46. That 'beasts' means affections residing with man - evil affections in evil men and good affections in good men - becomes clear from many examples in the Word, as in Ezekiel,

Behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, so that you will be tilled and sown; and I will multiply upon you man and beast, and they will be multiplied and be fruitful, and I will resettle you ¹ to be as in your ancient times. Ezekiel 36:9-11.

This refers to regeneration. In Joel,

Fear not, you beasts of My field, for the dwelling-places of the wilderness have been made green. Joel 2:22.

In David,

I was stupid, a beast ² was I with God. Psalms 73:12.

In Jeremiah,

Behold, the days are coming when 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 watch over them to build and to plant. Jeremiah 31:27-28.

This refers to regeneration.

[2] 'Wild animals' (fera) has a similar meaning, as in Hosea,

I will make for them a covenant on that day, with the wild animals of the field, and with the birds of the air, ³ and with the creeping things of the earth. Hosea 2:18.

In Job,

You will not fear the wild animals of the earth, for your covenant will be with the stones of the field, and the wild beasts of the field will be at peace with you. Job 5:22-23.

In Ezekiel,

I will make with them ⁴ a covenant of peace, and I will banish the evil wild animal from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness. Ezekiel 34:25.

In Isaiah,

The wild animals of the field will honour me, for I have given water in the desert. Isaiah 43:20.

In Ezekiel,

In its branches all the birds of the air ³ made their nests and under its branches every wild animal of the field gave birth, and in its shadow dwelt all great nations. Ezekiel 31:6.

This refers to Assyria, which means the spiritual man and is compared to the Garden of Eden. In David,

Praise Jehovah, all his angels, praise Him from the earth, sea monsters, fruit trees, wild animals, and all beasts, creeping things, and flying birds! Psalms 148:2-4, 7, 9-10.

Here the list is precisely the same - sea monsters, fruit trees, wild animals, beasts, creeping things, and birds. Unless they all mean things that are alive in human beings, they cannot possibly be referred to as praising Jehovah.

[3] A careful distinction is made in the Prophets between beasts and wild animals of the earth, and between beasts and wild animals of the field. The practice of calling goods 'beasts' extends to calling people in heaven who are nearest to the Lord 'living creatures', both in Ezekiel and in John,

All the angels stood around the throne, and the elders, and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God. ⁵ Revelation 7:11; 19:4.

The expression 'creatures' is also used of people who are to have the gospel preached to them because they are to be created anew, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15.

Footnotes:

3898. What these words embody no one can know except from the teaching of the internal sense - such as the prediction that false Christs will arise who will show great signs and wonders; the command that they should not go out if they were told that Christ was in the wilderness, and that they should not believe it if they were told that He was in the inner rooms; the declaration that the coming of the Son of Man will be like lightning which comes from the east and is seen as far as the west; and also the comment that where the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together. These various statements - like those that come before and those that follow them in this chapter - do not seem, in the sense of the letter, to have any connection with one another. But in the internal sense there is a most wonderful flow of ideas, and this starts to be seen when one understands what is meant by 'false Christs', by 'great signs and wonders', by 'the wilderness' and 'the inner rooms', also by 'the coming of the Son of Man', and lastly by 'the carcass' and 'the eagles'.

[2] The Lord's reason for speaking in this manner was that people should not understand the Word in case they profaned it; for once the Church had been destroyed, as it had been at that time among the Jews, people would have profaned the Word if they had understood it. This was also why the Lord spoke in parables, as He himself teaches in Matthew 13:13-15; Mark 4:11-12; Luke 8:10. For the Word cannot be profaned by those who have no knowledge of its mysteries, only by those who do, see 301-303, 593, 1008, 1010, 1059, 1327, 1328, 2051, 3398, 3402; and more so by those who consider themselves learned than by those who consider themselves unlearned.

[3] But the reason why the interior contents of the Word are being disclosed at the present time is that the Church today has been so much vastated, that is, is so devoid of faith and love, that although people know and understand they still do not acknowledge, let alone believe, see 3398, 3399 - with the exception of a few who lead a good life and are called the elect. Among these few who are now able to be taught the new Church is to be established. But where those few are the Lord alone knows. Few of these will be inside the Church. In the past it has been the gentiles among whom new Churches have been established, see 2986.