585. Dat door het menigvuldig geworden kwade van de mensen op de aarde wordt aangeduid, dat de wil tot het goede ophield te bestaan, blijkt uit het voorgaande, namelijk dat er geen wil meer was, maar alleen begeerte; verder uit de betekenis van de mens op aarde. De aarde, in de letterlijke zin, is de plaats waar de mens is; en daar de liefde tot de wil of tot de begeerte behoort, zo wordt de aarde voor de wil van de mens zelf genomen, want de mens is men krachtens zijn willen, en niet zozeer krachtens zijn weten en verstaan, daar het weten en verstaan uit zijn wil voortvloeit; al wat niet uit zijn wil voortvloeit, dat wil hij niet weten, noch verstaan; ja zelfs, wanneer hij anders spreekt en handelt dan hij wil, is er toch iets van een wil, buiten zijn spreken en handelen om, dat hem regeert. Dat het land Kanaän of het Heilige Land, voor de liefde, en dus voor de wil van de hemelse mens genomen wordt, kan door vele plaatsen in het Woord bevestigd worden; op dezelfde wijze dat de landen van verschillende heidense volken hun liefde aanduiden, welke in het algemeen de eigenliefde en de liefde tot de wereld zijn; omdat dit echter zo vaak voorkomt, is er hier ter plaatse niet bij stilgestaan. Hieruit blijkt dat de boosheid van de mensen op de aarde zijn natuurlijke boosheid betekent, dat tot de wil behoort; en het wordt vermenigvuldigd geheten, daar het bij allen nog niet zo verkeerd was of zij wilden anderen het goede, zij het dan om eigenbelang; dat het echter geheel en al verdorven is geworden, duidt het gedichtsel van de gedachten van het hart aan.

122. The twelve disciples of the Lord represented the church as to all things of faith and charity in the complex, as did also the twelve tribes of Israel (n. 2129, 3354, 3488, 3858, 6397). Peter, James, and John represented faith, charity, and the goods of charity in their order (n. 3750). Peter represented faith (n. 4738, 6000, 6073, 6344, 10087, 10580). And John represented the goods of charity, see the preface to the eighteenth (Arcana Coelestia 2135) and twenty-second Arcana Coelestia 2760vvv1-2 chapters of Genesis.

That there would be no faith in the Lord, because no charity, in the last time of the church, was represented by Peter's thrice denying the Lord before the cock crew the third ¹ time; for Peter there, in a representative sense, is faith; (n. 6000, 6073). "Cock crowing," as well as "twilight," signifies in the Word the last time of the church (n. 10134[1-13]). And "three" or "thrice," signifies what is complete to the end (n. 2788, 4495, 5159, 9198, 10127). The like is signified by the Lord's saying to Peter, when Peter saw John follow the Lord:

What is it to thee, Peter? follow thou Me, John; for Peter had said of John, What is this? (John 21:21, 22); (n. 10087).

John lay on the breast of the Lord, because he represented the good of charity (n. 3934, 10081). That the good of charity constitutes the church, is also signified by the words of the Lord from the cross to John:

Jesus saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved, who stood by, and He said to His mother, Woman, behold thy son: and He said to that disciple, Behold thy mother; and from that hour that disciple took her to himself (John 19:26, 27).

"John" signifies the good of charity, and "woman" and "mother," the church; and the whole passage signifies that the church will be where the good of charity is; that "woman" in the Word means the church (see n. 252-253, 749, 770, 3160, 6014, 7337, 8994). And likewise "mother" (n. 289, 2691, 2717, 3703, 4257, 5580, 8897, 10490). All the names of persons and places in the Word signify things abstractly from them (n. 768, 1888,4310, 4442, 10329).

Note a piè di pagina:

5804. 'And a child of his old age, the youngest one' means truth that is new, springing from that good. This is clear from the representation of Benjamin, to whom 'a child, the youngest one' refers here, as truth, dealt with above in 5801, in addition to which 'child' or 'son' means truth, see 489, 491, 1147, 1623, 3373; and from the meaning of 'old age' as newness of life, dealt with in 3492, 4620, 4676. From this it is evident that 'a child of his old age, the youngest one' means truth that is new. The implications of this are as follows: A person who is being regenerated and becoming spiritual is led initially by means of truth to good; for a person does not know what spiritual good is, or what amounts to the same, what Christian good is, except through truth, that is, through teaching drawn from the Word. This is the way he is introduced into good. After that, once he has been introduced into it, he is led no longer by means of truth to good, but by means of good to truth; for at this point good not only enables him to see the truths he knew previously but also brings forth new ones he did not and could not know previously. Good holds the desire for truths within itself because it is so to speak nourished by them; indeed they make it more perfect. These truths - the new ones - are very different from the truths he knew before; for the truths he knew before possessed little life in them. But those which he receives afterwards possess life coming from good.

[2] Once a person has by means of truth arrived at good he is 'Israel', and the truth which he now receives from good, that is, from the Lord through good, is the new truth that 'Benjamin' represented all the time he was with his father. By means of this truth good in the natural bears fruit, bringing forth countless truths that hold good within them. This is the way the regeneration of the natural proceeds, becoming by its fruitfulness first of all like a tree with good fruit on it and then gradually like a garden. All this shows what is meant by new truth springing from spiritual good.