569. Loose the four angels bound at the great river Euphrates, signifies the reasonings from fallacies pertaining to the sensual man, not before accepted. This is evident from the signification of "the angels at the river Euphrates," as being reasonings from the fallacies pertaining to the sensual man (of which presently); and because reasonings from such fallacies were not before accepted in the church these angels are said to be "bound" at that river, and they are said to be "four" because of the conjunction of falsity with evil, for this number signifies in the Word the conjunction of good and truth, and in the contrary sense, as here, the conjunction of evil and falsity (See above, n. 283, 384, 532). What precedes treats of the sensual man who is in the falsities of evil, and of the effect of the persuasions in which the sensual man is; therefore what now follows treats of the reasonings from the sensual. And because the sensual reasons only from such things as stand forth before the senses in the world, whenever it reasons respecting spiritual things, that is, the things of heaven and of the church, it reasons from fallacies, which are called the fallacies of the senses; therefore it is said here reasonings from the fallacies pertaining to the sensual man. But respecting these fallacies and reasoning from them more will be said in what follows.

[2] Here the state of the church at its very end is treated of, which is the state when the men of the church, having become sensual, reason from the fallacies of the senses; and when they reason from these respecting the things of heaven and the church they believe nothing at all because they understand nothing. It is known in the church that the natural man does not perceive the things of heaven unless the Lord flows in and enlightens, which influx is through the spiritual man; much less does the sensual man perceive these, for the sensual is the ultimate natural, to which the things of heaven, which are called spiritual things, are altogether in thick darkness. Genuine reasonings respecting spiritual things spring from the influx of heaven into the spiritual man, and thence through the rational into the knowledges and cognitions which are in the natural man, by means of which the spiritual man confirms himself. This way of reasoning respecting spiritual things is according to order. But reasonings about spiritual things that come from the natural man, and still more those that come from the sensual man, are entirely contrary to order; for the natural man cannot flow into the spiritual man and see anything there from itself, still less can the sensual man, since there is no physical influx; but the spiritual man can flow into the natural and from that into the sensual, since there is spiritual influx. (But on this see further in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 51, 277, 278.)

[3] From this what is meant by the things that now follow can be seen, namely, that at the very end of the church man speaks and reasons respecting spiritual things, or the things of heaven and the church, from the corporeal-sensual and thus from the fallacies of the senses; although therefore man then speaks in favor of Divine things he does not think in favor of them; for a man is able to speak in one way from the body while thinking in another way in his spirit; and while the spirit which thinks from the corporeal-sensual is unable to think in any other way than against Divine things, nevertheless from the corporeal-sensual it is able to speak in favor of them, and this especially for the reason that Divine things are to him the means of acquiring honor and gain. Every man has two memories, a natural memory and a spiritual memory, and he is able to think from either, from the natural memory when he is speaking with men in the world, but from the spiritual memory when he is speaking from the spirit; but man rarely speaks from the spirit with another, from the spirit he speaks only with himself, which is thinking. They who are sensual men are unable to speak with themselves from their spirit, or to think, in any other way than in favor of nature, consequently in favor of things corporeal and worldly, for the sensual man thinks from the sensual, and not from the spiritual; indeed, he is wholly ignorant of what the spiritual is, because he has closed the spiritual mind in himself, into which heaven flows with its light.

[4] But let us go on to explain these words, that "a voice was heard from the horns of the golden altar, saying to the sixth angel that he should loose the four angels bound at the river Euphrates." "The river Euphrates" signifies the rational, and thence also reasoning; this is the signification of this river because it divided Assyria from the land of Canaan, and "Assyria" or "Asshur" signifies the rational, and "the land of Canaan" the spiritual. There were three rivers, besides the sea, that were boundaries of the land of Canaan, namely, the river of Egypt, the river Euphrates, and the river Jordan. "The river of Egypt" signified the knowledge [scientia] of the natural man; "the river Euphrates" signified the rational which is in man from knowledges and cognitions; and "the river Jordan" signifies entrance into the internal or spiritual church; for "the regions beyond Jordan," where the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh had their inheritances allotted them, signified the external or natural church, and because that river was between those regions and the land of Canaan, and through it was the passage from one to the other, it signified entrance from the external church, which is natural, into the internal church which is spiritual. It was for this reason that baptism was there instituted, for baptism represented the regeneration of man, whereby the natural man is introduced into the church and becomes spiritual.

[5] This explains what these three rivers signify in the Word. All those places also outside of the land of Canaan signified such things as belong to the natural man, while those within the land of Canaan signified such things as belong to the spiritual man, thus the things of heaven and the church. Therefore the two rivers, "the river of Egypt" (or the Nile), and "the river of Assyria" (or the Euphrates), signified the terminations of the church, and also the introductions into the church. Moreover, cognitions and knowledges which are signified by "the river of Egypt," are what introduce, for without cognitions and knowledges no one can be introduced into the church nor perceive the things that belong to the church; for the spiritual man sees its spiritual things in knowledges [scientiae] by means of the rational, as man sees himself in a mirror, and recognizes himself in them, that is, its truths and goods, and moreover confirms its spiritual things by means of cognitions and knowledges, both those known from the Word and those known from the world.

[6] But "the river of Assyria" (or the Euphrates) signifies the rational, because man by the rational is introduced into the church. By the rational is meant the thought of the natural man from cognitions and knowledges, for a man who is imbued with knowledges [scientiae] is able to see things in series, that is, from first and mediate things to see the last, which is called the conclusion, and can therefore analytically arrange, turn over, separate, conjoin, and at length conclude things, even to a further end, and at length to the final end; which is the use that he loves. This, then, is the rational which is given to every man according to uses, which are the ends that he loves. Since everyone's rational comes into accord with the uses of his love, therefore it is the interior thought of the natural man from the influx of the light of heaven; and as man through rational thought is introduced into spiritual thought and becomes a church, so that river signifies the natural ¹ which introduces.

[7] It is one thing to be rational, and another to be spiritual; every spiritual man is also rational, but the rational man is not always spiritual, since the rational is in the natural man, that is, is its thought, while the spiritual is above the rational, and through the rational passes into the natural, into the cognitions and knowledges of its memory.

[8] But it is to be known that the rational does not introduce anyone into the spiritual, but it is only said to do so because such is the appearance; for the spiritual flows into the natural through the rational as a medium, and in this way it introduces. For the spiritual is the inflowing Divine, since it is the light of heaven, which is the Divine truth proceeding, and this light through the higher mind, which is called the spiritual mind, flows into the lower mind, which is called the natural mind, and conjoins this to itself, and through that conjunction causes the natural mind to make one with the spiritual; thus introduction is effected. Since it is contrary to Divine order for man to enter through his rational into the spiritual, therefore in the spiritual world there are angel guards to prevent this from taking place. This makes evident the signification of "the four angels bound at the river Euphrates," and afterwards the signification of "loosing" them. "The angels bound at the river Euphrates" signify the guard against man's natural entering into the spiritual things of heaven and the church, for thence would result nothing but errors and heresies, and at length denial.

[9] Moreover, in the spiritual world there are ways that lead to hell and ways that lead to heaven; also ways that lead from spiritual things to natural and thus to sensual things; and in those ways there are also guards lest anyone should go in the opposite direction, for thus he would fall into heresies and errors, as has just been said. These guards are set by the Lord at the beginning of the establishment of a church, and are also maintained, lest the man of the church from his own reason or his own understanding should invade the Divine things of the Word and thence of the church. But at the end, when the men of the church are no longer spiritual but are natural, and many are merely sensual, and thus there is no way open with the man of the church from the spiritual man into the natural, then these guards are removed and the ways are opened, and in these opened ways they advance in a contrary order, which is done by reasonings from fallacies. Thus ² it is that the man of the church speaks in favor of Divine things with the mouth, while in heart he thinks against them, that is, he is in favor of Divine things from the body and against them from the spirit; for reasoning respecting Divine things from the natural and sensual man has this effect. From this then the signification of "the four angels bound at the river Euphrates," and their being "loosed" can now be seen.

[10] That "the river Euphrates" signifies the rational, through which there is a way from the spiritual man into the natural, can be seen from the following passages in the Word. In Moses:

Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed I will give this land, from the river of Egypt even to the great river, the river Euphrates (Genesis 15:18).

In the sense of the letter this describes the extension of the land of Canaan, but in the internal sense it describes the extension of the church from its first boundary to its last; its first boundary is the knowing faculty [scientificum] which is of the natural man, the other boundary is the rational which is of the thought; the first, namely, the knowing faculty, which is of the natural man, is signified by "the river of Egypt," the Nile; while the rational, which is of the thought, is signified by "the river of Assyria," the Euphrates; to these two the spiritual church, which is signified by "the land of Canaan," extends itself, so too does the spiritual mind which is with the man of the church. Both these, the knowing faculty and the rational, are in the natural man, the one limit of which is the knowing and cognitive faculty, and the other is the intuitive and thinking faculty, and into these limits the spiritual man flows when it flows into the natural man; the conjunction of the Lord with the church by means of these is signified by the "covenant" that Jehovah made with Abram. Such is the signification of these words in the internal sense, while in the highest sense, they mean the union of the Divine Essence with the Lord's Human; according to this sense these words are explained in the Arcana Coelestia 1863-1866).

[11] In Zechariah:

His dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth (Zechariah 9:10; also in Psalms 72:8).

This was said of the Lord and of His dominion over heaven and earth; and the "dominion from sea even to sea" signifies the extension of natural things, and "the dominion from the river even to the ends of the earth" signifies the extension of rational and spiritual things (See also above, n. 518).

[12] In Moses:

The land of the Canaanites and Lebanon, even to the great river, the river Euphrates, behold I have given the land before you; go in and possess it by inheritance (Deuteronomy 1:7, 8).

In the same:

Every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates even unto the hinder sea shall your border be (Deuteronomy 11:24).

And in Joshua:

From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even to the great river, the river Euphrates, the whole land of the Hittites, and even to the great sea, the going down of the sun, shall be your border (Joshua 1:4).

In these passages the extension of the church from one limit to the other is described; one of its limits, which is the cognitive and knowing faculty, is signified by "Lebanon" and "the sea;" and the other limit, which is the intuitive and thinking faculty, is signified by "the river Euphrates;" the extension of the land of Canaan means the extension of the church, for in the Word "the land of Canaan" signifies the church. "River" is twice mentioned, namely, "the great river, the river Euphrates," because "the great river" signifies the influx of spiritual things into rational, and "the river Euphrates" the influx of rational things into natural, thus the two signify the influx of spiritual things through the rational into natural things.

[13] In Micah:

This is the day in which they shall even come to thee from Assyria, and to the cities of Egypt, and thence from Egypt even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain (Micah 7:12).

This describes the establishment of the church by the Lord among the Gentiles, "this day" signifying the Lord's coming; the extension of the church among them from one limit to the other is signified by "they shall come from Assyria to the cities of Egypt and from Egypt to the river;" the extension of truth from one limit to the other is signified by "from sea to sea," and the extension of good by "from mountain to mountain. "

[14] In David:

Thou hast caused a vine to go forth out of Egypt; Thou didst drive out the nations and didst plant it. Thou hast sent out its boughs even unto the sea, and its shoots unto the river (Psalms 80:8, 11).

The "vine that God caused to go forth out of Egypt" means the sons of Israel, and signifies the church, for a "vine" signifies the spiritual church, and this was signified also by "the sons of Israel;" and because the church is called a "vine," it is said, "Thou didst plant it, Thou hast sent out its boughs even unto the sea, and its shoots unto the river," which describes the extension of the spiritual things of the church, the "sea" meaning one of its limits, and the "river," by which is meant the Euphrates, the other. The Euphrates:

As the fourth river that went out of Eden (Genesis 2:14);

also signifies the rational, for "the garden of Eden" (or Paradise) signifies wisdom. The signification of the other three rivers may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 107-121).

[15] As "the river Euphrates" signifies the rational, so in the contrary sense it signifies reasoning; reasoning here means thinking and arguing from fallacies and falsities, while the rational means thinking and arguing from knowledges (scientiae) and from truths; for the rational is cultivated always by knowledges, and is formed by truths, therefore one who is led by truths or whom truths lead, is called a rational man; but a man who is not rational has the ability to reason, for by various reasonings he is able to confirm falsities, and also to induce the simple to believe them, which is done mainly by means of the fallacies of the senses (of which below).

[16] Such reasoning is signified by "the river Euphrates" in the following passages. In Jeremiah:

What hast thou to do with the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? And what hast thou to do with the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river? (Jeremiah 2:18)

This signifies that spiritual things must not be searched into by means of the knowledges [scientifica] of the natural man, nor by means of reasonings therefrom, but by the means of the Word, thus out of heaven from the Lord; for those who are in spiritual affection, and in spiritual thought therefrom, see the knowledges [scientifica] of the natural man and reasonings therefrom as below them, but from these no one can see spiritual things; from above one can look down on lower things on every side, but not the reverse. To search into spiritual things by means of the knowledges of the natural man is signified by "What hast thou to do with the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor?" and by means of reasonings therefrom is signified by "what hast thou to do with the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?" "Egypt and its river" signify the knowledges of the natural man, and "Assyria and its river" signify the reasonings from them.

[17] In Isaiah:

In that day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired in the crossings of the river, by means of the King of Assyria, the head and the hairs of the feet, and shall also consume the beard (Isaiah 7:20).

This treats of the state of the church at its end, when the Lord is about to come; that reasonings from falsities will then deprive the men of the church of all spiritual wisdom and intelligence is described by these words. The reasonings by which this is done are signified by "the king of Assyria, in the crossings of the river," namely, the Euphrates. The deprivation of spiritual wisdom and of spiritual intelligence therefrom is signified by "the hairs of the head and of the feet shall be shaven with a razor that is hired, and the beard shall be consumed;" for "hairs" signify natural things upon which spiritual things operate and into which they close; therefore "hairs" signify in the Word the ultimates of wisdom and intelligence, "the hair of the head" signifying the ultimates of wisdom, the "beard" the ultimates of intelligence, and "the hair of the feet" the ultimates of knowledge [scientia]. When these ultimates are not, there are no prior things, as when there is no base for the column, nor foundation for the house. Those who have deprived themselves of intelligence by means of reasonings from fallacies and from falsities appear bald in the spiritual world (See above, n. 66).

[18] In the same:

Behold the Lord hath made to go up upon them the waters of the river strong and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory; and he shall go up over all his channels, and shall go over all his banks; he shall go through Judah, he shall overflow and pass over (Isaiah 8:7, 8).

These words signify that each and every thing of the Word is to be falsified in the church by means of reasonings from fallacies and falsities; "the waters of the river strong and many, the king of Assyria," signifies reasonings from mere fallacies and falsities; "he shall go up over all his channels and over all his banks" signifies that by these each and every thing of the Word will be falsified; "Judah, which he will overflow and pass over," signifies the church where the Word is, and thus the Word.

[19] In Jeremiah:

Against the army of Pharaoh king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates which Nebuchadnezzar smote. Towards the north by the bank of the river Euphrates they stumbled and fell (Jeremiah 46:2, 6, 10).

This signifies the destruction of the church, and of its truths by false reasonings from knowledges [scientifica]; "the river Euphrates" signifies false reasonings; "Egypt and its army" confirming knowledges [scientifica]; "the north where they stumbled and fell," signifies the source of these falsities. (On this see above, n. 518.)

[20] In the same:

Jehovah told the prophet to buy a linen girdle, and to put it upon the loins, but not to draw it through water; and then to go to the Euphrates, and hide the girdle there in a hole of the rock. And he went and hid it by the Euphrates. Afterwards, at the end of many days, Jehovah said, Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence. And he went and took it, and behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing. Thus as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I made to cleave unto Me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, that they might be unto Me for a name, and for a praise, and for a splendor; but they would not hearken (Jeremiah 13:1-7, 11).

This represented of what quality the Israelitish and Jewish Church was and what it became; the "linen girdle which the prophet put upon his loins" signifies the conjunction of the church with the Lord by means of the Word; for the "prophet" signifies doctrine from the Word, and the "girdle upon the prophet's loins" signifies conjunction. Falsifications of the Word by evils of life and falsities of doctrine, and thence reasonings that favor these, are signified by "the girdle was marred in the hole of the rock by the Euphrates." For by means of the Word there is conjunction of the Lord with the church, and when the Word is perverted by reasonings that favor evils and falsities there is no longer any conjunction, and this also is what is meant by "the girdle was profitable for nothing." That this was done by the Jews is evident from the Word both of the Old and New Testaments. From the Word of the New Testament it is evident that they perverted all things written in the Word respecting the Lord, and all the essentials of the church, and that they falsified these by their traditions.

[21] In the same:

When thou hast made an end of reading this book thou shalt bind a stone to it and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates; and thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise again (Jeremiah 51:63, 64).

The prophet's "book" which he read, means in particular the Word that was in that book, but in general the whole Word; "he cast it into the midst of the Euphrates" signifies that in process of time the Word was falsified through reasonings that favor evils by those who are meant by "Babylon," who are such as adulterate the Word.

[22] In Isaiah:

And Jehovah shall make utterly accursed the tongue of the sea of Egypt; and with the vehemence of His wind shall He shake His hand over the river Euphrates, and shall smite it into seven brooks, to make a way with shoes. Then there shall be a highway for the remnant of His people which shall be left from Assyria; like as there was to Israel when he came up out of the land of Egypt (Isaiah 11:15, 16).

This signifies that before those who are in truths from good from the Lord, that is, who are of the church, all falsities and reasonings from them shall be dispersed, and that they shall pass safely as it were through the midst of them; this is so in the spiritual world with those whom the Lord protects. This has a similar meaning as "the drying up of the Sea Suph before the sons of Israel." Those who will pass through under the Lord's protection are signified by "the remnant of the people which shall be left from Assyria," "those left from Assyria" signifying those who have not perished by reasonings from falsities. The following in Revelation has a similar signification:

And the sixth angel poured out of his bowl upon the river Euphrates, and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings who are from the rising of the sun might be made ready (Revelation 16:12).

This will be more fully explained below in its place.

[23] From this it can now be seen that "the river Euphrates" signifies the rational by means of which the spiritual mind enters into the natural, and that in the contrary sense it signifies reasoning from fallacies and from falsities. But it is to be known that reasonings are in a like degree as the thoughts are, since they descend from the thoughts; thus there are reasonings from the spiritual man which might better be called conclusions from reasons and from truths; there are reasonings from the natural man, and there are reasonings from the sensual man. Reasonings from the spiritual man are rational, and therefore might better be called conclusions from reasons and from truths, because they are from the interior and from the light of heaven; but reasonings from the natural man respecting spiritual things are not rational, however rational they may be in things moral and civil, which are evident before the eyes, because they are from natural light alone; but reasonings from the sensual man respecting spiritual things are irrational, because they are from fallacies and thus from ideas that are false; these are the reasonings here treated of in Revelation.

Footnotes:

9391. 'And they offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings - young bulls - to Jehovah' means a representative sign of worship of the Lord springing from good, and from truth rooted in good. This is clear from the representation of 'burnt offerings and sacrifices' as worship of the Lord in general, dealt with in 922, 6905, 8936, worship of the Lord springing from the good of love being meant specifically by 'burnt offerings' and worship of Him springing from the truth of faith rooted in good by 'sacrifices', 8680; and from the meaning of 'young bulls' as the good of innocence and charity in the external or natural man, dealt with below. The beasts or animals that were sacrificed were signs of the nature of the goodness and truth from which worship sprang, 922, 1823, 2180, 3519; gentle and useful beasts mean celestial realities which are aspects of the good of love and spiritual realities which are aspects of the truth of faith, and this was why they were used in sacrifices, see 9280. The reason why 'a young bull' means the good of innocence and charity in the external or natural man is that members of the herd were signs of the affections for goodness and truth present in the external or natural man, while members of the flock were signs of the affections for goodness and truth present in the internal or spiritual man, 2566, 5913, 6048, 8937, 9135. Members of the flock were lambs, she-goats, sheep, rams, and he-goats; and those of the herd were bulls or oxen, young bulls or oxen, and calves. Lambs and sheep were signs of the good of innocence and charity present in the internal or spiritual man; consequently calves and young bulls, being of a more tender age than fully-grown bulls, were signs of a like good in the external or natural man.

[2] The fact that 'young bulls' and 'calves' have this meaning is clear from places in the Word where they are mentioned, for example in Ezekiel,

The feet of the four living creatures were straight feet, and the hollows of their feet were like the hollow of a calf's foot. ¹ And they sparkled like a kind of burnished bronze. Ezekiel 1:7.

This refers to the cherubs whom 'the four living creatures' describe. 'The cherubs' are the Lord's protection and providence, guarding against access to Him except through good, see 9277 (end). External or natural good was represented by 'straight feet' ² and by 'the hollows of feet that were like the hollow of a calf's foot'; for 'the feet' means the things which belong to the natural man, 'straight feet' those which are aspects of good, and 'the hollows of the feet' those which are last and lowest in the natural man. For the meaning of 'the feet' as these things, see 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952, 5327, 5328; and for that of the heels, soles, and hollows of the feet, also hoofs, as the last and lowest things in the natural man, 4938, 7729. The reason why the hollows of their feet 'sparkled like a kind of burnished bronze' is that 'bronze' means natural good, 425, 1551, and 'bronze sparkling as if burnished' means good shining with the light of heaven, which is God's truth radiating from the Lord. From this it is evident that 'a calf' means the good of the external or natural man.

[3] Similarly in John,

Around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. And the first living creature was like a lion; but the second living creature was like a calf; the third living creature however had a face like a human being; lastly the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. Revelation 4:6-7.

Here also 'four living creatures', who are cherubs, means the Lord's protection and providence, guarding against anyone's gaining access except through the good of love. Actual protection is achieved by means of truth and the good arising from it, and by means of good and the truth deriving from it. Truth and the good arising from it, in the outward form, are meant by 'a lion' and 'a calf'; and good and the truth deriving from it, in the inward form, are meant by 'the face of a human being' and 'a flying eagle'. 'A lion' means truth from good in its power, see 6367, and therefore 'a calf' means the actual good arising from it.

[4] In Hosea,

Turn back to Jehovah, say to Him, Take away all iniquity and accept that which is good, and we will render the young bulls ³ of our lips. Hosea 14:2.

No one can know what 'rendering the young bulls of the lips' refers to unless he knows what is meant by 'young bulls' and what by 'the lips'. It is evident that the praise (confessio) and thanksgiving which flow from a heart that is good are meant, for it says, 'Turn back to Jehovah, and say to Him, Accept that which is good', and then 'we will render the young bulls of our lips', which stands for offering Jehovah praise and thanksgiving which flow from the forms of good taught by doctrine. For things connected with doctrine are meant by 'the lips', 1286, 1288.

[5] In Amos,

You bring near a reign of violence. ⁴ They lie on beds of ivory, and eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the midst of the fattening stall. Amos 6:3-4.

These words describe those who abound in cognitions or knowledge of goodness and truth and yet lead an evil life. 'Eating lambs from the flock' means learning forms of the good of innocence which belong to the internal or spiritual man and making them one's own; 'eating calves from the midst of the fattening stall' stands for learning forms of the good of innocence which belong to the external or natural man and making them one's own. For the meaning of 'eating' as making one's own, see 3168, 3513 (end), 3596, 3832, 4745; and for the meaning of 'lambs' as forms of the good of innocence, 3994, 3519, 7840. Since 'lambs' means interior forms of the good of innocence, it follows that 'calves from the midst of the fattening stall' means exterior forms of the good of innocence; for on account of the heavenly marriage it is normal for the Word, especially the prophetical part, to deal with truth whenever it does so with good, 9263, 9314, and also to speak about external things whenever it does so about internal ones. Also 'the fattening stall' and 'fat' mean the good of interior love, 5943.

[6] Likewise in Malachi,

To you, fearers of My name, the Sun of Righteousness will arise, and healing in His wings, that you may go out and grow, like calves of the fattening stall. Malachi 4:2.

In Luke, the father said, referring to the prodigal son who had come back penitent in heart,

Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet. Furthermore bring the fatted calf and kill it, that we may eat and be glad. Luke 15:22-23.

Anyone who understands nothing more than the literal sense does not believe that deeper things lie hidden in any of this. But in actual fact every one of the details embodies some heavenly idea, such as the details that they were to put the best robe on him, put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet, and bring out the fatted calf and kill it, in order that they might eat and be glad. 'The prodigal son' means those who have squandered heavenly riches, which are cognitions or knowledge of goodness and truth; 'his return to his father, and confession that he was not worthy to be called his son' means a penitent heart and self-abasement; 'the best robe' which was to be put on him means general truths, 4545, 5248, 5319, 5954, 6914, 6917, 9093, 9212, 9216; and 'the fatted calf' means general forms of good in keeping with those truths. The like is meant by 'calves' and 'young bulls' elsewhere, as in Isaiah 11:6; Ezekiel 39:18; Psalms 29:6; 69:31; as well as those used in burnt offerings and sacrifices, Exodus 29:11-12ff; Leviticus 4:3ff, 13ff; 8:15ff; 9:2; 16:3; 23:18; Numbers 8:8ff; 15:24ff; 28:19-20; Judges 6:25-29; 1 Samuel 1:25; 16:2; 1 Kings 18:23-26, 33.

[7] The reason why the children of Israel made the golden calf for themselves and worshipped it in place of Jehovah, Exodus 32:1-end, was that Egyptian idolatry persisted in their heart even though they professed belief in Jehovah with their lips. Chief among the idols in Egypt were heifers and calves made of gold. This was because 'a heifer' was a sign of truth on the level of factual knowledge, which is the truth the natural man possesses, while 'a calf' was a sign of good on the same level, which is the good the natural man possesses; and also because gold meant good. Visible images symbolizing this good and that truth which the natural man possesses took the form in that land of calves and heifers made of gold. But when the representative signs of heavenly things there were turned into things belonging to idolatrous practices and finally into those belonging to the practice of magic, the actual representative images there, as in other places, became idols and started to be objects that were worshipped. This was how the forms of idolatry among the people of old and all the magic of Egypt arose.

[8] For the Ancient Church, which came next after the Most Ancient, was a representative Church, all of whose worship consisted in rituals, statutes, judgements, and commandments, which represented Divine and heavenly realities, which are the interior things of the Church. The Church after the Flood was spread throughout a large part of the Asiatic world, and existed also in Egypt. But in Egypt this Church's factual knowledge was developed more fully. Consequently those people excelled all others in knowledge of correspondences and representations, as becomes clear from the hieroglyphics, from the magic and idols there, as well as from the various things mentioned in the Word regarding Egypt. All this being so, 'Egypt' in the Word means factual knowledge in general, in respect both of truth and of good; and it also means the natural, since factual knowledge belongs to the natural man. Such knowledge was also meant by 'a heifer' and 'a calf'.

[9] The Ancient Church, which was a representative Church, was spread throughout a large number of kingdoms, and existed also in Egypt, see 1238, 2385, 7097.

The Church's factual knowledge was more fully developed especially in Egypt, and therefore 'Egypt' in the Word means factual knowledge in both senses, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 4749, 4964, 4966, 5700, 5702, 6004, 6015, 6125, 6651, 6679, 6683, 6692, 6693, 6750, 7779 (end), 7926.

And since truth on the level of factual knowledge and its good are the natural man's truth and good, 'Egypt' in the Word also means the natural, 4967, 5079, 5080, 5095, 5160, 5276, 5278, 5280, 5288, 5301, 6004, 6015, 6147, 6252.

[10] From all this it is now evident that heifers and calves belonged among the chief idols of Egypt. And they did so because heifers and calves were signs of truth on the level of factual knowledge and its good, which belong to the natural man, even as Egypt itself was a sign of them, so that Egypt and a calf had the same meaning. This accounts for the following that is said regarding Egypt in Jeremiah,

A very beautiful heifer was Egypt; destruction has come from the north. And her hired servants in the midst of her are like calves of the fattening stall. ⁵ Jeremiah 46:20-21.

'A heifer' is truth on the level of factual knowledge, which belongs to the natural man. 'Hired servants' who are 'calves' are those who do good for the sake of gain, 8002. 'Calves' are accordingly that kind of good which is not in itself good, only delight such as exists with the natural man separated from the spiritual man. This delight, which is in itself idolatrous, is what the children of Jacob indulged in, as they were allowed to reveal and prove in their adoration of the calf, Exodus 32:1-end.

[11] What they did then is also described as follows in David,

They made a calf in Horeb and bowed down to the molded image; and they changed the glory into the effigy of the ox that eats the plant. ⁶ Psalms 106:19-20.

'Making a calf in Horeb and bowing down to the molded image' means idolatrous worship, which consists of rituals, statutes, judgements, and commandments, but solely in their outward form and not at the same time in their inward form. That nation was restricted to external things devoid of anything internal, see 9320 (end), 9373, 9377, 9380, 9381, and so was idolatrous at heart, 3732 (end), 4208, 4281, 4825, 5998, 7401, 8301, 8871, 8882. 'They changed the glory into the effigy of the ox that eats the plant' means that they forsook the inward things of the Word and the Church and cultivated the outward, which is no more than lifeless factual knowledge. For 'the glory' is the inward aspect of the Word and the Church, see Preface to Genesis 18, and 5922, 8267, 8427; 'the effigy of the ox' is a semblance of good in outward form, since 'the effigy' means a semblance, thus a lifeless imitation, while 'the ox' means good in the natural, thus in outward form, 2566, 2781, 9135; and 'eating the plant' means making it one's own only on the level of factual knowledge, since 'eating' means making one's own, 3168, 3513 (end), 3596, 4745, while 'the plant' means factual knowledge, 7571.

[12] Because such things were meant by 'the golden calf' which was worshipped by the children of Israel in place of Jehovah, Moses disposed of it in the following manner,

I took your sin which you had made, the calf, and burnt it in the fire, and crushed it by grinding it right down until it was fine as dust; and I threw its dust into the brook descending out of the mountain. Deuteronomy 9:21.

No one knows why the golden calf was treated in this manner unless he knows what being burned in the fire, crushed, ground down, and made fine as dust means, and what the brook descending out of the mountain, into which the dust was thrown, means. It describes the state of those who venerate external things but nothing internal, that is to say, they are people immersed in the evils of self-love and love of the world, and in consequent falsities so far as things from God are concerned, thus so far as the Word is concerned. For 'the fire' in which the image was burned means the evil of self-love and love of the world, 1297, 1861, 2446, 5071, 5215, 6314, 6832, 7324, 7575; 'the dust' into which it was crushed is consequent falsity substantiated from the literal sense of the Word; and 'the brook' coming out of Mount Sinai is God's truth, thus the Word in the letter since this descends out of that truth. Those with whom external things are devoid of anything internal explain the Word to suit their own loves; and, as was so with the Israelites and Jews in former times and still is so at the present day, they see within it earthly and not at all heavenly things.

[13] Much the same as all this was also represented by Jeroboam's calves at Bethel and Dan, 1 Kings 12:26-end; 2 Kings 17:16, spoken of as follows in Hosea,

They have made a king, and not by Me; they have made princes, and I did not know. Their silver and their gold they have made into idols for themselves, that they may be cut off. Your calf has deserted [you], O Samaria. For from Israel is this also. A smith has made it, and it is not God; for the calf of Samaria will be broken to ⁷ pieces. Hosea 8:4-6.

This refers to the perverted understanding and the distorted explanation of the Word by those with whom external things are devoid of anything internal; for they keep to the literal sense of the Word, which they twist around to suit their own loves and ideas conceived from it. 'Making a king, and not by Me', and 'making princes, and I did not know' means hatching out truth and the leading aspects of truth, and doing so in the inferior light that is one's own, not with God's help; for 'a king' in the internal sense means truth, 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148, and 'princes' leading aspects of truth, 1482, 2089, 5044.

[14] 'Making their silver and their gold into idols' means perverting knowledge of truth and good obtained from the literal sense of the Word to suit their own desires, while still venerating that knowledge as being holy; even so it is devoid of life because it comes from their self-intelligence. For 'silver' is truth and 'gold' is good which come from God, and for this reason belong to the Word, 1551, 2954, 5658, 6914, 6917, 8932; and 'idols' are religious teachings which are a product of self-intelligence, and which are venerated as being holy, but in fact have no life in them, 8941. From all this it is evident that 'a king' and 'princes', also 'silver' and 'gold', mean falsities arising from evil; for things that arise from the self or proprium arise from evil and consequently are falsities, even though outwardly they look like truths because they have been taken from the literal sense of the Word. From this it is evident what is meant by 'the calf of Samaria which the smith has made and which will be broken to pieces', namely good present in the natural man but not at the same time in the spiritual man, thus what is not good since it has been applied to evil. 'A smith has made it, and it is not God' means that it is a product of the self and does not come from God; and 'being broken to pieces' means being reduced to nothing.

[15] Like things are meant by 'calves' in Hosea,

They sin more and more, and make for themselves a molten image from their silver, idols by their own intelligence, completely the work of craftsmen, saying to them, Those who offer human sacrifice ⁸ will kiss the calves. Hosea 13:2.

From all this it is now evident what 'calf' and 'young bull' mean in the following places: In Isaiah,

The unicorns will come down with them, and the young bulls with the powerful ones; and their land will become drunk with blood, and their dust will be made fat with fatness. Isaiah 34:7.

In the same prophet,

The fortified city will be solitary, a habitation forsaken and left like a wilderness; there the calf will feed, and there it will lie down and consume its branches. Its harvest will wither. Isaiah 27:10-11.

In Jeremiah,

From the cry of Heshbon even to Elealeh, as far as Jahaz they uttered their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim, a three year old heifer, for the waters of Nimrim also will become desolations. Jeremiah 48:34.

In Isaiah,

My heart cries out upon Moab, his fugitives flee even to Zoar, a three year old heifer, for at the ascent of Luhith he will go up weeping. Isaiah 15:5.

In Hosea,

Ephraim is a trained heifer, loving to thresh [grain]. Hosea 10:11.

In David,

Rebuke the wild animals of the reeds, the congregation of the strong ones, among the calves of the peoples, trampling on the fragments of silver. They have scattered the peoples; they desire wars. Psalms 68:30.

[16] This refers to the arrogance of those who wish to enter into the mysteries of faith on the basis of factual knowledge, refusing to accept anything at all apart from what they themselves deduce on that basis. Since they see nothing in the superior light of heaven which comes from the Lord, only in the inferior light of the natural world which begins in the self, they seize on shadows instead of light, on illusions instead of realities, in general on falsity instead of truth. Since these people's thinking is insane, because it relies solely on the lowest level of knowledge, they are called 'wild animals of the reeds'; since their reasoning is fierce they are called 'the congregation of the strong ones'; and since they dispel truths that still remain and are spread around among the forms of good of those governed by the Church's truths, they are said 'to trample on the fragments of silver among the calves of the peoples', and in addition 'to scatter the peoples', that is, the Church itself together with its truths. The longing to attack and destroy these truths is meant by 'desiring wars'. From all this it is again evident that 'calves' are forms of good.

[17] In Zechariah 12:4 it says, 'Every horse of the peoples I will strike with blindness'; and 'horse of the peoples' means the ability to understand truths which exists with everyone who belongs to the Church, since 'a horse' means the power of understanding truth, 2761. But in Psalms 68:30 quoted above it speaks of 'trampling on the fragments of silver' and 'scattering the peoples among the calves of the peoples'. 'Trampling on' and 'scattering' mean casting down and dispelling, 258; 'silver' means truth, 1551, 2954, 5658, 6112, 6914, 6917, 7999, 8932; and 'the peoples' means those belonging to the Church who are governed by truths, 2928, 7207, thus also the Church's truths, 1259, 1260, 3295, 3581, so that 'the calves of the peoples' means the forms of good governing the will of those who belong to the Church.

[18] Further evidence that forms of good are meant by 'calves' is clear in Jeremiah,

I will give the men who transgressed My covenant, who did not keep the terms of the covenant which they made before Me, that of the calf which they cut in two in order that they might pass between its parts - the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the royal ministers and the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf - I will give them into the hand of their enemies, that their dead bodies may be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. Jeremiah 34:18-20.

No one can know what 'the covenant of the calf' and what 'passing between its parts' describe unless he knows what is meant by 'a covenant', 'a calf', and 'cutting it into two parts', and also what is meant by 'the princes of Judah and of Jerusalem, the royal ministers and the priests, and the people of the land'. Plainly some heavenly arcanum is meant. Nevertheless that arcanum comes into the open and can be understood when it is known that 'a covenant' means being joined together, 'a calf' means good, 'a calf cut into two parts' means good emanating from the Lord on one hand and good received by a person on the other; that 'the princes of Judah and of Jerusalem, and the royal ministers and the priests, and the people of the land' are the truths and forms of good which the Church has from the Word; and that 'passing between the parts' means being joined together. Once all this is known it becomes evident that the internal sense of these words in Jeremiah is this: With that nation good emanating from the Lord was not at all joined to but stood apart from good received by a person through the Word, and therefore through the Church's truths and forms of good. The reason for this was that they were restricted to external things, devoid of anything internal.

[19] The same thing is implied by the covenant of the calf with Abram, referred to as follows in the Book of Genesis,

Jehovah said to Abram, Take for Me ⁹ a three year old heifer, and a three year old she-goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtle dove and a fledgling. And he took for himself all these, and parted each of them down the middle and laid each part opposite the other; but the birds he did not cut apart. And birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. And as the sun was going down a deep sleep came over Abram, and, behold, a dread of a great darkness was coming over him. On that day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram. Genesis 15:9-12, 18.

'A dread of great darkness coming over Abram' was a sign of the state of the Jewish nation, that they were in greatest darkness so far as truths and forms of good which the Church has from the Word were concerned. They were in such darkness because they were restricted to external things devoid of anything internal, as a consequence of which their worship was idolatrous. For the worship of anyone restricted to external things devoid of anything internal is idolatrous, because his heart and soul when he engages in worship is not in heaven but in the world. Nor does he respect the holy things of the Word from any heavenly love present in him, only an earthly love. This state of that nation is what the prophet described by 'the covenant of the calf which they cut into two parts, between which they passed'.

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