9341. And from the wilderness even unto the river. That this signifies from the delight of what is sensuous even to the good and truth of the rational, is evident from the signification of “setting a border,” as being extension (as just above, n. 9340); from the signification of “a wilderness,” as being a place uninhabited and not cultivated; thus in application to the spiritual things of faith and to the celestial things of love, “a wilderness” denotes where there is no good and no truth, as is the case with what is sensuous (that the sensuous of man is of this character, see n. 9331). As the sensuous has no celestial good and no spiritual truth, but has delight and pleasure from the body and the world, therefore by “a wilderness” is signified this outermost in the man of the church. And from the signification of “the Euphrates,” which is here “the river,” as being the good and truth of the rational. That “the Euphrates” has this signification is because Assyria was there, and by “Assyria,” or “Asshur,” is signified the rational (n. 119, 1186).

[2] This is meant by “the Euphrates” where it is said, “from the wilderness to the Euphrates,” and “from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates;” as in Joshua:

From the wilderness, and Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, the whole land of the Hittites, and even unto the great sea toward the setting of the sun, shall be your border (Josh. 1:4).

To thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt even unto the great river, the river Euphrates (Genesis 15:18).

Thou madest a vine to journey out of Egypt. Thou hast sent out its shoots even unto the sea, and its twigs unto the river (Psalms 80:8, 11);

“a vine out of Egypt” denotes the spiritual church represented by the sons of Israel; “unto the sea,” and “unto the river,” denote to interior truths and goods. In like manner in Micah:

They shall come unto thee from Assyria and from the cities of Egypt, and thence from Egypt even unto the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain (Micah 7:12).

[3] But something else is signified by “the Euphrates” when it is looked at from the middle of the land of Canaan as its extreme limit on one side, or as what closes it in on one side; in this case by that river is signified that which is the ultimate of the Lord’s kingdom, that is, which is the ultimate of heaven and the church, in respect to rational good and truth. (That the borders of the land of Canaan, which were rivers and seas, signified the ultimates in the Lord’s kingdom, see n. 1585, 1866, 4116, 4240, 6516.) “The Euphrates” therefore signified such truths and such goods as belong to the sensuous mind, and correspond to the truths and goods of the rational. But as the sensuous of man stands forth nearest to the world and the earth, and receives its objects therefrom (n. 9331), it therefore acknowledges nothing else as good than that which delights the body; and nothing else as truth than that which favors this delight. By “the river Euphrates” therefore in this sense is signified the pleasure arising from the loves of self and of the world; and the falsity which confirms it by reasonings from the fallacies of the senses.

[4] This is what is meant by “the river Euphrates” in Revelation:

A voice said to the sixth angel, Loose the four angels which are bound at the great river Euphrates. They were loosed, and they killed the third part of men (Revelation 9:14-15);

“the angels bound at the Euphrates” denote the falsities originating through reasonings from the fallacies of the senses, which falsities favor the delights of the loves of self and of the world. Again:

The sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings who are from the sun rising might be prepared (Revelation 16:12);

“the Euphrates” here denotes falsities from a like origin; “the water dried up” denotes these falsities removed by the Lord; “the way of the kings from the east” denotes that then the truths of faith are seen by and revealed to those who are in love to the Lord. (That “waters” denote truths, and in the opposite sense falsities, see n. 705, 739, 756, 790, 839, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 7307, 8137, 8138, 8568, 9323; that “a way” denotes truth seen and revealed, n. 627, 2333, 3477; that “kings” denote those who are in truths, n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148; that “the east” denotes the Lord, and also love from Him and to Him, n. 101, 1250, 3708; and in like manner “the sun,” n. 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495, 3636, 3643, 4060, 4696, 5377, 7078, 7083, 7171, 7173, 8644, 8812)

[5] In Jeremiah:

Thou hast forsaken Jehovah thy God, when He led thee into the way. And now what hast thou to do with the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Shihor? Or what hast thou to do with the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river? (Jeremiah 2:17-18);

“to lead into the way” denotes to teach truth; “what hast thou to do with the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Shihor?” denotes what hast thou to do with falsities which have been occasioned by memory-knowledges wrongly applied? “What hast thou to do with the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?” denotes what hast thou to do with the falsities which have arisen through reasonings from the fallacies of the senses in favor of the delights of the loves of self and of the world?

[6] In the same:

Jehovah said unto the prophet, Take the girdle that thou hast bought, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock. So I went and hid it at the Euphrates. Afterward it came to pass at the end of many days, that Jehovah said, Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence. Wherefore he went to the Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where he had hidden it; but behold the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing (Jeremiah 13:3-7);

“the girdle of the loins” denotes the external bond containing all things of love and thence of faith; “to be hidden in a hole of the rock by the Euphrates” denotes where faith is in obscurity and has become no faith, through falsities from reasonings; “the girdle marred so that it was profitable for nothing” denotes that all things of love and of faith are then dissolved and dispersed.

[7] That Jeremiah was to tie a stone to the book written by him, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates (Jeremiah 51:63); signified that the prophetic Word would perish through like things. In the same:

Let not the swift flee away, nor the strong one escape; toward the north near the shore of the river Euphrates they have stumbled and fallen. But Jehovah Zebaoth taketh vengeance on His adversaries. The Lord Jehovih Zebaoth hath a sacrifice in the land of the north by the river Euphrates (Jeremiah 46:6, 10); where also “the river Euphrates” denotes truths falsified, and goods adulterated, through reasonings from fallacies and the derivative memory-knowledges which favor the loves of self and of the world.

1585. And saw all the plain of Jordan. That this signifies those goods and truths that were in the external man, is evident from the signification of a “plain,” and of “Jordan.” In the internal sense “the plain of Jordan” signifies the external man as to all its goods and truths. That “the plain of Jordan” signifies this, is because the Jordan was a boundary of the land of Canaan. The land of Canaan, as before said and shown, signifies the Lord’s kingdom and church, and in fact the celestial and the spiritual things thereof; on which account it has also been called the Holy Land, and the Heavenly Canaan; and because it signifies the Lord’s kingdom and church, it signifies in the supreme sense the Lord Himself, who is the all in all of His kingdom and of His church.

[2] Hence all things that were in the land of Canaan were representative. Those which were in the midst of the land, or which were the inmost, represented the Lord’s internal man-as Mount Zion and Jerusalem, the former the celestial things, the latter the spiritual things. Those which were further distant from the center, represented the things more remote from the internals. Those which were the furthest off, or which were the boundaries, represented the external man. The boundaries of Canaan were several; in general, the two rivers Euphrates and Jordan, and also the sea. Hence the Euphrates and the Jordan represented the externals. Here, therefore, “the plain of Jordan,” signifies, as it represents, all things that are in the external man. The case is similar when the expression “land of Canaan” is applied to the Lord’s kingdom in the heavens, or to the Lord’s church on earth, or again to the man of His kingdom or church, or, abstractly, to the celestial things of love, and so on.

[3] Hence it is that almost all the cities, and even all the mountains, hills, valleys, rivers, and other things, in the land of Canaan, were representative. It has already been shown (n. 120) that the river Euphrates, being a boundary, represented the things of sense and knowledge that belong to the external man. That the case is similar with the Jordan, and the plain of Jordan, may be seen from passages that now follow.

In David:

O my God, my soul is bowed down within me; therefore will I remember Thee from the land of Jordan, and the Hermons, from the mountain of littleness (Psalms 42:6); where “the land of Jordan” denotes that which is low, thus that which is distant from the celestial, as man’s externals are from his internals.

[4] That the sons of Israel crossed the Jordan when they entered the land of Canaan, and that it was then divided, likewise represented the access to the internal man through the external, and also man’s entrance into the Lord’s kingdom, besides other things. (See Josh. 3:14; 4:1 to 24 e end.) And because the external man continually fights against the internal, and desires dominion, the “pride” or “swelling” of Jordan became a prophetic expression. As in Jeremiah:

How shalt thou offer thyself a match for horses? And in a land of peace thou art confident; but how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan? (Jeremiah 12:5).

“The swelling of Jordan” denotes the things that belong to the external man, which rise up and desire to dominate over the internal man, as reasonings do—which here are the “horses”— and the confidence that is from them.

[5] In the same:

Edom shall be for a desolation; behold he shall come up like a lion from the pride of Jordan to the habitation of Ethan (Jeremiah 49:17, 19);

“the pride of Jordan” denotes the rising of the external man against the goods and truths of the internal.

In Zechariah:

Howl, O fir tree, for the cedar is fallen, because the magnificent ones are laid waste. Howl, O ye oaks of Bashan, for the defensed forest is come down. A voice of the howling of the shepherds, for their magnificence is laid waste; a voice of the roaring of young lions, for the swelling of Jordan is laid waste (Zech. 11:2-3).

That the Jordan was a boundary of the land of Canaan, is evident from Numbers 34:12; and of the land of Judah toward the east, from Joshua 15:5.