4364. And he said, What to thee are all these camps which I met? That this signifies the special things which are thence derived, is evident from the signification here of “camps,” as being special things; for they are those enumerated in the foregoing chapter (verses 14-15), namely, two hundred she-goats, and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty milch camels and their colts, forty heifers and ten bullocks, twenty she-asses and ten foals; by which were meant goods and truths with their things of service, by means of which initiation might be effected (see n. 4263, 4264), consequently special things. The special things here referred to are nothing else than such as confirm truths as being true, and goods as being good. They are accessory to the man’s thoughts and affections, that is, to the things which he knows and loves, and on account of which he favors and affirms a thing to be so. The presents which in the church of olden time were given to kings and priests likewise involved such things. It is well known that another is brought over to one’s opinion, or to what we say is good and true, both by reasons and by affections; and it is these very confirmatory things that are meant by “special things,” and are here signified by “camps;” for which reason it is said that these camps were “to find grace in the eyes of my lord;” and afterwards, “if I pray I have found grace in thine eyes, then accept my present from my hand.”

[2] The case is the same in spiritual things, or in matters of faith, when these are being conjoined with the good of charity. Man believes that goods and truths flow in immediately from heaven, thus without mediums within him; but he is much mistaken. The Lord leads everyone by means of his affections, and thus bends him by a tacit providence, for He leads him through freedom (n. 1937, 1947). That all freedom is of affection or love, may be seen above (n. 2870, 2873); and hence all the conjunction of good with truth is effected in freedom, but not in compulsion (n. 2875-2878, 2881, 3145, 3146, 3158, 4031). When therefore man has been led in freedom to good, truths are then accepted and implanted, and he begins to be affected by them, and is thus introduced little by little into heavenly freedom. When one who has been regenerated (that is, who loves his neighbor, and still more who loves the Lord) reflects upon his past life, he will find that he has been led by many things of his thought and by many of his affection.

[3] What is here specifically meant by the special things which are thence derived, may be seen more clearly from examples. Let the truth which is to be instilled into good be this-that man has life after death. This truth is not accepted unless it is confirmed by special things, as by these-that a man can think not only of the things he sees and feels, but also of those which he does not see and feel; that he can also be affected by them; that he can be conjoined with them by affection, consequently with heaven, nay with the Lord Himself; and that he who can be conjoined with the Divine, can never die. These and many more such things are the special things which first occur, before this truth is being instilled into good, that is, before it is fully believed. This truth does indeed first submit itself, but still the special things cause it to be accepted.

[4] Take as another example the truth that man is a spirit, and that he is clothed with a body while he lives in the world. This also is a truth which is to be instilled into good; for unless it has been so instilled, the man cares nothing for heaven, for he then thinks of himself as he does of the brute animals. But this truth cannot be instilled except by means of special things, as by these-that the body which he carries about serves for uses in this world, namely, that he may see the things that are in the world with material eyes, and may act by material muscles, thereby having powers that are adapted to the heavy things in the world; and that nevertheless there is something more interior which thinks and wills of which the body is the instrumental or material organ; and that a man’s spirit is himself, or the man himself, who acts and feels through these organic forms; and that he can confirm this by many of his own experiences if he is once in the belief that the case is so. All these are special things, which are set forth in advance, and which cause the truth itself that is in question to be instilled into good; and they are derived from it. It is these and similar things that are here signified by the “camps.”

1947. Because Jehovah hath hearkened to thine affliction. That this signifies while it was submitting itself, is evident from what was said above (n. 1937), in that to “humble and afflict oneself” denotes to submit to the sovereign control of the internal man, which submission was there treated of, and it is shown that this is to compel oneself; also that in compelling oneself there is freedom, that is, what is spontaneous and voluntary, by which compelling oneself is distinguished from being compelled. It was also shown that without this freedom, that is, spontaneity or willingness, man cannot possibly be reformed and receive any heavenly Own; and further that there is more of freedom in temptations than out of them, although the contrary appears to be the case, for the freedom is then stronger in proportion to the assaults of evils and falsities, and is strengthened by the Lord in order that a heavenly Own may be conferred upon the man; and for this reason the Lord is more present with us while we are in temptations. It was shown further that the Lord never compels anyone; for he who is compelled to think what is true and do what is good is not reformed, but thinks falsity and wills evil all the more. All compulsion has this effect, as we may see from the records and examples of life, for from them we know these two things: that consciences do not suffer themselves to be compelled, and that we strive after what is forbidden. Moreover everyone desires to pass from non-freedom into freedom, for this belongs to man’s life.

[2] Hence it is evident that anything which is not from freedom, that is, which is not from what is spontaneous or voluntary, is not acceptable to the Lord; for when anyone worships the Lord from what is not free, he worships from nothing that is his own, and in this case it is the external which moves, that is, which is moved, from being compelled, while the internal is null, or resistant, or is even contradictory to it. While man is being regenerated, he, from the freedom with which he is gifted by the Lord, exercises self-compulsion, and humbles and even afflicts his rational, in order that it may submit itself, and thereby he receives a heavenly Own, which is afterwards gradually perfected by the Lord, and is made more and more free, so that it becomes the affection of good and thence of truth, and has delight, and in both the freedom and the delight there is happiness like that of angels. This freedom is what the Lord speaks of in John:

The truth shall make ¹ you free; if the Son makes you free, you shall be ¹ free indeed (John 8:32, 36).

[3] The nature of this freedom is utterly unknown to those who do not possess conscience, for they make freedom consist in doing as they please and in the license of thinking and speaking what is false, of willing and doing what is evil, and of not compelling and humbling, still less of afflicting such desires; when yet the very reverse is the case, as the Lord also teaches in the same gospel:

Everyone that committeth sin is the servant of sin (John 8:34).

This slavish freedom they receive from the infernal spirits who are with them and who infuse it, and when they are in the life of these spirits they are also in their loves and cupidities, and an impure and excrementitious delight breathes upon them, and when they are being as it were carried away by the torrent, they suppose themselves to be in freedom, but it is infernal freedom. The difference between this infernal freedom and heavenly freedom is that the one is that of death, and drags them down to hell, while the other, or heavenly freedom, is of life and uplifts them to heaven.

[4] That all true internal worship comes from freedom, and none from compulsion, and that if worship is not from freedom it is not internal worship, is evident from the Word, as from the sacrifices that were freewill offerings or vows, or offerings of peace or of thanksgiving; which were called “gifts” and “offerings” (concerning which see Numbers 15:3, etc.; Deuteronomy 12:6; 16:10-11; 23:23-24). So in David:

With a free-will offering will I sacrifice unto Thee; I will confess to Thy name, O Jehovah, for it is good (Psalms 54:6).

So again from the contribution or collection which they were to make for the Tabernacle, and for the garments of holiness, spoken of in Moses:

Speak unto the sons of Israel, and let them take for Me an offering; from every man whom his heart impels willingly ye shall take My offering (Exodus 25:2).

And again:

Whosoever is of a willing heart let him bring it, Jehovah’s offering (Exodus 35:5).

[5] Moreover the humiliation of the rational man, or its affliction (from freedom, as before said), was also represented by the affliction of souls on days of solemnity, as mentioned in Moses:

It shall be a statute of eternity unto you; in the seventh month, on the tenth of the month, ye shall afflict your souls (Leviticus 16:29).

And again:

On the tenth of the seventh month, this is the day of expiations; there shall be a holy convocation unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls; every soul that shall not have afflicted itself in that same day, shall be cut off from his peoples (Leviticus 23:27, 29).

It was for this reason that the unleavened bread, in which there was nothing fermented, is called the “bread of affliction” (Deuteronomy 16:2-3).

[6] “Affliction” is thus spoken of in David:

Jehovah, who shall sojourn in Thy tent? who shall dwell in the mountain of Thy holiness? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness; he that sweareth to afflict himself, and changeth not (Psalms 15:1-2, 4).

That “affliction” denotes the mastering and subjugation of the evils and falsities that rise up from the external man into the rational, may be seen from what has been said. Thus “affliction” does not mean that we should plunge ourselves into poverty and wretchedness, or that we should renounce all bodily delights, for in this way evil is not mastered and subjugated; and moreover some other evil may be aroused, namely, a sense of merit on account of the renunciation; and besides, man’s freedom suffers, in which alone, as in ground, the good and truth of faith can be inseminated. (Concerning “affliction” as denoting also temptation, see above, n. 1846.)

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