4588. That the midwife said unto her, Fear not. That this signifies perception from the natural, is evident from the signification of “saying” in the historicals of the Word as being perception (see n. 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2080, 2619, 2862, 3395, 3509); and from the signification of a “midwife,” as being the natural. The reason why “midwife” here denotes the natural is that when interior temptations are being undergone, that is, when the interior man is undergoing temptations, the natural is then like a midwife; for unless the natural affords aid, it is impossible for any birth of interior truth to take place; for when interior truths are born, it is the natural which receives them into its bosom, because it affords the opportunity for them to work their way out. It is always the case with the things of spiritual birth, that their reception must be wholly in the natural; and this is the reason why when a man is being regenerated, the natural is first prepared to receive; and insofar as this is made receptive, so far interior truths and goods can be brought forth and multiplied. This is also the reason why if during the bodily life the natural man has not been prepared to receive the truths and goods of faith, he cannot receive them in the other life, consequently cannot be saved. This is what is meant by the common saying that as the tree falls, so it lies; or as man dies, such he will be. For man has with him in the other life all his natural memory, or that of his external man (although not there permitted to use it, n. 2469-2494), so that it is there as a foundation plane, into which interior truths and goods fall; and if this plane is not a receptacle of the goods and truths which flow in from within, these interior goods and truths are either extinguished, or perverted, or rejected. From all this it is evident that the natural is like a midwife.

[2] That insofar as the natural is a recipient when the interior man brings forth, it is like a midwife, may be seen also from the internal sense of the things related of the midwives who contrary to the command of Pharaoh saved alive the sons of the Hebrew women, of which we read in Moses:

The king of Egypt said to the midwives of the Hebrew women, and he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools, if it be a son, then ye shall kill him, but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt spoke to them, but saved the male children alive. And the king of Egypt called the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this word, and have saved the male children alive? And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women, for they are lively, and have brought forth ere the midwife come unto them. And God did well to the midwives, and the people were multiplied, and became very numerous. And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that He made them houses (Exodus 1:15-21);

by the daughters and sons the Hebrew women brought forth, are represented the goods and truths of a new church; by the midwives, the natural insofar as it is a recipient of goods and truths; by the king of Egypt, memory-knowledge in general (see n. 1164, 1165, 1186), which extinguishes truths when it enters into the things of faith by an inverted way, believing nothing except what the senses and memory-knowledge dictate. That the “midwives” here are receptions of truth in the natural, will of the Lord’s Divine mercy be confirmed when the contents of that chapter come to be unfolded.

1186. That “Asshur” is reasoning, is evident from the signification of Asshur or Assyria in the Word, where it is constantly taken for the things which pertain to reason, in both senses; namely, for what is of reason, and for reasonings. By reason and rational things are properly meant things that are true; and by reasoning and reasonings, those which are false. Because “Asshur” signifies reason and reasoning, it is very frequently connected with “Egypt,” which signifies memory-knowledges; for reason and reasoning are from such knowledges. That “Asshur” signifies reasoning is evident in Isaiah:

Woe unto Asshur, the rod of Mine anger, he thinketh not right, neither doth his heart meditate right, he hath said, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, because I am intelligent (Isaiah 10:5, 7, 13), where “Asshur” denotes reasoning, of whom it is therefore predicated that he neither thinketh nor doth meditate right; and it is said, “by his own wisdom, because he is intelligent.”

[2] In Ezekiel:

Two women, the daughters of one mother, committed whoredom in Egypt; they committed whoredom in their youth. The one committed whoredom, and doted on her lovers, on Asshur (the Assyrians) her neighbors, who were clothed in blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses. The sons of Babel came to her, and they defiled her with their whoredom (Ezekiel 23:2-3, 5-6, 17).

Here “Egypt” denotes memory-knowledges; “Asshur,” reasoning; and “the sons of Babel,” falsities from cupidities.

[3] In the same:

O Jerusalem, thou hast also committed whoredom with the sons of Egypt, thou hast committed whoredom also with the sons of Asshur, and thou hast multiplied thy whoredom even into the land of Canaan unto Chaldea (Ezekiel 16:26, 28-29), where “Egypt” in like manner denotes memory-knowledges; “Asshur,” reasoning. Reasoning from memory-knowledges concerning spiritual and celestial things is called “whoredom,” both here and elsewhere in the Word. That whoredom with the Egyptians and the Assyrians is not meant, anyone can see.

[4] In Jeremiah:

Israel, what hast thou to do with the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Shihor? and what hast thou to do with the way of Asshur, to drink the waters of the river [Euphrates]? (Jeremiah 2:18, 36).

Here likewise “Egypt” denotes memory-knowledges; and “Asshur,” reasoning. In the same:

Israel is a scattered sheep, the lions have driven him away, first the king of Asshur hath devoured him, and after that this king of Babel hath broken his bones (Jeremiah 50:17-18).

“Asshur” here is reasoning concerning spiritual things.

[5] In Micah:

This shall be the peace, when Asshur shall come into our land, and when he shall tread in our palaces, we will even set over him seven shepherds, and eight princes of men, and they shall feed down the land of Asshur with the sword, and the land of Nimrod, In the gates thereof, and he shall deliver from Asshur, when he shall come into our land, and when he shall tread upon our border (Micah 5:5-6).

The subject here is Israel, or the spiritual church, of which it is said that “Asshur shall not enter in,” that is, that reasoning shall not; “the land of Nimrod” denotes such worship as is signified by Nimrod, in which the interiors are evil and false.

[6] That “Asshur” in the Word is also reason, which is in the man of the church, whereby he discerns truth and good, is evident in Hosea:

They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Asshur (Hosea 11:11).

“Egypt” here denotes the memory-knowledge of the man of the church; and “Asshur,” his reason. That a “bird” is the intellectual of the memory [scientificum intellectuale], and “a dove” rational good, has been shown before.

[7] In Isaiah:

In that day shall there be a path from Egypt to Asshur, and Asshur shall come into Egypt, and Egypt into Asshur, and the Egyptians shall serve Asshur. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Asshur, a blessing in the midst of the land, which Jehovah Zebaoth shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt My people, and Asshur the work of My hands, and Israel Mine inheritance (Isaiah 19:23-25).

The subject here is the spiritual church, which is “Israel,” whose reason is “Asshur,” and memory-knowledge “Egypt.” These three constitute the intellectual things of the man of the spiritual church, which follow one another in this order. In other places also where Asshur is named, it signifies the rational, either true or false, as in:

Isaiah 20:1, 3; 23:13; 27:13; 30:31; 31:8, 36, 37; 52:4,

Ezekiel 27:23-24; 31:3-18; 32:22;

Micah 7:12;

Zephaniah 2:13;

Zechariah 10:11;

Psalms 83:8.

“Asshur” denotes reasoning in Hosea 5:13; 7:11; 10:6; 11:5; 12:1; 14:3; and in Zechariah 10:10, where Ephraim is spoken of, by whom is signified the intellectual, but here, perverted.