8408. 'When we sat by a pot of flesh' means a life according to their own pleasure, and such as they craved for. This is clear from the meaning of 'a pot' as a container of good, and in the contrary sense a container of evil, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'flesh' as the heavenly proprium, thus good, and in the contrary sense as the proprium that is man's own, thus evil, also dealt with below. ¹ And since 'flesh' means the proprium, 'sitting by a pot of flesh' means a life according to one's own pleasure, and such as one craves for; for that is the life of the proprium. The reason why 'a pot' means a container of good, and in the contrary sense a container of evil, is that 'the flesh' cooked in it means good and in the contrary sense evil. And having these meanings 'a pot' also means the bodily level or the natural level of the human mind, since these are containers of good or of evil. This being so, it is used in a general sense to mean a person, and in an even more general sense to mean a people or a city; and when 'a pot' is used to mean these, 'flesh' means the good or the evil that is in them, as in Ezekiel,

... the men who think iniquity and give wicked counsel in this city, saying, [The time] is not near; [the city] itself is the pot, we are the flesh. Therefore thus said the Lord Jehovih, Your slain whom you have placed in the midst of it, ² they are the flesh, but it is the pot. Ezekiel 11:2-3, 7.

Here 'the pot' stands for the city or the people there, and 'the flesh' for evil, since 'the slain', who are called 'the flesh', are those among whom goodness and truth have been wiped out, 4503.

[2] In the same prophet,

Tell a parable against the house of rebellion, and say to them, Thus said the Lord Jehovih, Put on the pot, put it on, and also pour [water into it gather] the pieces into it - every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder. Fill it with the choice of the bones. The Lord Jehovih said, Woe to the city of blood, ³ to the pot whose scum is in it, and whose scum has not gone out of it! Ezekiel 24:3-6.

Here 'the pot' stands for the city or the people there, among whom there exists the evil that results when good is profaned. The good or flesh there is 'the thigh and the shoulder'; the evil is 'the scum' coming from it, and good when profaned is the scum remaining, which also accounts for the city's being called 'the city of blood'.

[3] In Jeremiah,

Jehovah said to Jeremiah, What do you see? I said, A puffed out pot do I see, its face towards the north. Then Jehovah said, From the north evil will be opened over all the inhabitants of the land. Jeremiah 1:11-14.

'A puffed-out pot' stands for a people whom falsities have taken possession of, and 'the north' for the sensory and bodily levels of the human mind, from which evil pours out. The subject here is the end of the Church, when what belongs to the external and therefore to sensory and bodily levels, together with falsity and evil, has dominion; for the Lord's Church moves in a series of stages from what is internal to what is external, at which point it breathes its last.

[4] In Zechariah,

On that day there will be on the horses' bells, Holiness to Jehovah. And the pots in the house of Jehovah will be as the bowls before the altar. And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holiness to Jehovah Zebaoth; and all offering sacrifice will come, and take from them, and cook in them. Zechariah 14:20-21.

The subject here is the salvation of faithful believers, faithful believers being 'the pots', which they are called because they receive good from the Lord; and because they receive that good every 'pot' is said to be 'holiness to Jehovah'. 'The bells of the horses, with Holiness on them' are truths in agreement with good. Since 'pots' are recipients and containers of good, they like all the other vessels for the altar were made of bronze, Exodus 38:3; for 'bronze' means the good of the natural, 425, 1551.

[5] In addition to this 'the pot' may mean religious teachings because these hold the Church's good and truth within them. Such teachings are meant by 'the pot' in which at Elisha's command a soup was boiled for the sons of the prophets, described as follows in the second Book of Kings,

Elisha came again to Gilgal, when there was a famine in the land. When the sons of the prophets were sitting before him he said to his servant, Put on a great pot, and boil a soup for the sons of the prophets. One of them went out into the field to gather herbs and found a wild vine, and gathered from it wild gourds, and cut them up into the pot of soup. While they were eating of the soup they cried out, There is death in the pot, O man of God! But he said that they should bring flour, which he threw into the pot, and said, Pour out for the people and let them eat. Then there was not anything bad in the pot. 2 Kings 4:38-41.

It should be recognized that all Divine miracles have to do with things connected with the Lord's kingdom and the Church, 7337, 8364, and that 'Elisha' represents the Word of the Lord, 2762, and 'prophets' teachings derived from it, 2534, 7269. From this one may see what thing connected with the Church was represented by this miracle, which was that if the Church's good has been falsified it is made good again by means of truth from the Word. 'A famine' is a lack of cognitions or knowledge of truth and good; 'the pot' is religious teachings; 'soup' is the good of the Jewish Church's outward religious observances; 'gourds from a wild vine' is falsification; and 'flour' is truth from the Word, 2177, used to make good again that which has been falsified, meant by 'death in the pot'. The reason why 'pots' means containers of good is that they were included among the utensils in which food was prepared, and 'food', every kind of it, means such things as nourish the soul, that is, affections for good and truth, 681, 1480, 3114, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5576, 5410, 5915.

각주:

934. 'Cold' means the absence of love, that is, of charity and faith, 'heat' or 'fire' the presence of love or of charity and faith. This becomes clear from the following places in the Word: In John, in the letter to the Church at Laodicea,

I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! But because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot I will spew you out of My mouth. Revelation 7:15, 16.

Here 'cold' stands for no charity, 'hot' for much. In Isaiah,

Thus said Jehovah, I will be still and I will behold in My place; like clear heat on the light, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. Isaiah 18:4.

The subject here is a new Church that is to be founded. 'Heat on the light' and 'the heat of harvest' stand for love and charity. In the same prophet,

Jehovah's fire is in Zion, and His furnace in Jerusalem. Isaiah 3:9.

'Fire' stands for love. Concerning the cherubim seen by Ezekiel,

As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches, moving between the living creatures. And the five was bright and out of the fire went forth lightning. Ezekiel 1:13.

[2] And concerning the Lord in the same prophet,

Above the firmament that was above the heads of the cherubim, in appearance like a sapphire stone, there was the likeness of a throne, and above the likeness of a throne, there was a likeness as the appearance of a man upon it above. And I saw as it were the shape of fiery coals, as the shape of fire, within it round about, from the appearance of His loins upwards. And from the appearance of His loins and downwards I saw as it were the appearance of fire, whose brightness was round about it. Ezekiel 1:26-27; 8:2.

Here 'fire' stands for love. In Daniel,

The Ancient of Days was seated. His throne was flames of fire, its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and came forth from before Him, a thousand thousands served Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. Daniel 7:9-10.

'Fire' stands for the Lord's love. In Zechariah,

I will be to her, said Jehovah, a wall of fire round about. Zechariah 2:5.

This refers to the New Jerusalem. In David,

Jehovah makes winds His messengers, and flaming fire His ministers. Psalms 104:4.

'Flaming fire' stands for that which is celestial-spiritual.

[3] Because 'fire' meant love, fire also became a representative of the Lord. This is clear from 'the five on the altar of burnt offering that was to be kept burning all the time', Leviticus 6:9, 12-13, representing the Lord's mercy. For this reason 'before Aaron entered the place of atonement he had to burn incense with fire taken from the altar of burnt offering', Leviticus 16:12-14. And also, to signify that worship was acceptable to the Lord, 'fire was sent down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering', as in Leviticus 9:24, and elsewhere. In the Word 'fire' also means self-love and its attendant desire. With that love heavenly love can never agree; consequently it is also said that Aaron's two sons were devoured by fire because they employed strange fire, Leviticus 10:1-2. 'Strange fire' means all self-love and love of the world, and every desire accompanying those loves. In addition heavenly love seems to wicked people like nothing else than a burning and devouring fire; and this is why in the Word devouring fire is attributed to the Lord. The fire on Mount Sinai, for example, which represented the Lord's love or mercy, was perceived by the people as a consuming fire, as a consequence of which they told Moses not to make them hear the voice of Jehovah God, or see the great Fire lest they died, Deuteronomy 18:16. This is how the Lord's love or mercy appears to people engulfed in the fire of self-love and love of the world.