519. And the name of the star is called Wormwood. - That this signifies truth mingled with the falsity of evil, is evident from the signification of name, as denoting the quality of a state, and the quality of a thing; see above (n. 148); and from the signification of a star, here, of the great star burning as it were a lamp, as denoting the truth of the Word falsified by proprium-love; and from the signification of wormwood, as denoting truth mingled with the falsity of evil. Wormwood has this signification from its bitterness, and bitterness arises from the mixing of that which is sweet with that which is not sweet and opposite. Bitterness, therefore, such as that of wormwood and gall, denotes, in the spiritual sense, truth mingled with falsity which is the opposite of truth, and is the falsity of evil. For relish and taste signify the affection of knowing and becoming wise, hence that which is savoury signifies what is delightful and pleasant belonging to wisdom; and delicacies, because they are savoury, signify the truth of wisdom. That this is from correspondence, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 3502, 3536, 3589, 4791-4805). That wormwood, and also gall, from their bitterness, signify truth mingled with the falsity of evil, is evident also from that which follows in this verse; for it is said that "many men died of the waters because they were made bitter." This signifies that all such perished as to spiritual life, by means of truths falsified. For truths make the spiritual life of man, but falsities of evil extinguish it; and when truths are mingled with falsities of evil they are no longer truths, but truths falsified; and truths falsified are in themselves falsities. There were falsities of such a kind with the Jewish nation, while the falsities which existed amongst the upright Gentiles, were of another kind; the latter falsities are signified by vinegar, but the former, by gall and wine mingled with myrrh, in the Evangelists.

[2] And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, They gave Jesus vinegar to drink mingled with gall; but he would not drink. When they had crucified Him, "one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink" (Matthew 27: [33,] 34, 48; Mark 15:23, 36).

"After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now consummated, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar; and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, it is consummated" (John 19:28, 29).

Every circumstance related in the Evangelists concerning the passion of the Lord, signifies, in the spiritual sense, the state of the church at that time with respect to the Lord and the Word. For the Lord was the Word, because He was the Divine Truth; and as the Jews had treated the Word, or the Divine Truth, so they treated the Lord concerning which fact see above (n. 64, 195). Their giving to the Lord vinegar mingled with gall, which was also called wine mingled with myrrh, signified the quality of the Divine Truth from the Word with the Jewish nation, namely, that it was mingled with the falsity of evil, and thus altogether falsified and adulterated, therefore He would not drink it. But their afterwards giving to the Lord vinegar in a sponge, and placing hyssop about it, signified the quality of falsity among the upright Gentiles, which was falsity arising from ignorance of the truth, in which there was something good and useful; as this falsity is accepted by the Lord, He therefore drank that [which corresponded to it]. The hyssop which they placed about it, signified the purification thereof; the Lord's saying, "I thirst," signified Divine spiritual thirst, which is of Divine Truth and Good in the church, by which mankind are saved. Concerning the quality of the falsity of evil with the Jewish nation and that of the falsity of ignorance with the upright Gentiles, in which was good, see the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 21).

[3] The same is signified by gall and vinegar in David:

"They gave me gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. Let their table become a snare before them; and let their reward be a trap. Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake" (Psalm 69:21-23).

This is said concerning the Lord, and gall, vinegar, and thirst have a signification similar to that explained above. By their table becoming a snare before them, is signified error in regard to every truth of doctrine from the Word, for a table denotes all spiritual food, and spiritual food signifies every thing of doctrine from the Word. Their eyes being darkened that they should not see, signifies understanding of truth; their loins being made to shake, signifies the will of good, and its marriage, union with the understanding of truth; the same is also signified by loins in other parts of the Word.

[4] So in Lamentations:

"He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunk with wormwood; therefore I said, My victory hath perished, and my hope from Jehovah: Remember mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall" (3:15, 18, 19).

This passage also treats of the Lord. That the Lord found nothing but falsities and falsified truths in the church, which was at that time with the Jews, is signified by, "He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunk with wormwood." Wormwood denotes the falsity of evil mingled with truths, thus that which is falsified. The combat of the Lord with the hells, and His despair that the Jewish nation would ever be brought to receive and acknowledge truths, is signified by, my victory hath perished, and my hope from Jehovah: Remember mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. For spirits who are in the falsities of evil and yet in truths from the sense of the letter of the Word, make a somewhat long resistance before they are subdued, and cast down into hell. The reason of this is, that by means of truths they have communication with heaven, and this communication and resulting conjunction must be broken off, and taken away, before they are cast down; this involves despair concerning victory, such as the Lord suffered upon the cross, when He said, "I thirst," and they gave Him vinegar.

[5] In Jeremiah:

"Jehovah God hath cut us off, and given us water of gall to drink" (8:14).

And again:

"Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them waters of gall to drink. I will scatter them also among the nations; and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them" (9:15, 16).

And again, in the same prophet:

"Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink waters of gall; for from the prophets of Jerusalem hypocrisy hath gone forth into all the land" (23:15).

These things are also said concerning the Jewish nation, which, in a thousand ways, perverted the Word, falsified its truth, and adulterated its good. Wormwood signifies the evil of falsity, and waters of gall, the falsity of evil, both being mixed with the truths and goods of the Word. That they were of themselves, and from the heart, in evils and falsities thence, is signified by Jehovah feeding them with wormwood, and making them drink waters of gall; for evil and falsity are attributed to Jehovah, that is to the Lord, although they are of man himself; the reason of which has been shown above in various places. By the hypocrisy which is gone forth into all the land from the prophets of Jerusalem, is signified such mingling of falsity and truth, because they spoke truths and taught falsities. They spoke truths when [they spoke] from the Word, and taught falsities when [they taught] from themselves and their own doctrine. Their destruction by means of the evils of falsity and the falsities of evil, is signified by, I will scatter them among the nations, and I will send a sword after them. To scatter among the nations, denotes to destroy by means of the evils of falsity, and to send a sword after them denotes to destroy by means of the falsities of evil. That nations signify evils, may be seen above (n. 175:14, 331); and that sword signifies the combat of truth against falsity, and, the combat of falsity against truth, and its destruction, may also be seen above (n. 131, 367).

[6] So in Amos:

"Behold, Jehovah will smite the great house with sprinklings, and the little house with breaches. Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plough there with oxen? for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of justice into wormwood" (6:11, 12).

And in the same:

"They have turned judgment to wormwood, and thrust down justice to the earth" (5:7).

Jehovah will smite the great house with sprinklings, and the little house with breaches, signifies much perversion and falsification of truth among the learned, and some with the unlearned, a great house signifying a learned man, and a little house, an unlearned man; sprinklings denote truths destroyed by falsities, and breaches, the same, but in a less degree. That there is no understanding of truth, and will of good where the falsity of evil is, is signified by, "Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plough there with oxen?" Horses running denote the understanding of truth, and ploughing with oxen denotes the will of good. That this is the result of their falsifying the truths and adulterating the goods of the Word, is signified by the words, "for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of justice into wormwood;" judgment signifying the truth of the Word, and the fruit of justice the good thereof.

[7] That the sons of Jacob, who were called Israelites and Jews were of such a character, is plainly declared by Moses in his song, in which they are thus described:

"Of their vine the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter; their wine (vinum) is the venom of dragons, and the cruel gall of asps" (Deuteronomy 32:32, 33).

A vine signifies the church, which is said to be of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah, because Sodom signifies every kind of evil arising from the love of self, and Gomorrah all the falsities of those evils. Grapes signify the goods of the church, and clusters, the truths of the church. That instead of the goods of the church, they had evils and falsities of the worst kind mingled with truths, is signified by their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter. Wine (vinum) signifies the truth and good of faith; that this is external in which there is evil from the interior, is signified by their wine is the venom of dragons, and the cruel gall of asps. That the sons of Jacob were of such a nature and quality, although the church was with them, may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 248).

[8] That gall and wormwood signify evil and falsity mingled with good and truth, is still further evident from these words in Moses:

"Lest there should be among you, man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart looketh back this day from Jehovah our God, to go and serve the gods of the nations; lest there be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood" (Deuteronomy 29:18).

Here also, gall and wormwood signify the mingling of good and truth with evil and falsity, which is the case when other gods are worshipped with the heart, and Jehovah only with the lips; for then the external sounds like good, and appears like truth, but the internal is evil and falsity. And when the interiors are evils and falsities, and the exteriors goods and truths, then both are mingled together with the result that the good becomes gall, and the truth becomes wormwood. Similarly when man in his heart hates his neighbour, and denies the truths of the church, and yet outwardly shows charity towards his neighbour, and professes the truths of the church, then there is in him a root producing gall and wormwood, for the evils and falsities from the interior enter, and mingle with the goods and truths which he manifests in externals.

[9] So in Job:

"Though evil be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue; though he spare it, and forsake it not, but keep it still within his mouth; his bread in his bowels shall be changed, it is the gall of asps in the midst of him. He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly. He shall [suck] the venom of asps, the viper's tongue shall slay him" (20:12-16).

This is a description of the hypocrisy from which a man speaks things holy, and pretends to have good affections while inwardly he denies and blasphemes. His interior quality is described by his hiding evil under his tongue, and keeping it within his mouth; that consequently good is infected with evil, and cast out, is signified by "yet his bread in his bowels shall be changed, and the gall of asps in the midst of him," bread denoting the good of love, and in his bowels denoting interiorly, and the gall of asps, good mingled with evil. That similarly truth is cast out by falsity, is signified by he hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly. This falsity is meant by the gall of asps.

[10] It must be observed, that good and evil, and the truth of good and the falsity of evil are mingled together, when evil and falsity are in man's spirit, but good and truth in his bodily actions and speech. For that which is in man's spirit, that is, what is interior, acts into that which is of the body, or exterior; for it inflows and causes the exterior, which appears to be good and true, to be bitter like gall and wormwood, although apparently sweet before men. And because the good and truth of man's mouth and speech are of such a quality, therefore after death, when he becomes a spirit, the good is separated from the evil, and the falsity from truth, and good and truth being thus taken away, man's spirit becomes entirely his own evil and falsity. But it must be observed, that the mingling of good and evil, and of truth and falsity, is not the profanation of good and truth, for only those who have first received truth and good in their heart and faith, and afterwards in heart and faith deny them, are guilty of profanation.

9256. 'You shall surely bring it back to him' means teaching and correcting. This is clear from the meaning of 'bringing back', when it refers to those outside the Church who are governed by unauthentic good and truth, as teaching and correcting; for this is how they are 'brought back'. Doing good to those outside the Church is also meant by the Lord's words in Matthew,

You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? And if you salute only your brothers, what more are you doing [than others]? Matthew 5:43-47.

Here also 'enemies' and 'those who hate' in the spiritual sense mean those who have a different idea of what forms of good and the truths of faith are, in general those who are outside the Church, since the Jewish nation considered them to be adversaries whom they were allowed to consign to slaughter and to kill with impunity. It is evident that they are meant in the spiritual sense by 'enemies', since it says, 'If you salute only your brothers, what more are you doing [than others]?' For all were called brothers who were born of Jacob, thus who were within the Church.

[2] To enlarge on the subject of those outside the Church, called the gentiles, they are indeed subject to falsities in doctrine, which however is due to lack of knowledge because they do not possess the Word. Nevertheless when they have received instruction they have a clearer perception and consequently a more internal perception of what heavenly life means for a person than Christians have. The reason for this is that they have not set themselves firmly against the truths of faith as very many Christians have done. Consequently their internal man is not closed but is as it is with young children, open to and receptive of truth. For those who have set themselves firmly against the truths and forms of the good of faith, as all who lead an evil life do, close their internal man above and open it below.

[3] As a result of this the attention of the internal man is focused solely on things below, that is, on the external or natural man, and through this on things that exist in the world, round about their body, and on this planet. And when this is so, they look downwards, that is, towards hell. With people like this the internal man cannot be opened towards heaven unless the negative rejections of truth or positive acceptances of falsity which have closed it are banished; and these must be banished while they are in the world. This cannot be accomplished except by a complete turning around of their life, thus over a number of years. For falsities line up in rows, make a continuous chain from one to another, and form the actual natural mind and the way it sees things that belong to the Church and to heaven. Consequently all matters of faith and charity, that is, everything taught by the Church or contained in the Word, in general everything heavenly and Divine is thick darkness to those people, and conversely everything worldly and earthly is light. From this it is evident that destroying falsities with such people means destroying the life they have, and that if they are to possess a new kind of life falsities must be gradually rooted out and truths and forms of good implanted instead. And these must in a similar way form a continuous chain from one to another and be lined up in rows. This is what is meant by a complete turning around of their life that cannot take place except over a number of years. Therefore anyone who imagines that a person can be made new in an instant is much mistaken.

[4] But those who have not set themselves firmly against the forms of good and the truths of faith - those for instance who are outside the Church and yet have lived in some kind of faith and charity in accord with their religion - have not been able to close their internal man through negative rejections of truth and positive acceptances of falsity that are contrary to the truth of faith founded on the Word. Therefore also - if not in the world, nevertheless in the next life - their internal can be opened above, that is, in the direction of heaven and of the Lord. And at the same time all the earthly and worldly ideas they have brought with them from their life in the world are raised up, in order that they may all look upwards together. These then bring them into a condition to receive the truths of faith from the Lord and forms of the good of charity, to have intelligence and wisdom conferred on them, and so to be endowed with eternal happiness. Such is the condition of all who lead a good life in accord with their religion. For this reason the Lord's Church is spread throughout the whole world. But the Lord's Church on earth is like the Grand Man in heaven, whose heart and lungs are where the Word exists, and the remaining members and internal organs, which depend for their life on the heart and lungs, are where the Word does not exist.

[5] All this also goes to show why it is that a new Church is always established among gentile nations who are outside the Church, 2986, 4747, which takes place when the old Church has closed heaven to itself, as stated above. So it is that the Church was transferred from the Jewish people to gentile nations, and also that the Church at the present day is now being transferred to gentiles.

[6] The fact that the Church is transferred to gentile nations who acknowledge the Lord is clear from very many places in the Word, such as the following: In Isaiah,

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; those dwelling in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shone out. You have multiplied the nation; for them You have made joy great. Isaiah 9:2-3.

In the same prophet,

It will happen on that day, that the nations will seek the root of Jesse, which is standing as an ensign of the peoples; and His rest will be glory. Isaiah 11:10.

In the same prophet,

I Jehovah have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand, because I will guard You, and give You to be a covenant of the people, ¹ a light of the nations, to open the blind eyes, to bring the bound out of prison, out of the dungeon-house those who sit in darkness. Isaiah 42:6-7.

In the same prophet,

Lo, I have given Him as a witness to the peoples, a Prince and Lawgiver to the peoples. ² Lo, You will call a nation You do not know, and a nation that did not know You will run to You, on account of Jehovah Your God, and because of the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah 55:4-5.

In the same prophet,

Nations will walk to Your light, and kings to the brightness of Your rising. Lift up Your eyes round about; they all gather together and they come towards You. Your sons come from far, and Your daughters are carried at the side by nurses. Then You will see and abound, and Your heart will be astounded and enlarge itself because the abundance of the sea will be turned to You, the armies of the nations will come to You. Isaiah 60:3-5.

In Simeon's prophecy regarding the Lord after His birth, in Luke,

My eyes have seen Your ³ salvation, which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light for revelation to the gentiles. ⁴ Luke 2:30-32.

[7] All these places, in which the Lord is the subject, declare that gentile nations will come to Him. They come to Him when they acknowledge Him as their God; and what is amazing, such nations worship the one and only God manifested in human form. When therefore they learn about the Lord they receive and acknowledge Him; and a new Church cannot be established among any others. The fact that the Church is established among such nations is further evident from the following words that are the Lord's, in Matthew,

Have you not read in the Scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected has become the corner-stone? ⁵ Therefore I say to you, The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits [of it]. Matthew 21:42-43.

'The stone' is the Lord, 6426, 'the builders' are those who belong to the Church. And the fact that these will be last and the gentile nations first is evident from His words in Luke,

They will come from the east and the west, and from the north and the south, reclining in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last. Luke 13:29-30.

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