands for the spiritual Church, and 'sons' stands for the truths of faith which are called 'olive shoots' because they stem from the goods of charity. In Isaiah,

Gleanings will be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries on the top of the [highest] branch. Isaiah 17:6.

This refers to the remnants residing with a person. 'Olives' stands for celestial remnants. In Micah,

You will tread olives but not anoint yourself with oil, and tread the new wine but not drink wine. Micah 6:15.

And in Moses,

You will plant and dress vineyards but not drink wine. You will have olive trees within all your borders but not anoint yourself with oil. Deuteronomy 28:39-40.

The subject here is the abundance of doctrinal detail concerning the goods and truths of faith which they rejected because of the kind of people they were. From these quotations it becomes clear that 'a leaf' means the truth of faith and 'olive' the good that stems from charity. And similar things are meant by 'the olive leaf which the dove was carrying in its mouth', that is, a small measure of the truth of faith deriving from the good that stems from charity was now showing itself with the member of the Ancient Church.