237. And knowest not that thou art wretched. That this signifies that they do not know that their falsities have no coherence with truths is evident from the signification of wretchedness, as denoting the breaking down of truth by falsities, and also no coherence; it is therefore plain what is meant by wretched. The reason why they are thus wretched is that their doctrine is founded upon two false principles, which are faith alone, and justification thereby; therefore falsities flow thence in a continuous series, and the truths which they adduce to confirm them from the letter of the Word are broken down and falsified; and falsified truths are essentially falsities. This is described in many passages in the Word, and is meant by the vanities which the prophets are said to see, and the lies which they are said to speak. The same is also described by the breaches made in walls and in houses, so that they fall; similarly, by the idols and graven images which the artificer is said to make and connect by chains that they may cohere; for by idols and graven images are signified falsities of doctrine. The same is also meant by breaches made in walls and in houses, and by the prophets seeing vanities and speaking lies; for by prophets are meant doctrines; by vanities, such things as are of no account; and by lies, falsities.

But as these things are mentioned in too many passages in the Word to be here adduced in full, we shall only quote some wherein mention is made of wretchedness, and of a wall, in order that it may be known that they signify the breaking down of truths by falsities, and thus no coherence.

[2] In Isaiah:

"Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath seduced thee; when thou saidst in thine heart, I, and none else beside me. Therefore shall wretchedness fall upon thee, and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly" (47:10, 11).

Here also are described those who believe that they know all things, and suppose themselves to be intelligent above all others, when yet they neither know nor understand anything of truth; therefore it follows that the understanding of truth is taken away from them. Their belief that they are more intelligent than all others is meant by Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath seduced thee; when thou saidst in thine heart, I, and none else beside me; and the loss of all understanding of truth is meant by wretchedness shall fall upon thee, desolation shall come upon thee suddenly.

[3] In Ezekiel:

"Wretchedness shall come upon wretchedness; therefore shall they seek a vision from the prophets; but the law hath perished from the priest, and counsel from the elders; the king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with amazement" (7:26, 27).

The vastation of the church is here treated of, which takes place when there is none but falsified truth; falsity from falsity is meant by wretchedness upon wretchedness; a vision from the prophet denotes doctrine, and here, doctrine of falsity; the law hath perished from the priest, denotes that the Word is not understood; for the law signifies the Word, and the priest him that teaches it: counsel hath perished from the elders, denotes that what is right shall perish from the intelligent; counsel denoting what is right, and elders signifying the intelligent: the king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with amazement, denotes that there is no longer any truth; king signifying truth, and the prince truths primarily subservient.

[4] In David:

"What is right is not in their mouth; wretchedness is in the midst of them" (Psalms 5:9);

where wretchedness also signifies falsities not cohering with any truth. Similarly in Jeremiah:

"Howl! and wander among the walls; for their king goeth away into captivity, his priests and princes together" (49:3).

Here by wandering among the walls is meant amongst truths destroyed by falsities; by the king who goeth away into captivity is signified truth; and by his priests and princes together are denoted the goods and truths of life and doctrine, as above.

[5] In Ezekiel:

"When they build a wall [maceries], lo, they daub it with untempered [mortar]. Say unto them that daub with untempered [mortar] that the wall [paries] shall fall. Shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed?" (13:10-12).

The wall which they daubed with untempered [mortar] signifies the falsity which is assumed as a principle, and which, by application of the Word from the sense of the letter, they make to appear as truth. Daubing denotes application, and thence apparent confirmation; untempered [mortar] denotes what is falsified; and because the truth of the Word is thus destroyed, and confirmatory things become truths falsified, which in themselves are falsities, and these perish together with the false principle, therefore it is said, "Behold the wall shall fall; shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing with which ye have daubed?"

[6] In Hosea:

"Behold I hedge up thy way with thorns, and I will encompass wall with wall, that she shall not find thy paths" (2:6).

To hedge up the way with thorns is to obstruct all thoughts by falsities of evil, lest they should see truths; falsities of evil are signified by thorns. To encompass wall with wall is to heap falsities upon falsities; that she shall not find thy paths, denotes that nothing of truth can be seen. This comes to pass because truths can no more co-exist with falsities of evil than heaven can with hell, for truths are from heaven and falsities of evil from hell; therefore, when the latter have rule, communication with heaven is taken away, in which case the former cannot be seen, and if others utter them they are rejected. Hence it is, that those who are in false principles, as, for example, those who are in the principles of faith alone and justification thereby, cannot be in any truths, as may be seen above (n. 235, 236).

[7] But we shall now illustrate this subject by examples. When those who embrace faith alone and justification thereby as a principle of religion, read the Word, and see that the Lord teaches that man shall be rewarded according to his deeds and works, and that he who has done good shall enter heaven, and that he who has done evil shall be cast into hell, they then call the good which they do the fruit of faith, not knowing, or not being willing to know, that the goods which they call fruits of faith are all from charity, and none of them from faith separated from charity, which is called faith alone; for all good belongs to charity, and truth to faith therefrom. From this it is clear that they pervert the Word. But they do this because they cannot otherwise apply the truth to their principle, still believing that they may thus agree together; but truth perishes in consequence, and becomes falsity, and not only becomes falsity but also evil.

[8] That falsities thence follow in a continuous series is also clear; for they teach that the good works which man performs are merit-seeking, not being willing to understand that as faith and its truths are from the Lord, and thus not merit-seeking, so also are charity and its goods. They also teach that as soon as a man receives faith he is reconciled to God the Father by the Son, and that the evils which he afterwards does are not imputed, nor yet the evils which he had done before; for they say that all are saved, however they have lived, if they only receive faith, even in the hours before death. But these and many other things, which are derivations from a false principle, do not agree with truths from the Word, but destroy them, and truths destroyed are falsities, and such falsities as have a bad odour; a grievous smell is perceived from them in the other life, which is such that it cannot be sustained by any good spirit; it is like a stench from diseased lungs. Many other examples might be adduced, of which there is an abundance; for whatsoever is concluded from a false principle derives falsity therefrom, because therein is beheld the principle to which it adheres, because it flows therefrom, and is applied to it.

[9] The true quality of the religion of faith alone, and of justification thereby, may be concluded from this fact alone, that all those who have confirmed those tenets in themselves by doctrine and life, in the other life diffuse from themselves a sphere of abominable adultery, which is that of a mother, or a mother-in-law, with a son; this abominable adultery corresponds to them, and is also perceived from them wherever they go; I have a thousand times known their presence from that sphere. The reason why such a sphere flows forth from them is that they adulterate the goods of charity and of the Word; and adulteries correspond to the adulterations of good, and whoredoms to the falsifications of truth (as may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 2466, 2729, 3399, 4865, 6348, 8904, 10648).

[10] The same is meant by Reuben's lying with Bilhah, of whom his father begat Dan and Naphthali (Genesis 35:22), therefore also he was accursed (Genesis 49:4); and because he polluted the couch of his father, the primogeniture was taken away from him and given to Joseph (1 Chron. 5:1); for by Reuben, in the Word, is meant faith, and in this case faith alone (see Arcana Coelestia 3325, 3861, 3866, 3870, 4601, 4605, 4731, 4734, 4761, 6342, 6350), and by Joseph is meant the good of that faith (see Arcana Coelestia 3969, 3971, 4669, 6417).

[11] That such things would take place at the end of the church is predicted in Daniel, where the statue which Nebuchadnezzar saw in a dream is treated of, in these words:

"Whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves by the seed of man; but they shall not cohere one with the other, even as iron is not mingled with clay" (2:43).

By iron is meant truth without good; by miry clay, the falsity which is from man's own intelligence; by the seed of man, the Word of the Lord (see Matthew 13:24, 37). Their not cleaving one to another is meant by its being said, they shall not cohere, even as iron is not mingled with clay.

3539. 'And put them on Jacob her younger son' means the affection for truth, that is, the life of good originating in truth. This is clear from the representation of 'Rebekah' as the Divine Truth of the Divine Rational, from the representation of 'Jacob' as the Divine Truth of the Divine Natural, and from the meaning here of 'putting on' as the communication, also the learning, of something, namely truths that clothe good, meant by 'Esau's clothes', 3537, accordingly the affection for natural truth, which affection is at this point the same as the life of good originating in truth. How these matters are to be understood may be known from what has been stated above in 3518. Yet because they are such as are completely unknown at the present day, let some explanation enabling them to be grasped be given. The subject in this chapter [in the highest sense] is the Lord and how He made His Natural Divine, and in the representative sense man's regeneration as regards his natural, see 3490.

[2] In the case of man the situation is as follows: The end in view of regeneration is that a person may be made new as regards his internal man, and so as regards the soul or spirit. But he is unable to be made new or be regenerated as regards that internal man without also being made new as regards the external man. For although a person becomes a spirit after death he nevertheless takes with him into the next life those things that belong to his external man, namely natural affections, also matters of doctrine, as well as factual knowledge; in short he takes with him everything belonging to the exterior or natural memory, see 2475-2483. Indeed these things form the groundwork on which his interiors ultimately rest. The disposition of those exterior things therefore determines what the interior become when these latter enter into the former, for within those exterior things they undergo modification. From this it is evident that a person has to be regenerated or made new not only as regards the internal or rational man but also as regards the external or natural man. Except for this there would not be any correspondence. Regarding the correspondence that exists between the internal man and the spiritual things belonging to the internal man with the external man and the natural things belonging to the external man, see 2987, 2989-2991, 3002, 3493.

[3] The state of man's regeneration is described in the representative sense in this chapter as Esau and Jacob. At this point the nature of the first stage of that state is described, that is to say, when a person is being regenerated or before he has become regenerated. In fact this state is the complete reverse of the state in which a person has become regenerate. Indeed in the former state, that is to say, when a person is being regenerated or before he has become regenerated, things of the understanding, which are those of truth, seemingly take the lead; but once he has become regenerate those of the will, which are those of good, do so. The fact that things of the understanding or of truth seemingly take the lead in the first state was represented by Jacob claiming for himself Esau's birthright - see 3325, 3336 - and then claiming his blessing, the subject under discussion here. And the fact that the state is the complete reverse of the regenerate state is represented by Jacob's impersonating Esau, that is to say, being dressed in Esau's clothes and with the skins of the kids of the she-goats. Indeed in this state rational truth has not yet been so joined to rational good, or what amounts to the same, the understanding has not been so joined to the will, as to flow and act into the natural and set in order the things that are so reversed there.

[4] This also becomes clear from much experience, in particular from this. A person is able to discern in his understanding, and from this the natural is able to know many things that are good and true, but the will is unable as yet to act in accordance with those things. Take for example the truth that love and charity are the essential thing with a human being. He is able to see and confirm this in his understanding, but until he has been regenerated he is unable to acknowledge it in his will. There are also people totally lacking in love to the Lord and in charity towards the neighbour who can well grasp this truth. The same applies to the truth that love is the very life of man, and that the nature of his life is determined by that of his love; also the truth that all delight and all pleasantness stem from love, as do all gladness and all happiness, where again the nature of the love determines that of the gladness and the happiness. A person is also able to grasp in his understanding, even though the will disagrees with it or even opposes it, the truth that the happiest life originates in love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour because the Divine itself is flowing into that life, and conversely that the unhappiest life originates in self-love and love of the world because hell is flowing into that life.

[5] Consequently the understanding, but not the will, is able to perceive the truth that love to the Lord is the life of heaven, and that mutual love is the soul from that life. In the measure therefore that a person does not think from the life of his [unregenerate] will, and does not reflect on his own life from there, he perceives that truth in his understanding; but in the measure that he does think from the life of his [unregenerate] will he does not perceive it, indeed he refuses to believe it. It may also be perfectly clear to a person in his understanding that it is into humility, if it exists in him, that the Divine is able to enter, because in that state of humility self-love and love of the world, and therefore hellish things which stand in the way, are removed. But as long as his will is not a new will, and his understanding is not united to this, no humility of heart can exist in a person. Indeed, in the measure that a person leads an evil life, that is, in the measure that his will is bent on evil, such humility cannot be there in him, and also the truth spoken of above is unclear to him and he refuses to believe it. Therefore a person may also be able to perceive in his understanding that when humility is present in someone it is not there for the sake of a love of glory in the Lord but for the sake of Divine Love, in which case the Lord is able to enter in with goodness and truth and bring blessing and happiness to that person. But to the extent that the will is consulted, this truth is obscured. And the same is so with very many other circumstances.

[6] This ability of being able to understand what good and truth is even though he does not will it has been conferred on man to enable him to be reformed and regenerated. For this reason this ability exists with evil and good alike; indeed the ability is sometimes keener with the evil. But there is this difference - with the evil no affection for truth exists for the sake of life, that is, for the sake of the good of life which originates in truth, and so they are not capable of being reformed. But with the good there does exist the affection for truth for the sake of life, that is, for the sake of the good of life, and so they are capable of being reformed. The first state in the reformation of the latter however is a state in which truth taught by doctrine seems to them to be primary, and the good of life secondary, since truth is the source of their good actions. But their second state is a state in which the good of life is primary and truth taught by doctrine secondary, since good, that is, the will for good, is the source of their good actions. And when this is the case, because the will is joined to the understanding as in a marriage, the person is regenerate. These two states are the subject in the internal sense in these incidents involving Esau and Jacob.