21. (iii) THE DIVINE BEING IS BEING (ESSE) IN ITSELF, AND AT THE SAME TIME COMING-INTO-BEING (EXISTERE) IN ITSELF.

Jehovah God is Being in itself, because He is I am, the very, sole and prime source, from eternity to eternity, of everything in existence, which allows it to exist. In this and no other sense He is the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last, Alpha and Omega. One cannot say that His Being is from itself, because 'out of itself' presupposes what is earlier and thus time; but time is inconsistent with the Infinite, which is said to be 'from eternity'. It also presupposes another God, who is God in Himself, and thus God originating from God; in other words, that God formed Himself, so that He could not be uncreated or infinite, because in this case He would have distinguished Himself either from Himself or from another.

It follows from the fact that God is Being in itself that He is Love in itself, Wisdom in itself and Life in itself, and that it is He who is the source of everything, who is the point of reference of everything, if it is to exist. It is clear from the Lord's words in John (John 5:26) that God is Life in itself and thus God; and in Isaiah:

I, Jehovah, make all things, I alone spread out the heavens and stretch out the earth by Myself, Isaiah 44:24.

and that He is the only God and there is no God beside Him (Isaiah 45:14-15, 21-22; Hosea 13:4).

[2] The reason why God is not only Being in itself, but also Coming-into-Being in itself is that unless Being comes into being it does not exist; and likewise Coming-into-Being can only arise from Being. Therefore the one supposes the other. In the same way form cannot exist without substance; nothing can be predicated of substance unless it has form, and what is devoid of qualities is in itself nothing. The terms Being (Esse) and Coming-into-Being (Existere) are used here, not Essence and Existence, because a distinction should be made between Being and Essence, and therefore between Coming-into-Being and Existence, similar to that between prior and posterior, and what is prior is more universal than what is posterior. Infinity and eternity are applicable to the Divine Being, but the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom and through them both omnipotence and omnipresence are applicable to the Divine Essence and Existence. These subjects will be discussed in their proper place.

9231. 'You shall throw it to the dogs' means that these things are unclean. This is clear from the meaning of 'dogs' as those who render the good of faith unclean by means of falsifications. For all beasts in the Word mean the affections and inclinations such as exist with a human being; gentle and useful beasts mean good affections and inclinations, but fierce and useless ones mean bad affections and inclinations. The reason why such things are meant by beasts is that the external or natural man is endowed with affections and inclinations similar to those that beasts possess, and also with similar appetites and similar senses. But the difference is that the human being has within himself what is called the internal man. And the internal man is so distinct and separate from the external that it can see things that arise in the external, rule them, and control them. The internal man can also be raised to heaven, even up to the Lord, and so be joined to Him in thought and affection, consequently in faith and love. Furthermore the internal man is so distinct and separate that it is parted from the external after death and lives on for evermore. These characteristics mark the human being off from beasts. But they are not seen by people who look at things on merely the natural level and the level of the senses; for their internal man is closed towards heaven. They draw no distinction therefore between the human being and a beast other than this, that the human being has the ability to speak; and even this is considered to be of little importance by those seeing things on merely the level of the senses.

[2] The reason why 'dogs' means those who render the good of faith unclean by means of falsifications is that dogs eat unclean things, and also yap and bite people. This also explains why nations outside the Church who were steeped in falsities arising from evil were called dogs by the Jews and considered to be utterly worthless. The fact that they were called 'dogs' is evident from the Lord's words addressed to the woman who was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician, whose daughter was troubled grievously by a demon,

It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. But she said, To be sure, Lord, but even the dogs eat from the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. Matthew 15:26-27; Mark 7:26-28.

Here it is self-evident that those outside the Church are meant by 'the dogs', and those within the Church by 'the children'.

[3] Similarly in Luke,

There was a certain rich man (homo) who was clothed in purple and fine linen and indulged himself splendidly every day. But there was a poor one whose name was Lazarus, who was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be filled with the crumbs falling from the rich one's table. Furthermore the dogs came and licked his sores. Luke 16:19-21.

'The rich one clothed in purple and fine linen' means those within the Church, 'the purple and fine linen' with which he was clothed being cognitions or knowledge of goodness and truth that come from the Word. 'A poor one' means those within the Church with whom there is little good because they have no knowledge of truth, but who nevertheless have had a desire to receive instruction, 9209. He was referred to as Lazarus after the Lazarus whom the Lord raised from the dead, about whom it says that the Lord loved him, John 11:1-3, 36; that he was His friend, John 11:11; and that he sat at the table with the Lord, John 12:2. 'His wish to be filled with the crumbs falling from the rich one's table' meant his desire to learn a few truths from those within the Church possessing them in abundance. 'The dogs that licked his sores' are those outside the Church who are governed by good, though not the authentic good of faith; 'licking the sores' is curing them as best they can.

[4] In John,

Outside are dogs, sorcerers, and fornicators. Revelation 22:15.

'Dogs, sorcerers, and fornicators' stands for those who falsify the good and truth of faith. They are said 'to be outside' when they are outside heaven or the Church. The fact that good which has been falsified, and so made unclean, is meant by 'the dogs' is also evident in Matthew,

Do not give what is holy to the dogs; do not cast your pearls before swine. Matthew 7:6.

In Moses,

You shall not bring a harlot's reward, or the price of a dog, into Jehovah's house for any vowed offering, because both are an abomination to your God. Deuteronomy 23:18.

'A harlot's reward' stands for falsified truths of faith, 'the price of a dog' for falsified forms of the good of faith. For the meaning of 'whoredom' as falsification of the truth of faith, see 2466, 2729, 4865, 8904.

[5] In David,

Dogs have surrounded me, the assembly of the wicked has encompassed me, piercing my hands and my feet. Deliver my soul from the sword, my only one from the power ¹ of the dog. Psalms 22:16, 20.

'Dogs' here stands for those who destroy forms of the good of faith, who are therefore called 'the assembly of the wicked'. 'Delivering one's soul from the sword' means rescuing it from falsity that lays waste the truth of faith, 'the sword' being the falsity that lays waste the truth of faith, see 2799, 4499, 6353, 7102, 8294, and 'soul' the life of faith, 9050. From this it is also evident that 'delivering my only soul from the power of the dog' means rescuing it from falsity that lays waste the good of faith. When it was said that people were to be dragged and eaten by dogs, 1 Kings 14:11; 16:4; 21:23-24; 2 Kings 9:10, 36; Jeremiah 15:3, the meaning was that they would be destroyed by unclean things. When people compared themselves to dead dogs, 1 Samuel 24:14; 2 Samuel 3:8; 9:8; 16:9, the meaning was that they would be considered utterly worthless ones who were to be cast out. What more is meant by 'dogs', see 7784.

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