34. The Divine Infinite is present in human beings as in images of itself, as is evident from the Word, where we read:

At length God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; so God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, Genesis 1:26-27 From this it follows that a human being is an organ capable of receiving God, and that its capability as an organ depends upon its capacity to receive. The human mind, which determines that a human being is human and how far he is so, is organised into three zones in accordance with the three degrees. In the first degree is the celestial zone, in which are the angels of the highest heaven; in the second degree is the spiritual zone in which are the angels of the middle heaven; and in the third degree is the natural zone in which are the angels of the lowest heaven.

[2] The human mind, organised as it is according to those three degrees, is a means of receiving Divine influence, but the Divine influence does not penetrate further than the extent to which a person clears the way or opens the door. If he does so up to the highest or celestial degree, then a person truly becomes an image of God, and after his death an angel of the highest heaven. But if he clears the way or opens the door only to the middle or spiritual degree, then although he becomes an image of God it is not to such a pitch of perfection, and after his death he becomes an angel of the middle heaven. But if he clears the way or opens the door only to the lowest or natural degree, then if he acknowledges God and worships Him with true piety, he becomes an image of God in the lowest degree, and after his death becomes an angel of the lowest heaven.

[3] If, however, he does not acknowledge God and worship Him with true piety, he puts off the image of God and becomes like an animal, apart from possessing the faculty of understanding and therefore of speech. If he then shuts off the highest natural degree, which corresponds to the highest celestial, he becomes so far as love is concerned like an animal. If he shuts off the middle natural degree, which corresponds to the middle spiritual, he becomes so far as love is concerned like a fox, and as far as the sight of the understanding is concerned like a nocturnal bird. But if he also shuts off the spiritual part of the lowest natural degree, he becomes so far as love is concerned like a savage beast, and as far as his understanding of truth is concerned like a fish.

[4] Divine Life, which by radiation from the sun of the heaven of angels makes human beings act, can be compared with the light from the sun of this world and its radiation affecting a diaphanous object. The way life is received in the highest degree is like light striking a diamond; in the second degree like light striking a crystal, and in the lowest degree like light striking glass or a transparent membrane. But if the spiritual part of this degree is totally shut off, which happens when the existence of God is denied and Satan is worshipped, the way life from God is received is like light falling upon dark objects on earth, such as rotten wood or a lump of mud or dung, and so on. For then a person becomes a spiritual corpse.

7932. 'And it shall be, when you come to the land which Jehovah will give you' means when they reach heaven, given them by the Lord. This is clear from the meaning of 'the land', at this point the land of Canaan, which they will 'come to' as the Lord's kingdom, which is heaven, dealt with in 1607, 1866, 3078, 3481, 3705, 4116, 4240, 4447, 5757. The Children of Israel represented those belonging to the spiritual Church who lived in the world before the Lord's Coming, but could not be saved except by the Lord, on account of which they were preserved and held back on the lower earth, where they were in the meantime molested by the hells which were round about them. When therefore the Lord came into the world and made the Human within Him Divine, He then - when He rose again - delivered those who had been preserved and held back there. And after they had undergone temptations He raised them to heaven. These matters are what the internal sense of the second Book of Moses or Exodus contains. By 'the Egyptians' those who molested are meant; by 'being led away from them' deliverance is meant; by 'living forty years in the wilderness' temptations are meant; and by 'being led into the land of Canaan' being raised into heaven is meant. For what has been mentioned already about these meanings, see 6854, 6914, 7091 (end), 7828. From all this it is evident that 'when you come into the land' means when they reach heaven, given them by the Lord. ¹

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