9031. 'And thoroughly cure him' means restoration, that is to say, through explanation; for if statements in the literal sense of the Word are looked at on a more internal level, all are in agreement. The situation here is as it is with statements in the Word which speak of the sun's rising or setting, though in reality it neither rises nor sets. However, it presents the appearance of doing so to inhabitants on earth, because of the earth's daily rotation on its axis. This natural truth lies hidden within the former, which accords with the appearance presented to the eyes. If the truth had been stated in the Word contrary to that appearance, the common people would not have understood it; and what the common people do not understand they do not believe either. It is similar with the Sun of heaven, which is the Lord; this too is said to rise. But it is said to rise in the heart when a person is being regenerated, and also when he is governed by the good of love and faith; and it is said to set when a person is immersed in evil and in falsity arising from it. But in reality the Lord is always where the sun is rising, for which reason also He is called the Sunrise or the East, and never where it is setting. Nor does He turn away from anyone; rather a person turns away from Him, which is the reason for the appearance that the Lord turns His face away, and even brings about what is ill. Therefore also such a thing is said of Him in the Word; and that too is a truth, though it is an apparent truth, and so does not conflict with the former. From all this one may now see what 'thoroughly curing' means in the internal sense, namely the restoration of spiritual truth, which is brought about by correct explanation of factual truth, or truth belonging to the literal sense of the Word.

[2] The situation is just the same with every truth that belongs to the literal sense. In natural light, which a person who perceives things on a sensory level possesses, that truth is seen as it is actually stated in the Word. For the literal sense is natural and is for those who perceive things on a sensory level. But when the same truth is presented in the light of heaven it is seen according to the internal sense; for this sense is spiritual and is for those whose perception lies on a heavenly level, because the things that belong to natural light vanish in the light of heaven. Natural light is like gloom or like a cloud, but heavenly light is like the glory and brightness after the cloud has been removed. Therefore also the literal sense of the Word is called 'a cloud' and the internal sense 'the glory', see Preface to Genesis 18, and 4391, 5922, 6343, 8106, 8443, 8781.

[3] The reason why 'thoroughly curing' means restoring in the spiritual sense is that 'sickness' and 'illness' mean poor health of the internal man. The internal man is in poor health when its life, which is spiritual life, is sick, that is, when the person turns aside from truth to falsity and from good to evil. When this happens that life is sick; and when the person turns away completely from truth and good that life dies. But its death is called spiritual death, which is damnation. This being the situation with the life of the internal man, such things as constitute sicknesses and death in the natural world refer, when spoken of in the Word, to sicknesses of spiritual life and to the death of that life. So too with curings or healings from sickness, as in Isaiah,

Jehovah strikes Egypt striking and curing, as a consequence of which they turn themselves towards Jehovah; and He will be entreated by them, and He will cure them. Isaiah 19:22.

In the same prophet,

But He was pierced because of our transgressions, bruised because of our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are cured. ¹ Isaiah 53:5.

These words refer to the Lord.

[4] In Jeremiah,

Return, O perverse children, I will cure you of backsliding. ² Jeremiah 3:22.

In the same prophet,

Behold, I will bring curing and remedy to it; ³ and I will cure them and reveal to them the abundance of peace, and truth. Jeremiah 33:6.

In the same prophet,

Go up to Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt! In vain you have multiplied medicaments; there is no curing for you. Jeremiah 46:11.

And in Ezekiel,

Beside the river there is rising up upon its bank, on this side and on that, [every] tree for food, whose leaf does not fall, and whose fruit does not fail it is reborn monthly, for its waters flow out from the sanctuary, wherefore its fruit is for food, and its leaf for medicaments. Ezekiel 47:12.

'Fruit for food' stands for the good of love and charity, which serves to nourish spiritual life, and 'leaf for medicaments' for the truths of faith which serve to refresh and restore that life. For the meaning of 'fruit' as the good of love and charity, see 3146, 7690; and for the meaning of 'leaf' as the truth of faith, 885.

[5] Since sicknesses and illnesses, also curings and medicaments, mentioned in the Word do not refer to natural life but to another kind of life distinct and separate from natural life, it is evident to anyone who ponders on the matter for a while that a person possesses another kind of life, which belongs to his internal man. Those who think materialistically of the life a person has do not believe that he has any life other than that of the body which is the life of the external or natural man. They wonder what the life of the internal man may be, indeed what the internal man may be. If they are told that this life is the life of faith and charity, and that the internal man is the person's spirit which lives after death, and which in essence is the real person, they wonder all the more. And those of them who live solely for the body and not for the soul, thus who are altogether natural people, understand nothing of what they are told about the life of faith and charity or about the internal man. For when they think, they see things altogether in natural light and not at all in spiritual light, on account of which also after death their thought remains materialistic. They live then 'in the shadow of death', that is, steeped in falsities arising from evil; they are in utter darkness and are blind to the light of heaven.

სქოლიოები:

886. That 'olive' means the good that stems from charity is clear not only from the meaning of 'olive' but also from the meaning of 'oil' in the Word. Olive oil in addition to spices was used to anoint priests and kings, and it was also used in the lamps. Concerning the former, see Exodus 30:24, and the latter, Exodus 27:20. The reason olive oil was used in anointing and in lamps was that it represented everything celestial and so everything good that stems from love and charity. Oil is in fact the essential element of the tree, its soul so to speak, as the celestial or the good that stems from love and charity is the essential element or soul itself of faith. This is the origin of its representation. That 'oil' means that which is celestial or the good that stems from love and charity may be confirmed from many places in the Word, but since the olive itself is referred to here, let some that confirm the meaning solely of the olive be quoted. In Jeremiah,

Jehovah called your name, Green Olive Tree, fair with shapely fruit. Jeremiah 11:16.

The name given here applies to the Most Ancient or celestial Church, which was the basis of the Jewish Church. Consequently all the representatives of the Jewish Church had regard to celestial things, and through the latter to the Lord.

[2] In Hosea,

His branches will go out and his beauty will be like the olive, and his smell like that of Lebanon. Hosea 14:6.

This refers to the Church that is to be established. Its beauty is 'the olive', that is, the good that stems from love and charity, while 'the smell like that of Lebanon' is resulting affection for the truth of faith. 'Lebanon' stands for its cedars, which meant spiritual things, or the truths of faith.

In Zechariah,

Two olive trees beside the lampstand, one on the right of the bowl and one on the left of it. These are the two sons of pure oil, standing beside the Lord of the whole earth. Zechariah 4:3, 11, 14.

Here 'the two olive trees' stands for the celestial and the spiritual, and so for love which belongs to the celestial Church and for charity which belongs to the spiritual Church. These stand to the right and to the left of the Lord. 'The lampstand' here means the Lord, just as it used to represent Him in the Jewish Church. 'The lamps' are celestial things from which spiritual things radiate like rays of light, or light itself, from a flame. In David,

Your wife will be like a fruitful vine on the sides of your house, your sons will be like olive shoots. Psalms 128:3.

Here 'a wife like a vine' stands for the spiritual Church, and 'sons' stands for the truths of faith which are called 'olive shoots' because they stem from the goods of charity. In Isaiah,

Gleanings will be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries on the top of the [highest] branch. Isaiah 17:6.

This refers to the remnants residing with a person. 'Olives' stands for celestial remnants. In Micah,

You will tread olives but not anoint yourself with oil, and tread the new wine but not drink wine. Micah 6:15.

And in Moses,

You will plant and dress vineyards but not drink wine. You will have olive trees within all your borders but not anoint yourself with oil. Deuteronomy 28:39-40.

The subject here is the abundance of doctrinal detail concerning the goods and truths of faith which they rejected because of the kind of people they were. From these quotations it becomes clear that 'a leaf' means the truth of faith and 'olive' the good that stems from charity. And similar things are meant by 'the olive leaf which the dove was carrying in its mouth', that is, a small measure of the truth of faith deriving from the good that stems from charity was now showing itself with the member of the Ancient Church.