9336. 'Little by little I will drive them out from before you' means a removal effected gradually according to order. This is clear from the meaning of 'little by little' as gradually, thus slowly; and from the meaning of 'driving out' - when it has reference to falsities and evils, meant by the nations of the land of Canaan - as a removal, dealt with just above in 9333. The words 'gradually according to order' are used because everything with a person who is being regenerated is rearranged in accordance with heavenly order. For a person who has been regenerated is a miniature heaven, 9276, and therefore also within that person order exists akin to that which obtains in heaven.

[2] When a person is born he is, so far as his hereditary evils are concerned, a miniature hell. He also becomes an embodiment of hell to the extent that he draws on hereditary evils and adds his own to them. This being so, the order of a person's life which exists by reason of what he receives at birth, and by reason of his own acts in life, is the opposite of heavenly order. For what is a person's own leads him to love self more than the Lord and to love the world more than heaven, whereas the life of heaven consists in loving the Lord above all things and the neighbour as oneself. From this it is evident that the first life, which is that of hell, must be completely destroyed, that is, evils and falsities must be removed, in order that the new life, which is that of heaven, may be implanted, see 4551, 4552, 4839, 6068. This cannot possibly be done hurriedly, for every deep-rooted evil, together with its falsities, is interconnected with all other evils and their falsities. Such evils and falsities are countless, and their interconnection is so complex that it cannot be comprehended, not even by angels, only by the Lord. From this it is evident that the life of hell with a person cannot be destroyed suddenly; for if it were destroyed suddenly the person too would perish. Nor can the life of heaven be implanted suddenly, for if this were implanted suddenly the person would again perish.

[3] There are thousands and thousands of hidden ways, scarcely a single one of which is known to mankind, by which the Lord leads a person from the life of hell to the life of heaven. I have been informed from heaven that this is so, and it has also been corroborated for me by many things that I have been made aware of. Since mankind knows scarcely anything at all about these things many have fallen into errors concerning human deliverance from evils and falsities, which is the forgiveness of sins. They think that the life of hell with a person can be changed to the life of heaven with him in an instant, by mercy. But in actual fact mercy lies in the whole act of regeneration; and none undergo regeneration apart from those who receive the Lord's mercy in faith and life while they are in the world, in keeping with the Lord's words in John,

As many as received Him, to them He gave power to be sons of God, to those believing in His name, who were born, not of blood ¹ , nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man (vir), but of God. John 1:12-13.

What 'blood', 'the will of the flesh', and 'the will of man', also 'born of God' mean, see 5826.

[4] The proper way to understand 'a removal from evils and falsities, effected gradually according to order' must also be stated briefly. Divine Truth which emanates from the Lord's Divine Good arranges all things into order in heaven; consequently this Divine Truth, holding good from the Lord within it, is order itself, see 1728, 1919, 2247, 2258, 5703, 6338, 8700, 8988. In accordance with that order all things there come into being, and in accordance with that same order they remain in being; for remaining in being is a constant coming into being. Therefore to enable heaven to come into being in a person, it is necessary for him to receive Divine Truth in the good he has from the Lord. This can be brought into effect only gradually, according to the order similar to that which governs the way the Lord arranges heaven; for if the essential nature of the thing is the same, then the situation on the smaller scale is the same as on the larger scale. This arranging step-by-step is what should be understood here by order brought into effect gradually. From all this it is also evident that the new creation of a person, which is his regeneration, resembles the creation of heaven and earth. For this reason also in the Word a new heaven and a new earth is used to mean a new Church, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355 (end), 4535; and the creation of heaven and earth in the first chapter of Genesis serves to mean the new creation of a celestial Church, called Man, dealt with in the explanations of that chapter.

Footnotes:

3941. 'Reuben went in the days of the wheat harvest' means faith in regard to its state of love and charity. This is clear from the representation of 'Reuben' as faith, which is the first stage of regeneration, dealt with in 3862, 3866; from the meaning of 'days' as states, dealt with in 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, 3462, 3785; and from the meaning of 'wheat' as love and charity, dealt with below - 'wheat harvest' therefore meaning a developing state of love and charity. Jacob's four sons by the servant-girls have portrayed the various means by which the external man is joined to the internal man. Now his remaining four sons portray the actual joining together of good and truth, on account of which reference is made first of all to 'dudaim', by which that joining together or conjugial relationship is meant. The reason why 'wheat harvest' means a developing state of love and charity is that 'the field' means the Church and so the things that constitute the Church, while the seeds sown in it mean the germs of good and truth. And what springs up from those seeds, such as wheat, barley, and many other crops, are the fruits of love and charity, and also of faith. The states of the Church so far as those things are concerned are therefore compared to seedtime and harvest, and are also actually called seedtime and harvest, as in Genesis 8:22 - see 932.

[2] That 'wheat' means the things which constitute love and charity may also be seen from the following places: In Moses,

Jehovah causes him to ride over the heights of the land and He feeds [him] with the produce of the fields, causes him to suck honey out of the crag, and oil out of the stony rock - butter from the cattle, and milk from the flock, with the fat of lambs and rams, the breed ¹ of Bashan, and of goats, with the kidney-fat of wheat; and of the blood of the grape you drink unmixed wine. Deuteronomy 32:13-14.

This refers in the internal sense to the Ancient Church and its state when it was established, every aspect of love and charity, and every aspect of faith there, being described by means of things that have spiritual meanings. 'The kidney-fat of wheat' means the celestial side of love and charity. And because 'fat' or 'fatness' means that which is celestial, 353, and 'wheat' means love, the two words are therefore linked together in various places in the Word, as also in David,

O that My people were obedient to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! He would feed them with the fat of wheat, and with honey out of the rock I will satisfy you. Psalms 81:13, 16.

And elsewhere in the same author,

Jehovah is the one who makes peace your border; with the fat of wheat He satisfies you. Psalms 147:14.

[3] That 'wheat' means love and charity is evident in Jeremiah,

Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard, they have trampled down the portion of My field, they have rendered the portion of My field into a lonely wilderness. On all the hills in the wilderness those who cause devastation have come, for the sword of Jehovah is devouring from one end of the land even to the other end of the land. There is no peace for any flesh. They have sown wheat and reaped thorns. Jeremiah 12:10, 12-13.

'Vineyard' and 'the field' stand for the Church, 'a lonely wilderness' for the vastation of it, 'a devouring sword' for the vastation of truth, 'no peace' for the absence of good stirring the affections, 'sowing wheat' for forms of good which are the product of love and charity, 'sowing thorns' for evils and falsities which are the result of self-love and love of the world. For 'vineyard' means the spiritual Church, 1069; 'the field' the Church as regards good, 2971; 'wilderness' vastation, 1927, 2708; 'a devouring sword' vastation of truth, 2799; 'peace' good that stirs the affections, 3780.

[4] In Joel,

The field has been laid waste, the ground has been mourning because the grain has been laid waste, the new wine has failed, the oil languishes. Farmers have been put to shame, vinedressers have wailed over the wheat and over the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished. Gird yourselves and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Joel 1:10-11, 13.

It is evident to anyone that here the state of the Church when it has been vastated is what is described, and this being so, that 'the field' and 'the ground' mean the Church, 'the grain' its good, and 'the new wine' its truth, 3580, while 'wheat' means celestial love, 'barley' spiritual love. And since the state of the Church is the subject, the call to 'gird yourselves and lament, O priests, and wail, O ministers of the altar' is used.

[5] In Ezekiel,

The Spirit of Jehovah addressing the prophet, Take for yourself wheat and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt, and put them into a single vessel, and make them for yourself into bread. With human excrement you shall make a cake before their eyes. Thus shall the children of Israel eat their unclean bread. Ezekiel 4:9, 12-13.

This refers to the defilement of good and truth. 'Wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, spelt' stands for different kinds of good and of truth derived from good. 'Bread' or a cake made from these together with human excrement stands for the defilement of them all.

[6] In John,

I saw, and behold, a black horse, and the one seated on it held a balance in his hand I heard a voice from the midst of the four living creatures saying, A choenix of wheat for a denarius, and three choenices of barley for a denarius; but do no harm to oil and wine. Revelation 6:5-6.

This too refers to the vastation of good and truth. 'A choenix of wheat for a denarius' stands for a scarcity of love, 'three choenices of wheat for a denarius' for a scarcity of charity.

[7] In Ezekiel,

Judah and the land of Israel, they were your merchants. Wheat of minnith and pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm, they exchanged for your tracings. Ezekiel 27:17.

This refers to Tyre, which means the cognitions of good and truth. The goods of love and charity, and the happiness they bring, are meant by 'wheat of minnith and pannag, and honey, oil, and balm'. 'Judah' means the celestial Church, 'the land of Israel' the spiritual, which are the source of those goods. 'Tracings' means acquisitions.

[8] In Moses,

A land of wheat and barley, and of the vine and of the fig and of the pomegranate, a land of olive oil and honey. Deuteronomy 8:8.

This is a description of the land of Canaan, which in the internal sense means the Lord's kingdom, 1413, 1437, 1585, 1607, 3038, 3705. Forms of good which are the product of love and charity in that kingdom are meant by 'wheat and barley', forms of good which are the product of faith by 'the vine and the fig'.

[9] In Matthew,

Whose fan is in His hand, and He will purge His threshing-floor and gather His wheat into the granary, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire. Matthew 3:12; Luke 3:17.

John the Baptist referred in this way to the Lord. 'Wheat' stands for the goods of love and charity, 'chaff' for those things which do not have any good at all within them. In the same gospel,

Let both grow together until the harvest; and at the time of harvest I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to burn them but gather the wheat into my barn. Matthew 13:30.

'Weeds' stands for evils and falsities, 'wheat' for goods. These are comparisons, but all comparisons in the Word are made through the use of things that carry a spiritual meaning.

Footnotes: