110. Which is in the midst of the paradise of God, signifies that all the knowledges of good and truth in heaven and in the church look thereto and proceed therefrom. This is evident from the signification of "the midst," as being the center to which all things that are round about look and from which they proceed (of which above, n. 97 [1-2]) and from the signification of "paradise," as being the knowledges of good and truth and intelligence therefrom (Arcana Coelestia 100, 108, 1588, 2702, 3220); and because these are signified by "paradise," therefore by the "paradise of God" heaven is signified, and as heaven, so also the church is signified, for the church is the Lord's heaven on the earth. Heaven and the church are called the "paradise of God," because the Lord is in the midst of them, and from Him is all intelligence and wisdom. Since it has not been known heretofore that all things in the Word are written by correspondences, consequently that there are spiritual things in every particular that is mentioned therein, it is believed that by the "paradise" treated of in the second chapter of Genesis, a paradisal garden is meant. But no earthly paradise is there meant, but the heavenly paradise which those possess who are in intelligence and wisdom from the knowledges of good and truth (See above, n. 109); and in the work on Heaven and Hell 176, 185).

[2] From this it can be seen not only what is signified by the "paradise" or "garden in Eden," but also by the "paradises" or "gardens of God" elsewhere in the Word, as in Isaiah:

Jehovah shall comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places, even that He may make her wilderness into Eden, and her desert into a garden of Jehovah; joy and gladness shall be found therein (Isaiah 51:3).

In Ezekiel:

Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering (Ezekiel 28:13).

These things are said of Tyre, because by "Tyre" in the Word a church that is in the knowledges of truth and good and in intelligence therefrom is signified (See Arcana Coelestia 1201); its intelligence therefrom is "Eden, the garden of God," likewise "the precious stone" from which is its "covering" (See n. 114, 9863, 9865, 9868, 9873). In the same:

Behold Asshur a cedar in Lebanon. The cedars have not hid it in the garden of God; nor was any tree in the garden of God equal to it in beauty. I have made it beautiful by the multitude of its branches; and all the trees of Eden in the garden of God envied it (Ezekiel 31:3, 8, 31:8-9).

By "Asshur" in the Word those who have become rational by the knowledges of good and truth, thus whose minds are illustrated from heaven, are meant. (That "Asshur" is the rational of man, see Arcana Coelestia 119, 1186.)

[3] Something shall now be said to explain how it is to be understood that all knowledges of good and truth look to the good of love to the Lord and proceed therefrom, which is the significance of these words: "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God." The good of love to the Lord is the Lord Himself, since the Lord is in the good of His love with man, spirit, and angel. That all knowledges of good and truth look thereto, or to the Lord, is known in the Christian church; for the doctrine of the church teaches that there is no salvation apart from the Lord, and also that all salvation is in the Lord.

The knowledges of good and truth, or doctrinals from the Word, teach how man can come to God and be conjoined to Him. (That no one can be conjoined to God except from the Lord and in the Lord, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 283, 296.) From this it can be seen that all things taught by the church from the Word look to the Lord and to love to Him, as the end to which [ad quem]. That all knowledges of good and truth, or all doctrinals from the Word, proceed from the Lord is also known in the church, for it is there taught that everything of love and everything of faith is from heaven, and that nothing is from man; and that no one can love God and believe in Him from himself. To love God and to believe in Him involve all things that the church teaches, called doctrinals and knowledges, since from these is God loved and believed in. There is no love and faith without previous knowledges; for without knowledges man would be empty.

[4] From this it follows that as everything of love and of faith proceeds from the Lord, so do all knowledges of good and truth which make and form love and faith. Because all knowledges of good and truth look to the Lord, and proceed from Him, and this is what is signified by "the tree of life in the midst of the paradise of God," therefore all the trees in paradise are called "trees of life" and "trees of Jehovah;" in Revelation "trees of life":

In the midst of the street and of the river (flowing out from the throne of God and of the Lamb) on this side and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits (Revelation 22:2).

In David they are called "trees of Jehovah":

The trees of Jehovah are satisfied, the cedars of Lebanon which He hath planted (Psalms 104:16).

From this also it is clear that by the "tree of life in the midst of paradise" is meant every tree there, in other words, every man in the midst of whom, that is, in whom is the Lord. From what has been shown here and in the preceding article, what is signified by the words, "The Lord will give to him that overcometh to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God," may be learned.

9868. 'A chrysoprase, a sapphire, and a diamond' means the celestial love of truth, from which the things that follow spring. This is clear from the meaning of these stones as the celestial love of truth, dealt with below. The reason for saying 'from which the things that follow spring' is that all the forms of good and truths that follow emanate in order from those that go before; for the existence of anything unconnected with others prior to itself is not possible. First in order is the celestial love of good; second is the celestial love of truth; third is the spiritual love of good; and fourth is the spiritual love of truth. This order is what was represented in the rows of stones in the breastplate of judgement, and it is the actual order of the forms of good and the truths in the heavens. In the inmost heaven there is the celestial love of good and the celestial love of truth, the celestial love of good constituting the internal part of that heaven, and the celestial love of truth the external part of it. But in the second heaven there is the spiritual love of good, which constitutes the internal part of it, and the spiritual love of truth, which constitutes the external part of it. Each love furthermore flows into the next in the same order, and they constitute a unified whole so to speak. From this it is evident what should be understood by 'from which the things that follow spring'.

[2] As regards the stones belonging to this row, they derive their meaning, as the previous ones and also all the others do, from their colours. For the meaning of precious stones is determined by their colours, see above in 9865; colours in heaven are modifications of the light and shade there, and so are diverse forms of intelligence and wisdom among angels, 3993, 4530, 4677, 4742, 4922, 9466, the light in heaven being Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, the source of all intelligence and wisdom. Being of different shades of red the stones belonging to the first row mean the celestial love of good; but the stones belonging to the present row are of different shades of blue that is the product of red. For there is blue which is the product of red and blue which is the product of white. Blue which is the product of red shines inwardly from a source that is flaming; this is the kind of blue by which the celestial love of truth is meant. But blue which is the product of white, such as is present in the stones belonging to the next row, which means the spiritual love of good, does not shine inwardly from a source that is flaming but from one that is clear and bright.

[3] Whether chrysoprase, the first stone belonging to this row, was of a blue colour cannot be proved from the derivation of that word in the original language. But the fact that it means the celestial love of truth is evident in Ezekiel,

Syria was your merchant because of the multitude of your handiworks; [they exchanged for your wares] chrysoprase, purple, and embroidered work. Ezekiel 27:16.

This refers to Tyre, by which wisdom and intelligence arising from cognitions or knowledge of goodness and truth are meant, 1201. Chrysoprase is linked here with purple, and since 'purple' means the celestial love of good, 9467, it follows that 'chrysoprase' means the celestial love of truth; for wherever good is spoken of in the prophetical part of the Word, truth belonging to the same class is also spoken of, on account of the heavenly marriage in every detail there, 9263, 9314. 'Syria' too, which was 'the merchant', means cognitions of good, 1232, 1234, 3249, 4112, the cognitions of good being the truths of celestial love.

[4] A sapphire, the second stone belonging to this row, is - as is well known - of a blue colour, like that of the sky; therefore it says in the Book of Exodus,

Seventy of the elders saw the God of Israel, and under His feet there was so to speak a work of sapphire, and it was like the substance of the sky for clearness. Exodus 24:10.

This stone means what is translucent with inner truths, which are the truths of celestial love, see 9407.

[5] But a diamond, the third stone belonging to this row, means the truth of celestial love, on account of its translucence that tends to have a blueness in it. Thus it is through this stone, being the last, that the colours of the stones belonging to this row and also the previous one shine, and are then brought in contact with those in the next row. The situation is similar with the goodness and truths in the inmost heaven and the goodness and truths in the heavens that come after it. The latter goodness and truths derive their life of charity and faith from the former by transmission, as if by a shining through.