1066. That 'from them the whole earth was overspread' means that from these three all doctrines have been derived, both true and false, is clear from the meaning of 'the earth'. In the Word 'the earth' has various meanings. In the universal sense it stands for the place or region where the Church is or once was, for example, the land of Canaan, the land of Judah, the land of Israel. It thus stands in that universal sense for every member of the Church, for a land takes its name from the people who inhabit it, as is also well known from everyday speech. In ancient times therefore when people spoke of 'the whole earth' they did not mean every land throughout the world but only that part of the earth where the Church existed, and so the Church itself, as becomes clear from the following places in the Word: In Isaiah,

Jehovah is emptying the earth, the earth will be utterly emptied. The earth will mourn and be turned upside down. And the earth will be polluted under its inhabitants. Therefore a curse will devour the earth, therefore the inhabitants of the earth will be scorched and few men left. The floodgates from on high have been opened, and the foundations of the earth have been shaken. The earth has been utterly broken. The earth has been utterly rent asunder. The earth is violently shaken. The earth staggers altogether like a drunken man, and sways to and fro like a hut. Its transgression will lie heavily upon it, and it will fall, and it will not rise again. Isaiah 24:1, 3-6, 18-21.

'Earth' stands for the people inhabiting it, in particular the people of the Church, and so stands for the Church itself, and the things that are the Church's that have been vastated. These when being vastated are spoken of as 'being emptied', 'being shaken', 'staggering like a drunken man', 'swaying', 'falling and not rising'.

[2] That 'earth' or 'land' means man, and consequently the Church which is made up of men, is seen in Malachi,

All the nations will declare you blessed, for you will be a land of delight. Malachi 3:12.

That 'the earth' stands for the Church is seen in Isaiah,

Do you not understand the foundations of the earth? Isaiah 40:21.

Here 'foundations of the earth' stands for the foundations of the Church. In the same prophet,

Behold I am creating new heavens and a new earth. Isaiah 65:17; 66:22; Revelation 21:1.

'New heavens and a new earth' stands for the Lord's kingdom and the Church. In Zechariah,

Jehovah is He who stretches out the heavens and founds the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him. Zechariah 12:1.

'Earth' stands for the Church, as in earlier chapters,

In the beginning God created heaven and earth. Genesis 1:1.

The heavens and the earth were finished. Genesis 2:1.

These are the generations of heaven and earth. Genesis 2:4.

In each instance 'earth' stands for the Church being 'created', 'formed', and 'made'. In Joel,

The earth quaked before Him, the heavens trembled. The sun and the moon were darkened. Joel 2:10.

'Earth' stands for the Church, and for the things that are the Church's. When these things are being vastated, 'heaven and earth' are said to quake, 'the sun and moon' to grow dark, that is, love and faith.

[3] In Jeremiah,

I looked to the earth, when behold, that which is void and empty; and to the heavens, and they had no light. Jeremiah 4:23.

Here 'the earth' plainly stands for the person who does not have anything of the Church within him. In the same prophet,

The whole earth will be desolate, yet I will not bring it to a close. For this the earth will mourn and the heavens be black. Jeremiah 4:27, 18.

Here likewise the Church is meant, whose exterior things are 'the earth' and interior 'the heavens'. These are referred to as 'being black and having no light' when there is no longer any wisdom arising from good or intelligence from truth. In that case the earth is also 'void and empty', as is the member of the Church who ought to be an embodiment of the Church. That 'the whole earth' is also used in other places to mean the Church alone is seen in Daniel,

The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, and trample it down, and break it in pieces. Daniel 7:23.

'The whole earth' stands for the Church and for the things that are the Church's; for the Word does not deal, as secular authors do, with the powers of monarchs, but with sacred matters, and with states of the Church, which are meant by 'kingdoms of the earth'.

[4] In Jeremiah,

A great tempest will be raised up from the sides of the earth, and the slain ¹ of Jehovah on that day will be from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. Jeremiah 25:32, 33.

Here 'from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth' stands for the Church and for everything that is the Church's. In Isaiah,

The whole earth is at rest and is quiet; they burst into cries of joy. Isaiah 14:7.

Here 'the whole earth' stands for the Church.

In Ezekiel,

As the whole earth rejoices. Ezekiel 35:14.

Here too 'the whole earth' stands for the Church.

In Isaiah,

I swore that the waters of Noah should go no more over the earth. Isaiah 54:9.

Here 'the earth' stands for the Church since the Church is the subject here. Because in the Word the earth means the Church it also means what is not the Church, for every such expression has a contrary or opposite sense. This applies, for example, to the various lands of the gentiles, in general to all lands outside the land of Canaan. 'Land' also stands therefore for the people and for the individual outside of the Church, and from this for the external man - for his will, for his proprium, and so on.

[5] In the Word 'earth' rarely stands for the whole world except when it is used to mean the state of the whole human race, whether of the Church or not of the Church. And because the earth includes the ground, which also means the Church, and the ground includes the field, the expression 'earth', entailing many things, has many meanings. But what it means is evident from the subject under discussion to which it refers. From this it now becomes clear that here 'the whole earth was overspread by the sons of Noah' does not mean the whole world, that is, the whole human race, but all doctrines, both true and false, which Churches possessed.

Footnotes:

864. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. That this signifies those who are adjoined to the Lord by the acknowledgment of His Divine Human, and by a life according to His precepts, is evident from the signification of the Lamb, as denoting the Lord as to the Divine Human, concerning which see above (n. 314); and from the signification of following Him whithersoever He goeth, as denoting to acknowledge His Divine, and to do His precepts. By following the Lord is signified the same as by going and walking after Him. That to go and walk after the Lord signifies to acknowledge, to obey, to act, and live from Him and with Him, may be seen above (n. 787).

The reason why these things are signified by following the Lord is, that no one can follow the Lord of himself, but from the Lord Himself. For the Lord draws that man after Him, who from freedom wills to follow; but He cannot draw any one who does not will to follow Him. For the Lord works this in him, so that the man follows Him of himself; thus He flows into his freedom, and effects this for the sake of the reception and implantation of truth and good in him, and thence reformation and regeneration. For unless it appeared to a man that he followed the Lord as of himself, that is, acknowledged His Divine, and did His precepts as of himself, there would be no appropriation and conjunction, and consequently no reformation and regeneration. For every thing enters man, and becomes as it were his own, which he receives in freedom, that is, as of himself, both as to thought and speech, and also as to willing and doing. But still man ought to believe, as the thing really is, that he does not do these things of himself, but from the Lord. Therefore it is not said that he is to act of himself, but as of himself. The reason why this is the case is also, that a man does not perceive the Lord's operation into his will, and into the thought therefrom; for a man knows nothing of his conjunction with the angels. He supposes therefore that whatever he wills and thinks, he wills and thinks from himself; and hence he cannot but know that he acts from himself; when, nevertheless, all good flows in, both what he thinks and what he wills, and thence does. And because he knows this from the doctrine of the church, that is, that all good is from God, therefore he ought to believe that he does not do good of himself, although he does it as of himself. This is meant by what the Lord taught in Mark:

"So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed upon the earth, and should afterwards sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how" (4:26, 27).

In John:

"No man can receive any thing except it be given him from heaven" (3:27).

And in the same:

"He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing" (15:5).

[2] That to acknowledge the Lord's Divine Human, and to do His precepts is to follow Him, is because such only can be conjoined to the Lord. That every one is conjoined to the Lord according to the acknowledgment and confession of Him from the heart, and according to the life, is evident from this fact, that all the angels of heaven acknowledge no other Divine than the Divine of the Lord; and that they all live according to the laws of order, which are His precepts, that is, they live in the Divine which proceeds from the Lord, which is called Divine truth. And because they live thus, they live in a heavenly aura, or in a heavenly ether, into which no one can be admitted except him who is in life from the Lord. If any other should enter into that ether, it would be like mice being put into a syphon from which the air had been exhausted.

[3] From these things it is evident what is signified in the spiritual sense by following the Lord whithersoever He goeth. The like is signified by following Him, in these passages.

As in John:

"Jesus said, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (8:12).

I am the Light of the world, signifies that He is Divine truth itself; he that followeth me, signifies he that acknowledges His Divine, and does His precepts; shall not walk in darkness, signifies that he shall not be in falsities; but shall have the light of life, signifies that he shall be in Divine truths, which teach man eternal life, and lead to heaven. That by following the Lord is not here meant to follow Him, but to acknowledge His Divine, and obey Him, is evident.

[4] Again:

The shepherd of the sheep, "when he leadeth out his own sheep, goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice; but a stranger they do not follow, but flee from him, because they know not the voice of strangers. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (10:4, 5, 27).

Here, also, by following the Lord is meant, to acknowledge His Divine, and to obey Him; for it is said, He goeth before His own sheep, and the sheep follow Him, and know and hear His voice. To know and hear the voice of the Lord, signifies to do His precepts.

[5] Again:

"Whosoever desireth to come after me, let him deny himself, and follow me" (Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23).

That to go after the Lord, and to follow Him, is to deny self, is evident. And for a man to deny himself, is not to be led of himself but of the Lord; and he denies himself who shuns and turns away from evils because they are sins; which when a man turns away from, he is led of the Lord; for he then does His precepts, not from himself, but from the Lord. Similar things are also signified elsewhere by following the Lord:

As in Matthew 19:21, 28; Mark 2:14, 15; 3:7, 8; 10:21, 28, 29; Luke 18:22, 28; John 12:26; 13:36, 37; 21:19-22.

[6] From these things it is evident that to follow the Lord is to be led by Him, and not by oneself; and no other can be led by the Lord except him who is not led by himself; and every one is led by himself who does not shun evils because they are opposed to the Word, and thus to God; consequently, because they are sins and from hell. Every one who does not thus shun and turn away from evils, is led of himself. The reason is, that the evil which is in man hereditarily constitutes his life, because it is his proprium; and before [the evils of his proprium] are removed, he does every thing from them, thus of himself. But it is otherwise when evils are removed, which is effected when he shuns them because they are infernal. Then the Lord enters with truths and goods from heaven, and leads him. The chief cause of this is, that every man is his own love; and a man as to his spirit, which lives after death, is nothing but the affection of a man's love; and all evil is from his love, and thus belongs to his love. Consequently it follows, that a man's love or affection can be reformed only by spiritually shunning and turning away from evils; and this is a shunning and turning away from them because they are infernal. From these things it is now evident what it is to follow the Lord whithersoever He goeth.