9817. 'And you shall speak to all the wise at heart' means an influx from the Lord through the Word into all who are governed by the good of love. This is clear from the meaning of 'speaking' as influx, dealt with in 2951, 5481, 5743, 5797, 7270; and from the meaning of 'the wise at heart' as those who are governed by the good of love, dealt with below. The reason why influx from the Lord through the Word is meant is that for members of the Church the main channel by which the Lord flows in is the Word. This is so because the nature of the Word is such that all things without exception there correspond to the Divine spiritual and Divine celestial realities that exist in the heavens; and as a result of this a person shares affections and thoughts with angels, in so complete a manner that he and they are seemingly one. So it is that the world has been joined to heaven through the Word, but only among those who are governed by the good of faith and love. From all this it becomes clear that for members of the Church the Lord flows in through the Word; for the Lord is the all in the heavens, since what is Divine and emanates from the Lord, and is received by angels, composes heaven.

[2] The reason why 'the wise at heart' means those who are governed by the good of love is that the presence of wisdom in a person is attributable to the life of heaven in him, also that 'heart' means the good of love. In the Word 'spirit' and 'heart' are expressions that have regard to the life of heaven present with a person, 'spirit' being used to mean that life in the understanding part of the person's mind and 'heart' that life in the will part. To the understanding part belongs truth, but to the will part belongs good; the former has to do with faith, but the latter with love. For the understanding receives truths that constitute faith, and the will forms of good that are aspects of love. From this it is evident that by 'the wise at heart' those governed by the good of love received from the Lord are meant. The good of love is celestial good, through which spiritual good comes into being; and spiritual good is that which covers celestial good, like garments the body. And since Aaron's garments represented the Lord's spiritual kingdom lying adjacent to His celestial kingdom, and the former comes into being through the latter, the present verse goes on to say that 'the wise at heart', that is, those governed by the good of love received from the Lord, should make the garments for Aaron and his sons. As regards 'heart', that it means the good of love or celestial good, see 3635, 3880, 3883-3896, 9050; and that it therefore means the will, 2930, 3888, 7542, 8910, 9113, 9300, 9495.

5215. 'And scorched by an east wind' means full of evil desires. This is clear from the meaning of 'being scorched by an east wind' as being consumed by the fire of evil desires. For an east wind' and the east' in the genuine sense mean love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour, lot, 1250, 3249, 3708, 3762, and therefore in the contrary sense self-love and love of the world, and so cravings and evil desires since these spring from those loves. The word 'fire' is used to refer to such desires for the reason dealt with in 5071, and therefore 'being scorched' is used also.

[2] There are two sources of heat, as there are also two sources of light, the one source of heat being the sun of this world, the other source of heat being the sun of heaven, which is the Lord. It is a well known fact that the sun of this world pours out heat into its own world and onto everything there, but it is a less well known fact that the sun of heaven pours out heat into the whole of heaven. Yet this too may become an equally well known fact if one reflects merely on the heat which exists intrinsically in the human being but which has nothing in common with the heat of the world, that is, if one reflects on what is called vital heat. From this one could know that this heat is of a different nature from the world's heat. That is to say, the former is a living heat but the latter is not at all a living one; also the former, being a living one, fires a person interiorly, namely his will and understanding, imparting to him desires and loves, and affections too. This also explains why desires, loves and affections are spiritual forms of heat, and are also called such. The fact that they are forms of heat is quite evident, for heat is radiated from all parts of the bodies of live persons, even where it is intensely cold. More than that, when desires and affections, that is, when loves, increase, the body grows correspondingly warmer. This kind of heat is what is meant in the Word by 'heat', 'fire', and 'flame'; in the genuine sense celestial and spiritual love is meant, in the contrary sense bodily and earthly love. From this it becomes clear that here 'being scorched by an east wind' means being consumed by the fire of evil desires, and that when used in reference to known facts meant by 'heads' that are 'thin', facts full of evil desires are meant.

[3] 'The east wind' means the blasts of evil desires and of derivative false notions, as is clear from places in the Word where that wind is mentioned, for example, in David,

He caused an east wind to blow ¹ in the heavens, and by His power He brought forth the south wind; and He caused flesh to rain onto them like the dust, winged birds like the sand of the sea. Psalms 78:26-27.

'The flesh' which that wind brought meant cravings, and 'winged birds' resulting false notions, as is evident in Numbers 11:31-35, where it is said that the name of the place where the people were struck down for eating flesh was called 'the graves of craving, for there they buried the people who had the craving'.

[4] In Ezekiel,

Behold, the vine that was planted, will it thrive? When the east wind strikes it, will it not wither completely? It will wither on the small spaces where it began to grow. Ezekiel 17:10.

And in the same prophet,

The vine has been plucked up in anger, it has been cast down onto the ground, and the east wind has dried its fruit. They have been plucked out and have withered, each rod of its strength; fire has consumed each one. For fire has gone out from a rod of its branches and has consumed its fruit, so that there is no rod of strength in it, a sceptre for dominion. Ezekiel 19:12, 14.

Here 'the east wind' stands for the blasts of evil desires. In Isaiah,

He gave thought to His rough wind, on the day of the east wind. Isaiah 17:8.

[5] In Hosea,

An east wind will come, Jehovah's wind rising up from the desert, and his spring will become dry, and his fountain dried up. It will strip his treasury of every precious vessel. Hosea 13:15.

Here also 'an east wind' stands for blasts of evil desires. Similarly in Jeremiah,

Like an east wind I will scatter them before the enemy. Jeremiah 18:17.

[6] In David,

By means of an east wind You will shatter the ships of Tarshish. Psalms 48:7.

In Isaiah,

You have forsaken Your people, the house of Jacob, because they have been filled from the east wind, and they are diviners like the Philistines. Isaiah 2:6.

In Hosea,

Ephraim feeds the wind, and pursues the east wind. All the day long he multiplies lies and devastation. Hosea 11:1.

'The wind' here stands for false notions, and 'the east wind' for evil desires. Something similar is also meant in the internal sense by 'an east wind' by means of which 'locusts were brought forth' and by means of which 'the locusts were cast into the sea', ² Exodus 10:13, 19, and also by means of which 'the waters of the sea Suph' were divided, Exodus 14:21.

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