2830. And behold a ram. That this signifies the spiritual from the human race, is evident from the signification of a “ram,” as explained in what follows. It is known within the church that the burnt-offerings and sacrifices in the representative Jewish and Israelitish Church signified the Lord’s Divine Human; but the burnt-offerings and sacrifices from lambs signified one thing, those from sheep and she-goats another, and those also from kids, rams, and he-goats, and from oxen, bullocks, and calves, and from turtledoves and the young of pigeons, other things; and in like manner the meat-offerings and libations. In general they signified the Divine celestial, Divine spiritual, and Divine natural things which belong to the Lord; and hence they signified the celestial, spiritual, and natural things which are from Him in His kingdom, consequently in everyone who is a kingdom of the Lord; which may also be seen from the Holy Supper, which succeeded the burnt-offerings and sacrifices. The bread and wine therein signify the Lord’s Divine Human; the bread His Divine celestial, and the wine His Divine spiritual; they consequently signify His love toward the universal human race; and on the other hand the love of the human race to the the Lord, (n. 2343, 2359). Hence it is manifest that the burnt-offerings and sacrifices involved celestial worship from love to the Lord, and spiritual worship from charity toward the neighbor and the derivative faith in the the Lord, (n. 922, 923, 1823, 2180). What the celestial is, and what the spiritual, or what are the celestial and the spiritual in the Lord’s kingdom or in His church, has been frequently stated (see n. 1155, 1577, 1824, 2048, 2088, 2184, 2227, 2669, 2708, 2715).

[2] That a “ram” therefore signifies the Lord’s Divine spiritual, and consequently the spiritual with man, or what is the same, those of the human race who are spiritual, may be seen from the burnt-offerings and sacrifices made from rams; in that when Aaron and his sons were sanctified to perform the ministry, that is, when they were inaugurated, they were to offer one bullock for sin, the blood of which was to be sprinkled upon the horns of the altar, and the rest poured at the bottom of it; also that one ram was to be killed, and his blood sprinkled round the altar, and then the whole ram was to be burnt for a burnt-offering; and that the blood of the other ram that was killed was to be sprinkled upon the tip of Aaron’s ear, and upon the thumb of his hand and the great toe of his foot; and that after it was waved, it was to be burnt upon the burnt-offering (Exodus 29:1-35; Leviticus 8:1 to the end, and Leviticus 9:2 to the end). That all these rites were holy is evident; but they were holy from their representing and signifying holy things. Otherwise to slaughter a bullock and to sprinkle his blood upon the horns of the altar and pour the rest at its base, and to slaughter one ram and sprinkle his blood round the altar and then to burn him, and to sprinkle the blood of the other ram upon the tip of Aaron’s ear and the thumb of his hand and the great toe of his foot, also to wave it, and to burn it upon the burnt-offering—all these things would have had no holiness and thus would have effected no worship unless they had represented holy things. But what each particular represented can be evident to no one except from the internal sense. That the bullock which was for sin signified the Lord’s Divine natural, and the ram His Divine spiritual, and that it signified also those who are spiritual of the human race, may be seen from the signification of a “bullock” and a “ram” in the Word. Inaugurations into the priesthood were made by spiritual things, for by spiritual things a man is introduced into celestial things; or what is the same, by the truths of faith into the good of love. In like manner when Aaron entered into the holy place, he was to offer a bullock for sin, and a ram for a burnt-offering (Leviticus 16:2-3).

[3] That the Nazirite, when the days of his Naziriteship were fulfilled, was to offer a whole lamb a son of a year, for a burnt-offering, and one ewe-lamb a daughter of a year, entire, for sin, and one whole ram for peace-offerings (Numbers 6:13-17), was because the Nazirite represented the celestial man, who is a likeness of the the Lord, (n. 51, 52, 1013). The celestial man is such that he is in celestial love, that is, in love to the Lord, and thence in celestial truth (n. 202, 337, 2069, 2715, 2718); he was therefore to sacrifice a lamb and a ewe-lamb, by which the celestial was signified; and also a ram, by which the spiritual was signified. At the festivals, bullocks, rams, and lambs were sacrificed-as on the first day of the feast of the unleavened bread, two bullocks, one ram, and seven lambs, with their meat-offering, for a burnt-offering (Numbers 28:18-20). On the day of the firstfruits also, two bullocks, one ram, and seven lambs, with their meat-offering, for a burnt-offering (Numbers 28:26-25). On the new moons, two bullocks, one ram, and seven lambs, with their meat-offering, for a burnt-offering (Numbers 28:11-12). In the seventh month, on the first of the month, one bullock, one ram, and seven lambs, with their meat-offering. On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, thirteen bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs. (See also Numbers 29:1-2, 12-14, 17-18, 20-22, 24, 26-36.) The “bullocks” and the “rams” signified spiritual things, but the “lambs” celestial things; for at the feasts they had to be sanctified and introduced by spiritual things.

[4] As “rams” signified the Divine spiritual of the Lord’s Divine Human, as also the spiritual things with man, therefore where the new temple and New Jerusalem, that is, the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, is spoken of, it is said in Ezekiel, that when they had made an end of cleansing the altar there, they were to offer a bullock for a sin-offering, and a ram for a burnt-offering, and were to offer the goat of the sin-offering every day for seven days, and a bullock and a ram (Ezekiel 43:23-25); and that on this day the prince should prepare the bullock of the sin-offering for all the people, and on the seven days of the feast seven bullocks, and seven rams, with the meat-offering, for a burnt-offering (Ezekiel 45:22-24); and that on the day of the sabbath he should prepare six lambs and a ram (Ezekiel 46:4, 6).

[5] That by the new temple and the New Jerusalem in the universal sense is signified the Lord’s kingdom, may be seen above (n. 402, 940); in particular the New Church (n. 2117). That there are not burnt-offerings and sacrifices there, may be known to everyone, which shows that by these are signified the celestial things of love, and the spiritual things of faith; for these are of the Lord’s kingdom; and thus such things are here signified by “bullocks,” “rams,” and “lambs.” That “bullocks” and “rams” signify spiritual things, is evident from the several particulars in the internal sense; in general from this, that by the “new temple” and the “New Jerusalem” the Lord’s spiritual kingdom is specifically signified, but by “Zion” the celestial kingdom.

[6] That a “ram” signifies that which is spiritual, or what is the same, those who are spiritual, is plain also in Daniel; in that a ram was seen by him standing before the river, which had two horns; afterwards a he-goat of the goats, which smote him, broke his horns, and trampled him down (Daniel 8:3-4, and the following verses); where nothing else is meant by the “ram” than the spiritual church, and by the “he-goat of the goats” than those who are in faith separated from charity, or in truth separate from good, who by successive steps uplift themselves against good, and at length against the Lord-which is also described.

In Samuel:

Samuel said to Saul, Hath Jehovah as great pleasure in burnt-offerings and sacrifices as in hearkening to the voice of Jehovah? Behold to hearken is better than sacrifice, and to obey than the fat of rams (1 Samuel 15:22); where because obedience is treated of, so is truth, which is spiritual; and these words were said to the king, by whom also is signified truth (n. 1672, 2015, 2069). It is not therefore said, “better than the fat of oxen,” or of “lambs,” but “better than the fat of rams.”

[7] In David:

When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language, Judah became His sanctuary, Israel His dominion. The sea saw it, and fled, and the Jordan turned back; the mountains leaped like rams, the hills like the sons of the flock. What aileth thee, O thou sea, that thou fleest? thou Jordan, that thou turnest back; ye mountains, that ye skip like rams? ye hills, like the sons of the flock? Thou travailest, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, who turned the rock into a pool of waters, and the flint into a fountain of waters (Psalms 114:1 to the end);

here in the internal sense the subject treated of is spiritual good after regeneration, and it is described in respect to its quality; its celestial spiritual by the “mountains leaping like rams;” and its celestial natural by the “hills like the sons of the flock.” (That “mountains” are the celestial things of love, may be seen above, (795), 1430.) Everyone may know that in these, as in the rest of the words of David, there are holy things, but in the internal sense; and that something is signified by the mountains skipping like rams, and the hills like the sons of the flock, and by the earth travailing at the presence of the Lord; which things, without the internal sense, are words of no meaning.

[8] So with these words in Moses:

He maketh him ride on the high places of the earth, and to eat the increase of the earth, and He maketh him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flint of the rock; butter of kine and milk of the flock, with fat of lambs, and of rams the sons of Bashan, and he-goats with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and of the blood of grapes thou shalt drink unmixed wine (Deuteronomy 32:13-14);

“rams the sons of Bashan” denotes celestial spiritual things (what celestial spiritual things are, may be seen above, n. 1824).

In David:

I will offer unto Thee burnt-offerings of fatlings with the incense of rams, I will offer bullocks with goats (Psalms 66:15);

“burnt-offerings of fatlings” denotes the celestial things of love; and the “incense of rams,” the spiritual things of faith.

[9] In Ezekiel:

Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were the merchants of thy hand: in lambs, in rams, and he-goats (Ezekiel 27:21); where Tyre is treated of, by which those are signified who are in the knowledges of good and truth (n. 1201); “Arabia” denotes their wisdom; the “princes of Kedar,” their intelligence; “lambs,” celestial things; “rams,” spiritual things; and “he-goats,” natural things, which follow in order.

In Isaiah:

All the flock of Kedar shall be gathered together unto Thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto Thee; they shall come up with acceptance on Mine altar, and I will adorn the house of My adornment (Isaiah 60:7);

here the Lord’s Divine Human is treated of; the “flock of Kedar” denotes Divine celestial things; and the “rams of Nebaioth,” Divine spiritual things. From all this it is now evident that a “ram” in the internal sense signifies the Lord’s Divine spiritual, and hence the spiritual in men, or what is the same, those of the human race who are spiritual.

2015. Kings shall go forth from thee. That this signifies that all truth is from Him, is evident from the signification of a “king,” in both the historical and the prophetic Word, as being truth (stated above, n. 1672, but not yet fully shown). From the signification of “nations” as being goods, and from the signification of “kings” as being truths, we can see the nature of the internal sense of the Word, and also how remote it is from the sense of the letter. He who reads the Word, especially the historical portion, has no other belief than that the nations there are nations, and kings, and thus that nations and kings are treated of in the very Word itself. But the idea of nations, as well as that of kings, altogether perishes when it is received by the angels, and in their place there succeed good and truth. This cannot but appear as strange and indeed as a paradox, but still it is really so, and the truth of it may appear to everyone from considering that if, in the Word, nations were signified by “nations,” and kings by “kings,” then the Word of the Lord would involve scarcely anything more than any other history, or any other writing, and thus would be a merely worldly affair, when yet there is nothing in the Word that is not Divine, and therefore celestial and spiritual.

[2] Take as a single instance what is said in this verse, that Abraham should be made fruitful and should be made nations, and that kings should go forth from him-what is this but a merely worldly matter, and in no respect heavenly? For in these things there is only the glory of the world, which is nothing at all in heaven; but if this is the Word of the Lord, there must be in it the glory of heaven, and none of the world’s glory. Therefore the sense of the letter is altogether obliterated and vanishes when it passes into heaven; and it is so purified that nothing that is worldly is intermingled. For by “Abraham” is not meant Abraham, but the Lord; by his being “made fruitful” is not meant that his posterity should increase exceedingly, but that the good of the Lord’s Human Essence should increase to infinitude; by the “nations” are not meant nations, but goods; and by the “kings,” not kings but truths. Still the history according to the sense of the letter remains true; for it is true that it was so said to Abraham; also that he was made fruitful, and that nations and kings came from him.

[3] That “kings” signify truths, may be seen from the following passages.

In Isaiah:

The sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee; thou shalt suck the milk of the nations, and the breast of kings shalt thou suck (Isaiah 60:10, 16);

what it is to “suck the milk of nations” and “the breast of kings,” is by no means plain from the letter, but it is from the internal sense, in which it signifies to be gifted with goods, and instructed in truths.

In Jeremiah:

There shall enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses (Jeremiah 17:25; 22:4);

to “ride in chariots and on horses” is a prophetical saying which signifies an abundance of intellectual things, as may appear from very many passages in the Prophets; and thus by “kings entering in by the gates of the city” is signified in the internal sense that they should be imbued with truths of faith. This is the heavenly sense of the Word, into which the worldly literal sense passes.

[4] Again, in the same Prophet:

Jehovah hath despised in the indignation of His anger the king and the priest; the gates of Zion have sunk into the earth; He hath destroyed and broken her bars; her king and her princes are among the nations; the law is not (Lamentations 2:6, 9);

“the king” here denotes the truth of faith; “the priest” the good of charity; “Zion” the church which is being destroyed, and whose bars are being broken; hence “the king and the princes are among the nations,” that is, truth and the things which are of truth will be banished to such an extent that there will be no “law,” that is, nothing of the doctrine of faith.

In Isaiah:

Before the child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the ground shall be forsaken, which thou loathest in the presence of her two kings (Isaiah 7:16); where the Lord’s coming is treated of; the “ground which shall be forsaken” denotes faith, of which there would then be none, and the truths of which are the “kings that would be loathed.”

[5] In the same Prophet:

I will lift up My hand to the nations, and raise up My ensign to the peoples; and they shall bring thy sons in their bosom, and thy daughters shall be carried upon the shoulder; and kings shall be thy nourishers, and their queens those that give thee suck (Isaiah 49:22-23);

“the nations” and “the daughters” denote goods; and “the peoples” and “the sons” truths (as shown in Part First, where it may be seen that “nations” denote goods, n. 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849; and that “daughters” have a similar signification, n. 489-491; also that “peoples” denote truths, n. 1259, 1260; and “sons” likewise, n. 489, 491, 533, 1147). “Kings” therefore denote truths in general, by which they will be nourished, and their “queens” the goods from which they will be “suckled.” Whether you say goods and truths, or those who are in goods and truths, it is the same.

[6] Again in the same Prophet:

He shall sprinkle many nations, upon him kings shall shut their mouth-for that which was [not] told them have they seen; and that which they did not hear have they understood (Isaiah 52:15),

where the Lord’s coming is spoken of; the “nations” denote those who are affected by goods, and “kings” those who are affected by truths.

In David:

Now, O ye kings, be intelligent; be instructed, ye judges of the earth; serve Jehovah with fear, and exult with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish in the way (Psalms 2:10-12).

“Kings” denote those who are in truths; who also from their truths are often called “king’s sons;” “the Son” here denotes the Lord, who is here called “the Son” because He is the truth itself, and because all truth is from Him.

[7] In John:

They shall sing a new song, Worthy art Thou who takest the book, and openest the seals thereof; Thou hast made us unto our God kings and priests, that we may reign upon the earth (Revelation 5:9-10); where they who are in truths are called “kings.”

The Lord also calls such persons “the sons of the kingdom,” in Matthew:

He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the seed is the sons of the kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the evil one (Matthew 13:37-38).

In John:

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 that are from the sun rising might be prepared (Revelation 16:12).

That by the “Euphrates” is not meant the Euphrates, nor by “the kings from the sun-rising” any kings therefrom, is evident (what is meant by the “Euphrates” may be seen above, n. 120, 1585, 1866); so that “the way of the kings that are from the sun-rising” means the truths of faith that are from the goods of love.

[8] In the same:

The nations that are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it (Revelation 21:24); where “the nations” denote those who are in goods, and “the kings of the earth” those who are in truths, as may be inferred from the fact that these words are prophetic, and not historical.

In the same:

With the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters the kings of the earth have committed whoredom, and have been made drunken with the wine of her whoredom (Revelation 17:1-2).

And again:

Babylon hath made all the nations drink of the wine of her whoredom, and the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her (Revelation 18:3, 9); where in like manner it is evident that kings are not meant by “the kings of the earth;” for the falsification and adulteration of the doctrine of faith, that is, of truth, is treated of, and this is the “whoredom;” “the kings of the earth” denote the truths that are falsified and adulterated.

[9] In the same:

The ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, that have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority [potestas] as kings with the beast for one hour. These shall have one mind, and shall give their power and authority to the beast (Revelation 17:12-13).

That these “kings” are not kings, is evident to everyone; for if so it would be wholly unintelligible that the ten kings should receive authority as kings one hour. So too in another passage:

I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war with him that sat upon the horse, and with his army (Revelation 19:19).

That “he that sat upon the horse” is “the Word of God,” is openly stated in verse 13; and it is against this that the kings of the earth are said to have been gathered together. “The beast” denotes the goods of love, profaned; and “the kings” denote the truths of faith, adulterated; these are called “the kings of the earth,” because they are within the church. (That “the earth” is the church may be seen above, n. 662, 1066, 1067, 1262.) The “white horse” denotes the understanding of truth; and “he that sat upon the horse,” the Word. This meaning is still more manifest in Daniel (chapter 11), where the war between “the king of the south” and “the king of the north” is treated of; by which terms are signified the truths and falsities that had fought, the combats being described here also in an historical manner by this “war.”

[10] As “a king” signifies truth, it may be seen what is meant in the internal sense when the Lord is called a King and also a Priest; and also what it was in the Lord that was represented by kings, and what by priests. Kings represented His Divine truth, and priests His Divine good. All the laws of order by which the Lord governs the universe as King, are truths; but all the laws by which He governs the universe as Priest, and by which also He rules truths themselves, are goods; for government from truths alone would condemn everyone to hell; but government from goods lifts everyone out thence and uplifts him into heaven (see n. 1728). Because in the Lord’s case these two are conjoined, they were anciently represented by kingship conjoined with priesthood; as with Melchizedek, who was king of Salem and at the same time priest to God Most High (Genesis 14:18); and afterwards with the Jews, among whom the representative church was instituted in its own form, by judges and priests, and afterwards by kings.

[11] But as the kings represented truths, which ought not to have command, for the reason, as before said, that they condemn, therefore the desire to have kings was so displeasing as to call for rebuke, and the nature of truth as regarded in itself was described by the rights [jus] of the king (1 Samuel 8:11-18); and at an earlier day it was commanded by Moses (Deuteronomy 17:14-18) that they should choose genuine truth which is from good, and not spurious; and that they should not defile it by reasonings and memory-knowledges [scientifica]. This is what is involved in the directions concerning a king, given in Moses in the place just cited; which no one can possibly see from the sense of the letter, but yet is evident from the several points contained in the internal sense; so that “king” and “kingship” evidently represented and signified nothing else than truth.