280. And the third animal had a face like a man. That this signifies the appearance in ultimates of the Divine guardianship and providence as to wisdom, is evident from the signification of the face of a man, as denoting the affection of truth, the face signifying affection, and man signifying one who receives Divine truth; and because his Rational is therefrom, by man is signified wisdom; for man was created that he might be rational and wise, by which he is distinguished from the brute animals; this is why man in the Word signifies wisdom. The reason why man signifies the affection of truth and at the same time wisdom is that the affection of truth, and wisdom, act as one. For he who is in the spiritual affection of truth, that is, who is affected with truth, or who loves truth because it is truth, is conjoined to the Lord, because the Lord is present in His own truths, and is His own truth with man; hence a man has wisdom, and hence he is a man. Some suppose that a man is a man from his face and his body, and that by these he is distinguished from the beasts; but they are in error; a man is a man from wisdom, therefore so far as any one is wise, so far is he a man. This is why those who are wise appear in heaven and in the light of heaven as men, graceful and beautiful according to their wisdom; whereas those who are not wise (and such are those who have no spiritual affection, but merely natural affection, in which a man is when he does not love truth for its own sake but for the sake of glory, honour and gain), these, in the light of heaven, do not appear as men, but as monsters in various forms (as may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 70, 72, 73-77, 80; and what wisdom is, and what non-wisdom, may be seen in the same, n. 346-365).

[2] That by man in the Word is signified the affection of truth, and thence wisdom, is evident from the following passages, as in Isaiah:

"O Lord, how long? He said, Until the cities shall be laid waste so that they shall be without an inhabitant, and the houses so that a man shall not be in them, and the land be utterly desolate; Jehovah shall remove man, and deserts shall be multiplied in the midst of the land" (6:11, 12).

These things are not said of the laying waste of the land, that there should be no more any cities or houses therein, and that these should be without inhabitant, and without man; but they are said of the laying waste of good and truth in the church. By cities are there signified the truths of doctrine; by inhabitant is signified the good of doctrine; by houses are signified the interior things of man's mind; and by man the spiritual affection of truth and thence wisdom. This is signified by the houses being laid waste that there be no man in them; by the land which shall be utterly desolate, is signified the church; hence it is evident what is signified by removing man, and by multiplying deserts in the midst of the land; a desert signifies where there is no good because no truth.

[3] In the same:

"I will make a man (vir homo) more rare than pure gold; and a man (homo) than the gold of Ophir" (13:12).

By a man (vir homo) is signified intelligence, and by a man (homo) wisdom; and that these were about to cease is signified by its being said that they shall be made rare. Intelligence is distinguished from wisdom by this, that intelligence is the understanding of truth such as the spiritual man has, and wisdom is the understanding of truth such as the celestial man has; the understanding of the latter being from the will of good. It is therefore evident what is signified by man (vir homo), and what by man (homo), in the above passage.

[4] Again:

"The inhabitants of the earth are burned up, and few men are left" (24:6).

By the inhabitants of the earth, are signified the goods of the church, and these are said to be burned up when the loves of self and of the world begin to reign; and that in such case the spiritual affection of truth, and of wisdom thence derived, would cease is signified by few men being left.

[5] Again:

"The highways lie waste; he that traverses the way hath ceased; he hath rendered the covenant vain, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth not man" (33:8).

The devastation of the church is also here spoken of; the highways which lie waste, and he that traverses the way, who has ceased, signify that the goods and truths which lead to heaven were no more; the covenant being rendered vain, signifies that, there was no conjunction with the Lord; he hath despised the cities signifies that they spurn doctrine; he regardeth not man, signifies that they make no account of wisdom.

[6] In Jeremiah:

"I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was empty and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled" (4:23, 25).

That the earth as being empty and void is not here meant, nor the heavens as having no light, nor that there was no man upon the earth, nor that all the birds of heaven were fled, is evident; but the true import of these things can be evident only from the spiritual sense of the Word. In that sense, by the earth is signified the church; being empty and void signifies its being destitute of good and truth; by the heavens, where there is no light, are signified the interiors of man's mind, which are the receptacles of the light of heaven; the light which is not there denotes the Divine truth and wisdom therefrom: therefore it is said, "I beheld, and, lo, there was no man;" by the birds of heaven which were fled are signified the Rational and Intellectual.

[7] In the same:

"Behold the days come, saith Jehovah, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast" (31:27).

By the house of Israel and the house of Judah is signified the church as to truth and good; by the seed of man and the seed of beast are signified the spiritual affection of truth and the natural affection of the same. For when man and beast are mentioned in the Word they signify what is spiritual and what is natural, or what is internal and what is external (as may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 7424, 7523, 7872).

[8] In Zephaniah:

"I will consume man and beast, I will consume the bird of the heavens and the fish of the sea; I will cut off man from the surfaces of the earth" (1:3).

To consume man and beast, denotes the spiritual affection of truth and the natural affection of the same; to consume the bird of the heavens and the fish of the sea denotes spiritual truths and natural truths; and to cut off man from the surfaces of the earth denotes the affection of truth and wisdom.

[9] In Ezekiel:

"Ye, my flock, the flock of my pasture; ye are man, I am your God" (34:31).

The flock of the pasture signifies spiritual good and truth; the pasture denotes the reception thereof from the Lord; hence it is said, "ye are man, I am your God," man denoting the spiritual affection of truth, and wisdom.

[10] In the same:

"Behold, I am with you, and I will have respect unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown; then I will multiply man upon you, all the house of Israel, even the whole of it; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded; I will cause man to walk upon you, even my people Israel. Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, Inasmuch as ye say, Thou art consuming man and hast bereaved thy peoples, therefore thou shalt not consume man any more," and thy sword shall not bereave any more, "the devastated cities shall be full of the flock of man" (36:9-14, 38).

The subject here treated of is the restoration of the church. By Israel is signified the spiritual church, or the church that is in spiritual good, which is the good of charity; this church is here called man from the spiritual affection of truth, which constitutes the church; wherefore it is said:

"I will multiply man upon you, all the house of Israel. I will cause man to walk upon you, even my people Israel."

By the waste cities being filled with the flock of man is signified that the doctrines of the church shall be full of spiritual truths; by the sword which shall not bereave any more is signified that falsity shall no more destroy truth.

[11] In the same prophet:

"Thy mother is a lioness; she lay down among lions, one of her whelps rose up, which learned to catch the prey, it devoured men" (19:2, 3, 6).

Mother denotes the church, in this case the church perverted; the falsity of evil destroying truth is signified by the lioness lying down among lions; by her whelp which learned to catch the prey, and which devoured men, is signified the primary falsity of their doctrine, which destroyed truths and consumed every affection thereof. These things are said concerning the princes of Israel, by whom are signified primary truths, but here, in an opposite sense, primary falsities.

[12] In Jeremiah:

"Hazor shall become a dwelling for dragons, a desolation even for an age; there shall not dwell there a man (vir), nor a son of man (homo) abide in her" (49:33).

Here the subject is the church which is in falsities, and in no truths. Hazor signifies the knowledges (cognitiones) of truth; and the knowledges (cognitiones) of falsity are signified by a dwelling for dragons; that there is consequently no truth, or doctrine of truth is signified by there shall not dwell there a man, nor a son of man abide in her; man denotes truth, and the son of man the doctrine of truth.

[13] Again, in the Apocalypse:

"He measured the wall" of the Holy Jerusalem, "an hundred and forty and four cubits, the measure of a man, that is, of an angel" (21:17).

No one can understand what is signified by the wall of the holy Jerusalem being an hundred and forty and four cubits, and by this being the measure of a man, that is, of an angel, unless he knows the signification of the holy Jerusalem, of its wall, of the number 144, also of a man, and of an angel. The holy Jerusalem signifies the church as to doctrine; wall signifies truth defending; the number 144, signifies all truths from good in the aggregate; man signifies the reception of these from affection, and an angel signifies the same; it is therefore said to be the measure of a man, that is, of an angel, measure signifying quality. From these considerations it is evident how these words are to be spiritually understood. (These things may be seen more clearly explained in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, n.1.)

[14] Because by man is signified the spiritual affection of truth, and thence wisdom, therefore by man is also signified the church, because the church with man is a church from the spiritual affection of truth and of wisdom therefrom.

From this it is evident that man in the first chapter of Genesis, signifies the church which was the first and the most ancient on this earth; this is meant by Adam, or man (homo). The establishment of that church is described in the first chapter by the creation of the heaven and the earth, its intelligence and wisdom, are signified by paradise, and its fall is described by man's eating of the tree of knowledge.

[15] But by man in the highest sense, is meant the Lord Himself, because from Him are heaven and the church, and also the spiritual affection of truth and wisdom with every one of those who constitute heaven and the church. This is why, in the highest sense, the Lord alone is man, and that others, in both the natural and the spiritual worlds, are so far man as they receive from Him truth and good, thus so far as they love the truth and live according to it. Hence also it is that the whole angelic heaven appears as one man, and also each society there; and hence also it is that the angels appear in a perfect human form (concerning these things more may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 59-67, 68-72, 73-77, 87-102).

[16] It is for this reason that the four cherubim, by which are signified the guardianship and providence of the Lord lest the higher heavens should be approached except by the good of love, were seen as men, although they had each four faces; and also that the Lord was seen above them as a man. That the four cherubim were seen as men, is evident in Ezekiel:

"This was the aspect" of the four animals, "they had the likeness of a man, but four faces to each" (1:5, 6).

Similarly the two cherubim over the mercy seat were, as to the face, like men. Again, that the Lord was seen above the cherubim as a man, is expressly affirmed by the same prophet:

"Above the expanse which was over the head" of the cherubim, "as it were the appearance of a sapphire stone, the likeness of a throne, and upon the likeness of a throne, a likeness as it were the appearance of a man upon it above" (1:26).

70. The reason why the feet are said to be like unto fine brass is, that by fine brass is meant brass polished and shining, like something fiery; and brass in the Word signifies natural good. Metals, like all other things in the Word, are significative. Gold in the Word signifies celestial good, which is inmost good; silver signifies its truth, which is spiritual good; brass natural good, which is ultimate good, and iron its truth, which is natural truth. That such things are signified by metals, is from correspondence; for many things are seen in heaven shining like gold and silver, and also many things shining like brass and iron. And it is there known, that by those things are signified the above-mentioned kinds of good and truth; this is why the ancients, who were in the knowledge of correspondences, named the ages after those metals. The first age they called the golden age, because innocence, love and wisdom therefrom, then reigned; but the second age they called the silver age, because truth from that good, or spiritual good, and intelligence therefrom, then reigned; the third age they called the brazen, or copper, age, because only natural good, which is what is just and sincere pertaining to moral life, then reigned; but the last age they called the iron age, because only truth without good then reigned, and when that reigns, then also falsity reigns. The reason why the ages were thus distinguished, was from the spiritual signification of those metals.

[2] From these considerations it is evident what is signified by the statue of Nebuchadnezzar, seen in his dream,

"whose head was of gold, the chest and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, the legs of iron, and the feet partly of iron and partly of clay" (Dan. 2:32, 33).

The state of the church from its first time to its last as to good and truth, is here signified; its last time was when the Lord came into the world.

When it is known that gold signifies celestial good, silver spiritual good, brass natural good, and iron natural truth, many arcana in the Word where those metals are mentioned can be known. For example, what is signified by these words in Isaiah:

"For brass I will bring gold, for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron; I will also make thy government peace, and thine exactors justice" (60:17).

[3] But as the signification of brass is what is here treated of, as being natural good, it is necessary only to adduce a few passages where brass is mentioned and signifies that good. Thus in Moses:

"Asher acceptable to his brethren, and dipping his foot in oil; iron and brass thy shoe, and as thy day, thy fame" (Deuteronomy 33:24, 25).

Asher, as one of the tribes, signifies the happiness of life, and the delight of the affections (see Arcana Coelestia 3938, 3939, 6408); to dip the foot in oil signifies natural delight (that oil denotes delight, see n. 9954, and that the foot denotes the Natural, see above, n. 69); the shoe being iron and brass signifies the lowest Natural derived from truth and good, shoe denoting the lowest Natural (see n. 1748, 1860, 6844); iron is its truth, and brass its good, as above. Again,

"Jehovah thy God will bring thee into a rich land; a land out of whose stones thou shalt cut iron, and out of whose mountains brass" (Deuteronomy 8:7, 9).

And in Jeremiah:

"I will give thee unto this people for a fortified wall of brass, that they may fight against thee, and not prevail over thee" (15:20).

And in Ezekiel:

"Javan, Tubal, and Mesech, they were thy merchants; with the soul of man and vessels of brass they gave thy merchandise" (27:13).

In this chapter the merchandises of Tyre are treated of, by which are signified the knowledges (cognitiones) of good and truth. By the names Javan, Tubal, and Mesech, are signified those things that pertain to good and truth, to which the knowledges relate; the soul of man denotes the truth of life; vessels of brass denote scientifics of natural good.

[4] (What is signified by Tyre, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 1201; what by merchandises, n. 2967, 4453; what by Tubal and Mesech, n. 1151; what by Javan, n. 1152, 1153, 1155; what by the soul of man, n. 2930, 9050, 9281; what by vessels, n. 3068, 3079, 3316, 3318.)

Again, in the same prophet:

The feet of the cherubs "shone like the appearance of polished brass" (1:7).

(What the cherubs and the feet signify, may be seen above, n. 69.) And in the same prophet:

"I saw, and, lo, a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, and a thread of flax in his hands; he stood in the gate" (40:3).

Because the angel here mentioned measured the wall and the gates of the house of God, which signify the externals of the church, his appearance was seen to be the appearance of brass.

He who knows that brass signifies the external of the church, which in itself is natural, may in some measure understand why the altar of burnt-offering was overlaid with brass, and the gate round it was of brass, and the vessels of brass (Exodus 27:1-4), also why the great vessel, which was called the sea, with the twelve oxen under it, and the ten lavers with the bases, and also all the vessels of the tabernacle for the house of God, were made by Solomon of polished brass (1 Kings 7:43-47). He who knows what brass signifies, can also enter into the arcanum why a serpent of brass was commanded to be set up for the people to look at, concerning which it is thus written in Moses:

"Jehovah sent serpents among the people, which bit the people. And he said unto Moses, Make thee a serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass that every one that is bitten, when he hath looked upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that when a serpent had bitten any man, and he looked upon the serpent of brass, he lived" (Numbers 21:6, 8, 9).

That the Lord was signified by that serpent, He himself teaches in John:

"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (3:14, 15).

By the serpent is signified the ultimate of life in man, which is called the external Sensual, which is natural. To represent this ultimate, which in the Lord was Divine, among the sons of Israel, with whom all things were representative, a serpent of brass was made; and the signification was, that, if they looked to the Divine Human of the Lord, they would revive, that is, if they believed in Him, they should have eternal life, as the Lord himself also teaches. (That to see in the spiritual sense is to believe, may be seen above, n. 37, 68; and that a serpent denotes the external Sensual, which is the ultimate of the life of man, see Arcana Coelestia 195-197, 6398, 6949, 10313.) That brass and iron in the Word also signify what is hard, as in Isaiah 48:4; Dan. 7:19; and other places, will be seen in the following pages.