“For only Og, King of Bashan, remained of the remnant of the giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? Nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the Cubit of a man.” -Deuteronomy 3:11.

Additional readings: Deuteronomy 3:1-13, John 3, Psalms 8; 9.

The forty years of wandering in the wilderness were about over, and the children of Israel had come into the east-Jordan country. They had to conquer this country before they could enter the land of Canaan. Sihon, King of the Amorites, was slain and his country taken. Then they went up to Bashan, where its giant king Og with his forces came out to meet them. Og and his army were slain and his land was given to the half tribe of Manasseh. This story is told us in the Bible to teach a deep lesson.

The land of background extended from the border of Gilead on the south to Mount Hermon on the North. It was noted for its fine pasture lands and for its cattle, and the half tribe of Manasseh which settled there grew rich in flocks and in cattle.

It is well known that the Journey of the children of Israel from Egypt to Canaan describes the spiritual journey of the regenerating man from a natural to a spiritual state of life. The land of Canaan, the Promised Land, represents in the happy spiritual life in which the spiritual plane of the mind is opened and one lives in knowledge of the Lord and of the truths concerning His kingdom. But man has a natural mind as well as a spiritual, and the east-Jordan country stands for the life which belongs to this natural plane of the mind.

By means of the natural mind we learn about the world, develop the sciences and arts, and make the forces of nature serve us. The natural plane of the mind and the natural plane of life must of necessity be developed first in us. Without this we could not live in the world. One may, if he chooses, live wholly on the plane of the natural without any thought of the Lord or of His kingdom, but this should not be. The natural mind and the natural plane of Life are an important part of everyone, but in order for them to be fruitful and happy the spiritual must enter into them and gift them with a new quality.

Before regeneration the natural mind looks to itself and not to the Lord and refers everything to the natural reason. Its altars of hewn stone blaze with sacrifices offered to human reason, and its temples are filled with incense burned in the worship of self derived intelligence. The natural mind says, “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent; and I have removed the bounds of my people.” Proud and defiant, it acknowledges no strength, no wisdom but that which belongs to the natural reason. Such is the purely natural man. By his own power he will solve the problems of the world.

Today there is much emphasis placed on natural goodness and we need to know what this natural really is. For the writings of the church state: “It is to be known that they who do good from natural goodness only, and not from religion at the same time, are not accepted after death.” And this is so because, in merely natural goodness, which is not formed through the truths of faith, there is no plane into which Heaven can inflow. We are born into this natural state. At first the whole plane of the natural is ruled by the love of self - Og, the giant king of Bashan. All natural good is thus defiled by thoughts of self and whatever is done, whether it be the acquisition of knowledge, the establishment of just rules for political and social conduct, the endowment of charities or even of churches, these are all done for the sake of self-esteem and self-advantage. And thought the good that the merely natural man does may, to outward appearance, look exactly like the good which spiritual man does, inwardly it is of an entirely different character, for it is divorced from God, the source of all genuine good. So the children of Israel could not immediately cross the Jordan and enter the Holy Land. First Og, the love of self, had to be overcome. The destruction of Og denotes the overthrow of self and the enthronement of the Lord.

For the Lord says to us, as he said to Nicodemus: “Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again.” There is a regenerated rationalism, a rationalism which comes from having one's rational mind formed according to the truth of revelation, and this higher rationalism, like regenerated science, is in possession of every rational deduction from scientific premises but it connects those deductions with God and uses them to confirm faith in the Lord and in the things of His kingdom.

The land of Bashan bordered on the land of Canaan. The natural mind and the whole plane of the natural is a rich land abounding in the things of natural good and charity, and when it is infilled by the spiritual, it has a new quality given to it by the spiritual.

In this story in the word, Og’s iron bedstead Is mentioned. Why? It is because a bed stands for Doctrine. as one supports his body on a bed, finding rest and Repose in it, so the mind find support in the doctrine it adopts, and in it finds mental rest and repose. Og’s bedstead stands for the false doctrines and maxims which the selfish man uses to support his selfish views of life, the false and evil theories which his natural reason invents and on which he reposes with confidence.

Og’s Bedstead was of iron, not of gold, silver, or brass. A golden bedstead would be the symbol of doctrines founded on love to the Lord; one of silver, doctrines founded on the love of Truths to his word; and one of brass, doctrines from the word accepted in simple trusting obedience. But the iron bedstead represents the hard, inflexible natural laws. If one is intemperate, he will inevitably suffer. If one is manifestly selfish, he will make enemies rather than friends. So far you may go, and no farther. You must not be openly evil or your business will suffer. These are not the laws of love but the iron laws which by force hold the evil in check.

What are some of the evil and false maxims which form Og’s bedstead? Have you never heard that “enlightened self-interest will lead to a just economic life,” or that “honesty is the best policy,” or that “men are naturally good and it is only adverse external conditions which cause crime,” or that “the commandments and the Golden Rule are beautiful but they cannot be kept in the business world,” or that “self-preservation is the first law of nature?” These maxims built into a Doctrine or whatever a selfish man believes. They are the bedstead of iron which the evil man uses to support his selfishness.

In the Word measurements and numbers signify quality. Og’s bedstead was nine cubits long and four cubits wide. In a good sense the number nine stands for what is full and complete and respect to truth and the number four, full conjunction with what is good. But in the case of this wicked giant they are used in the opposite sense, to denote complete and absolute falsity and evil in the maxims of the selfish man.

It is said of the final disposal of Og’s iron bedstead, “Is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon?” There is no other place to which this bedstead could have been carried. Ammon stands for the falsification of truths. The false doctrine represented by Og’s bedstead belongs in the hells where truth is falsified. The Spiritual man has no use for this bedstead, for when he shuns evil and has become regenerate, he has no use for the falsities which support the body of his selfish spirit. For then these doctrines and maxims are removed even from his natural mind and cast back into the hells where they originated and from which they were injected into his mind.

After Og was slain, half the tribe of Manasseh took over the land. After regeneration, the Lord turns over this whole pasture land of our spiritual Bashan to those heavenly principles which find food and culture there, and by which the world is blessed and the prophecy of the Psalmist is fulfilled: “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.”

We live in a humanistic and materialistic time and it is hard for us to escape the influence of the false maxims which so many about us have accepted as the only practical laws for life in this world. The prophet Micah prays: “Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel; let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.”

3654. In the internal sense of the Word 'Judea' does not mean Judea, any more than 'Jerusalem' means Jerusalem. This becomes clear from many places in the Word. In the Word Judea is mentioned less frequently than the land of Judah, which, like the land of Canaan, means the Lord's kingdom, and therefore the Church also since the Church is the Lord's kingdom on earth. And Judea has this meaning because Judah or the Jewish nation represented the Lord's celestial kingdom, and Israel or the Israelitish people His spiritual kingdom. And because His kingdom was represented by them, therefore when that nation or people is mentioned in the Word, nothing else is meant in its internal sense.

[2] The truth of this will be evident from those things which in the Lord's Divine mercy will be stated later on regarding Judah and the land of Judah. For the present it will be evident from the following few examples in the Prophets: In Isaiah,

My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. ¹ He surrounded it [with an enclosure] and gathered out the stones, and planted it with the choicest vine and built a tower in the midst of it, and also hewed out a winepress in it. And he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. And now, O inhabitant of Jerusalem and man of Judah, judge, I pray you, between Me and My vineyard. I will make it a desolation, for the vineyard of Jehovah Zebaoth is the house of Israel, and the man of Judah His pleasant plant. ² And He looked for judgement, but behold, festering; for righteousness, but behold, a cry. Isaiah 5:1-3, 6-7.

Here the subject in the sense of the letter is the perverted state of the

Israelites and Jews, but in the internal sense it is the perverted state of the Church represented by Israel and Judah. 'Inhabitant of Jerusalem' is the Church's good - 'inhabitant' meaning good, or what amounts to the same, those with whom good is present, see 2268, 2451, 2712, 3613, and 'Jerusalem' the Church, 402, 2117. 'The house of Israel' has a similar meaning - 'house' meaning good, 710, 1708, 2233, 2331, 3142, 3538, and 'Israel' the Church, 3305. 'The man of Judah' also is very similar, for 'a man' means truth, 265, 749, 1007, 3134, 3310, 3459, and Judah good. The difference however is that 'the man of Judah' means truth grounded in the good of love to the Lord, which is called celestial truth, that is, those governed by that kind of truth are meant.

[3] In the same prophet,

He will raise an ensign for the nations, and will gather the outcasts of Israel, and will assemble the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. Then the rivalry of Ephraim will depart, and the enemies of Judah be cut off. Ephraim will not vie with Judah, and Judah will not harass Ephraim. Jehovah will utterly destroy the tongue of the sea of Egypt, and will shake His hand over the River with the might of His spirit. Then there will be a highway for the remnant of His people which will remain from Asshur. Isaiah 11:12-13, 15-16.

Here the subject in the sense of the letter is the bringing back of the Israelites and Jews from captivity, but in the internal sense it is a new Church in general and with each person in particular who is being regenerated or becoming the Church. 'The outcasts of Israel' stands for their truths, 'the dispersed of Judah' for their goods. 'Ephraim' stands for the understanding part of their minds, which will no longer offer any resistance. 'Egypt' stands for facts, and 'Asshur' for reasoning based on these, which they have perverted. 'The outcasts', 'the dispersed', 'the remnant', and 'those who remain' stand for truths and goods which survive. For 'Ephraim' means the understanding part of the mind, as will be shown elsewhere, while 'Egypt' means factual knowledge, see 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 2588, 3325, 'Asshur' reasoning, 119, 1186, and 'remnant' the goods and truths that the Lord has stored away in the interior man, 468, 530, 560, 561, 660, 661, 798, 1050, 1738, 1906, 2284.

[4] In the same prophet,

Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel and who came out of the waters of Judah. For they are called after the city of holiness, and upon the God of Israel they place their reliance. Isaiah 48:1-2.

'The waters of Judah' stands for truths which spring from the good of love to the Lord. The truths from that source are actually the goods of charity, which are called spiritual goods and constitute the spiritual Church, the internal of this Church being meant by 'Israel' and the external by 'the house of Jacob'. This shows what is meant by 'the house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel and who came out of the waters of Judah'.

[5] In the same prophet,

I will bring forth seed from Jacob, and from Judah the heir of My mountains, and My chosen ones will possess it, and My servants will dwell there. Isaiah 65:9.

'From Judah the heir of mountains' stands in the highest sense for the Lord, and in the representative sense for those in whom love to Him is present and so the good of love to Him and the good of love towards the neighbour. As regards 'mountains' meaning these forms of good, this has been shown above in 3652.

[6] In Moses,

A lion's whelp is Judah; from the prey you have gone up, my son. He crouched, he lay down like a lion, and like an old lion; who will rouse him up? Genesis 49:9.

Here it is quite evident that in the highest sense 'Judah' is used to mean the Lord, and in the representative sense those with whom the good of love to Him is present. In David,

When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a foreign people, Judah became His sanctuary, Israel His dominions. Psalms 114:1-2.

Here also 'Judah' stands for celestial good, which is the good of love to the Lord, while 'Israel' stands for celestial truth, which is spiritual good.

[7] In Jeremiah,

Behold, the days are coming, says Jehovah, and I will raise up for David a righteous branch, who will reign as king, and will prosper, and execute judgement and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is His name which they will call Him, Jehovah our Righteousness. Jeremiah 23:5-6; 33:15-16.

This refers to the Coming of the Lord. 'Judah' stands for those with whom the good of love to the Lord is present, 'Israel' for those with whom the truth that goes with that good is present. For 'Judah' is not used to mean Judah, nor 'Israel' to mean Israel, as may be seen from the fact that neither Judah nor Israel was actually preserved any longer. Similarly in the same prophet,

I will bring back the captivity of Judah, and the captivity of Israel, and build them as they were previously. Jeremiah 33:7.

The like may be seen here also. In the same prophet,

In those days and at that time, says Jehovah, the children of Israel will come, they and the children of Judah together, weeping as they come; and they will seek Jehovah their God; and they will seek Zion on the way, their faces towards it. Jeremiah 50:4-5.

In the same prophet,

At that time they will call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah, and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, because of the name of Jehovah; and they will go no more after the stubbornness of their own evil heart. In those days the house of Judah will go to the house of Israel, and together they will come over the land out of the land of the north. Jeremiah 3:17-18.

[8] In the same prophet,

Behold, the days are coming, said Jehovah, in which I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast; and I will make with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant. This is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days: I will put My law in the midst of them, and will write it on their heart. Jeremiah 31:27, 31, 33.

This shows plainly that Israel or the house of Israel was not meant, for once dispersed among the gentiles they were never brought back from captivity. Nor consequently was Judah or the house of Judah meant. Instead Israel and Judah meant in the internal sense members of the Lord's spiritual and celestial kingdoms. It is with these people that the new covenant is made, and in whose hearts the law is written. 'The new covenant' stands for being joined to the Lord by means of good, 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021, 2037. 'The law written in their heart' stands for a perception of good and of truth springing from that good, and also for conscience.

[9] In Joel,

It will happen on that day that the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk, and all the streams of Judah will flow with water; and a spring will come forth from the house of Jehovah and will water the river of Shittim. Egypt will become a waste, and Edom a desolate wilderness, ³ on account of the violence done to the children of Judah whose innocent blood they have shed in their land. And Judah will abide for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. Joel 3:18-20.

From every detail here also it is evident that 'Judah' is not used to mean Judah, nor 'Jerusalem' to mean Jerusalem, but those in whom the holiness of love and charity dwells, for they are 'to abide for ever' and 'from generation to generation'.

[10] In Malachi,

Behold, I am sending My angel, who will prepare the way before Me; and suddenly there will come to His temple the Lord whom you are seeking, and the angel of the covenant in whom you delight. Then the minchah ⁴ of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to Jehovah, as in the days of eternity, and as in former years. Malachi 3:1, 4.

This refers to the Coming of the Lord, at which time, it is clear, the minchah of Judah and Jerusalem was not acceptable to Jehovah. From this it is evident that Judah and Jerusalem mean such things as constitute the Lord's Church. The same applies wherever else Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem are mentioned in the Word. From this one may now see what is meant in Matthew by 'Judea', namely the Lord's Church, in that case when vastated.

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