69. Verse 15. And His feet like unto burnished brass, as if glowing in a furnace, signifies the ultimate of Divine order, which is the natural, full of Divine love. This is evident from the signification of "feet," as being the natural (See Arcana Coelestia 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952); therefore, in reference to the Lord, as meaning the ultimate of Divine order, because that is the natural; also from the signification of "burnished brass," or brass polished, as being natural good (of which presently); and from the signification of "glowing," as being, in reference to the Lord, what is from Divine love (See n. 10055). It is said, "as if glowing in a furnace," in order that the Divine love in the greatest degree and in its fullness may be represented, for the Divine is in its fullness when it is in its ultimate, and the ultimate is the natural (See above, n. 66).

From this it is clear that by "His feet like unto burnished brass, as if glowing in a furnace," is signified the ultimate of Divine order, which is the natural, full of Divine love. These things, as well as the preceding, are described by comparisons; as that "His head and His hairs were white as white wool, as snow," and that "His feet were like unto burnished brass, as if glowing in a furnace;" but it is to be noted, that all comparisons in the Word are significative, for they are from correspondences in like manner as the things themselves (See Arcana Coelestia 3579, 4599, 8989).

[2] In reference to the Lord, "feet" signify the ultimate of Divine order, and this is the natural, because heaven is heaven from the Lord's Divine Human, and from this it is that heaven in the whole complex represents one man; and as there are three heavens, that the highest heaven represents the head, the middle heaven the body, and the lowest heaven the feet. The Divine that makes the highest heaven is called the celestial Divine, but the Divine that makes the middle heaven is called the spiritual Divine, and the Divine that makes the lowest heaven is called the natural Divine from the spiritual and celestial. This makes it evident why the Lord is here described in respect to His Divine Human, which is the Son of man seen in the midst of the lampstands, not only as regards His garments, but also as to His head, breast, and feet. (That the Son of man is the Lord as to His Divine Human, see above, n. 63; and that the "lampstands" are heaven, see n. 62, 63. But since these things are arcana hitherto unknown in the world, and yet must be understood in order that the internal sense of this and the following parts of this prophetical book may be comprehended, the particulars have been explained specifically in the work on Heaven and Hell; as

That the Divine Human of the Lord makes Heaven, n. 7-12, 78-86, seq.;

That on this account Heaven in the whole Complex represents one Man, n. 59-77;

That there are Three Heavens, and that the highest refers to the head, the middle to the body, and the lowest to the feet, n. Heaven and Hell 29-40.)

When this is understood it can be seen what is signified in the Word by "the feet of Jehovah" or "of the Lord," namely, the ultimate of Divine order, or the natural; and since the external of the church, of worship, and of the Word is the ultimate of Divine order in the church, and is the natural, this is specifically signified by "the feet of Jehovah" or "of the Lord."

[3] Because of this signification of "the feet of Jehovah" or "of the Lord," therefore when the Lord was seen as an Angel by the prophets elsewhere, He appeared in like manner.

Thus by Daniel:

I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz; His body was like the tarshish stone, and His eyes as lamps of fire, and His arms and His feet like the brightness of polished brass (Daniel 10:5-6).

In like manner the cherubs, by which is meant the Lord in respect to providence and protection (See Arcana Coelestia 9277, 9509, 9673), were seen by Ezekiel:

Their feet sparkled like the brightness of polished brass (Ezekiel 1:7).

The Lord was seen in like manner as an Angel as described further on in Revelation:

I saw an Angel coming down out of heaven, arrayed with a cloud, and a rainbow was about His head, and His face was as the sun, and His feet as pillars of fire (Revelation 10:1).

As the Lord appeared in this manner as to His feet, therefore under His feet there was seen by some of the sons of Israel:

As it were a work of sapphire stone, and as it were the substance of heaven for clearness (Exodus 24:10).

Their vision of the Lord was not as to the feet, but "under the feet," because they were not in, but under, the external of the church, of worship, and of the Word (See The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 248).

[4] Since "the feet of Jehovah" or "of the Lord" signify the ultimate of Divine order, and this specifically is the external of the church, of worship, and of the Word, therefore this external is called in the Word "His footstool," as in Isaiah:

The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; I will make the place of My feet honorable. And they shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet (Isaiah 60:13-14).

In the same:

Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool (Isaiah 66:1).

In Jeremiah:

God doth not remember His footstool in the day of anger (Lamentations 2:1).

In David:

Worship Jehovah at His footstool (Psalms 99:5).

We will go into His tabernacles; we will worship at His footstool (Psalms 132:7).

In Nahum:

Of Jehovah, the clouds are the dust of His feet (Nahum 1:3).

"Cloud" is the external of the Word, or the Word in respect to the letter (See above, n. 36). Because "cloud" is the external of the Word, it is also the external of the church and of worship; for the church and worship are from the Word. "Clouds" are called "dust of His feet," because those things that are in the sense of the letter of the Word, which is natural, appear scattered.

10099. 'Shall be for his sons after him' means within the natural, successively. This is clear from the meaning of 'Aaron's sons' as those things which emanate from Divine Good as the Father, dealt with in 9807, 10068; and from the meaning of 'after him' as successively or in successive order. And when those things are said of Aaron's garments, which represented the Divine Spiritual, 10098, the statement that 'they shall be for his sons after him' means the Divine Spiritual within the natural, successively. For there are three entities which succeed one another in heaven and which, if people are to have any clear-cut idea of them, must be called by their particular names - celestial, spiritual, and natural. These three emanate there in order one from another; they are interconnected by an influx passing successively from one on to the next, and in this way they make one. What is Divine and the Lord's in the heavens is referred to by these different names on account of differences in the reception of it.

[2] The subject at present is the second ram, called the ram of fillings [of the hand]; and 'filling the hand' means consecration to represent what is Divine and the Lord's in the heavens, and the transmission and the reception of it there, 10019. Consequently, in order that the reception of it in the natural may also be described, the present verse speaks about Aaron's garments, about their being worn in succeeding years by his sons after him. By this the succeeding stage of that reality in the heavens which is meant by 'the filling of the hands' should be understood. From this it is evident that these matters in the internal sense hold together in an unbroken sequence, even though in the sense of the letter a break in the series of details regarding what had to be done with the ram is apparent here.

Since things which exist in successive order in heaven are the subject here, something must also be stated to explain what 'successive' means. The majority of learned people at the present day have no other idea of things existing in successive order than of a continuation, or of things held together by continuing one into the next. This being their idea of the way that things succeed one another they can have no conception of the nature of the difference between exterior and interior things in a person, nor consequently of the difference between a person's body and his spirit. When therefore they contemplate these matters with the ideas they have they cannot possibly understand how a person's spirit can be alive within a human form after the decay or death of the body.

[3] But things existing in successive order are not continuous, merging one into the next; instead they are discrete, that is, belong to distinct degrees that are clear-cut one from the next. For interior things are entirely distinct from exterior ones, so distinct that the exterior things can be separated and the interior ones still retain the life they have. So it is that a person can be withdrawn from the body and think within his spirit or, as an expression commonly used by the ancients puts it, withdrawn from sensory perceptions and raised to more internal things. The ancients also knew that when a person is withdrawn from perceiving things with his physical senses he is drawn up or raised to the light belonging to his spirit, that is, the light of heaven. So it was also that learned ancients knew that when their body had decayed they would be living a more internal life, which they called their spirit. And since they regarded this life to be the truly human life they also knew that they would be living within a human form. Such was the idea they had regarding a person's soul. And since that life partook of Divine life they perceived that their soul was immortal; for they knew that that part of a person which was a partaker of Divine life and for this reason linked to it could never die.

[4] But this idea of a person's soul and spirit disappeared after those ancient times, for the reason, as stated above, that people did not have a right idea about things existing in successive order. This also explains why those who in their thinking rely on present-day learning do not know what the spiritual is, nor that this is distinct from the natural. For those who conceive of things in successive order as something continuous inevitably take the spiritual to be nothing more than a purer extension of the natural, when yet the spiritual and the natural are as distinct from each other as prior and posterior, and so as that which begets and that which is begotten. Consequently learned people such as these do not see the difference between the internal or spiritual man and the external or natural man, nor therefore between a person's inward thought and will and his outward thought and will. Consequently also they cannot understand anything regarding faith and love, heaven and hell, or the life of a person after death.

[5] But those who have a right and distinct idea about things existing in successive order can in some measure comprehend that with a person who is being regenerated interior things are opened in successive order, and that as they are opened they are also raised to interior light and life, and nearer to the Divine; and that this opening and consequent raising is accomplished by means of God's truths, which are vessels receptive of the good of love from the Divine. The good of love is what joins a person directly to the Divine, for love is spiritual togetherness. From this it follows that a person can be opened and raised up on increasingly internal levels, in the measure that the good of love from the Divine exists in him, and conversely that there is no such opening or consequent raising up with the person who does not receive God's truths, which happens if evil resides in him. But a fuller statement regarding this successive order and its mysteries will in the Lord's Divine mercy be presented elsewhere ¹ .

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