9340. 'And I will set your boundary from the Sea Suph even to the Sea of the Philistines' means the full range of truths from factual ones to interior truths of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'setting the boundary from one place to another', when it refers to spiritual truths, as the full range; from the meaning of 'the Sea Suph' as truths on the levels of the senses and of factual knowledge, which are the lowest levels of the human mind (the Sea Suph was the final boundary of the land of Egypt, and 'Egypt' means factual knowledge in both senses, that is, true factual knowledge and false, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 2588, 4749, 4964, 4966, 5700, 6004, 6015, 6125, 6651, 6679, 6683, 6692, 6750, 7779 (end), 7926, 8146, 8148; in this instance true factual knowledge is meant since the subject is the full range of spiritual matters of faith among the children of Israel, who represented the spiritual Church, 4286, 4598, 6426, 6637, 6862, 6868, 7035, 7062, 7198, 7201, 7215, 7223, 8805); and from the meaning of 'the Sea of the Philistines' as interior truths of faith. The reason why these truths are meant by 'the Sea of the Philistines' is that the sea where Tyre and Sidon lay was the boundary of the land of Philistia, and 'Tyre and Sidon' means cognitions or knowledge of truth and good, 1201, while 'the land of Philistia' means the knowledge of interior matters of faith, 1197, 2504, 2726, 3463.

[2] Since 'the land of Canaan' represented the Lord's kingdom, which is heaven and the Church, all places in the land therefore meant such things as form part of the Lord's kingdom, or heaven and the Church, which things are called celestial and spiritual, and are connected with the good of love to the Lord and the truths of faith in Him. For this reason the seas and rivers which were boundaries meant the final limits there, and therefore 'from sea to sea' or 'from river to river' meant the full range of those things, as may be seen in 1585, 1866, 4116, 4240, 6516. From all this it becomes clear that 'the boundary from the Sea Suph even to the Sea of the Philistines' means the range of spiritual things, which are matters of truth, from external ones to internal, thus truths ranging from factual ones to interior truths of faith. But the range of celestial things, which are aspects of the good of love, is described next by the words 'from the wilderness even to the River'. The fact that places belonging to the land of Canaan, including seas and rivers, mean such things in the Word, has been shown in explanations everywhere.

[3] What the full range of truths from factual ones to interior truths of faith is must be stated briefly. Truths which exist in the external man are called factual ones, but truths which exist in the internal man are called interior truths of faith. Factual truths reside in a person's memory, and when they are brought out from there they pass into the person's immediate awareness. But interior truths of faith are truths of life itself which are inscribed on the internal man, but few of which show up in the memory. These however are matters which will in the Lord's Divine mercy be spoken of more fully elsewhere. Factual truths and interior truths of faith were meant in Genesis 1:6-7 by the waters under the expanse and the waters above the expanse, 24; for the first chapter of Genesis deals in the internal sense with the new creation or the regeneration of a member of the celestial Church.

[4] The reason why 'Philistia', which also bordered on the land of Canaan as far as Tyre and Sidon, meant the interior truths of faith was that there also the representative Ancient Church had existed, as is evident from the remnants of Divine worship among them which are alluded to in historical sections and prophetical parts of the Word in which the Philistines and the land of Philistia are the subject, such as - in the prophetical parts - Jeremiah 25:20; Jeremiah 47:1-end; Ezekiel 16:27, 57; 25:15-16; Amos 1:8; Zephaniah 2:5; Zechariah 9:6; Psalms 56:1; ¹ 60:8; 83:7; 108:9. The situation with the Philistines was the same as it was with all the nations in the land of Canaan, in that they represented the Church's forms of good and its truths, and also evils and falsities. When the representative Ancient Church existed among them they represented celestial things which were aspects of good and spiritual things which were matters of truth. But when they fell away from true representative worship they began to represent devilish things which were aspects of evil and hellish things which were matters of falsity. This is the reason why 'Philistia', like all the other nations belonging to the land of Canaan in the Word, means either forms of good and truths, or else evils and falsities.

[5] The fact that interior truths of faith are meant by 'the Philistines' is clear in David,

Glorious things are to be spoken in you, O city of God. I will mention Rahab and Babel among those who know Me; also Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia. The latter was born here. ² Psalms 87:3-4.

'The city of God' means teachings presenting the truth of faith that are drawn from the Word, 402, 2268, 2449, 2712, 2943, 3216, 4492, 4493, 5297; 'Tyre' means cognitions or knowledge of truth and good, 1201, and so does 'Ethiopia', 116, 117. From this it is evident that 'Philistia' means knowledge of the truths of faith.

[6] In Amos,

Are you not like the children of the Ethiopians to Me, O children of Israel? Did I not cause Israel to come up from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir? Amos 9:7.

This refers to the corruption and destruction of the Church after it had been established. 'The children of the Ethiopians' here are those in possession of cognitions of goodness and truth, which they use to substantiate evils and falsities, 1163, 1164. 'The children of Israel from the land of Egypt' are those who had been brought to spiritual truths and forms of good by means of factual truths, 'the children of Israel' being people in possession of spiritual truths and forms of good, thus in the abstract sense spiritual truths and forms of good, see 5414, 5801, 5803, 5806, 5812, 5817, 5819, 5826, 5833, 5879, 5951, 7957, 8234, and 'the land of Egypt' being factual truth, as shown above. The same is meant by 'the Philistines from Caphtor' and by 'the Syrians from Kir', to whom they are therefore likened. 'The Philistines from Caphtor' are people who had been brought to interior truths by means of exterior ones, but who perverted them and used them to substantiate falsities and evils, 1197, 1198, 3412, 3413, 3762, 8093, 8096, 8099, 8313, whereas 'the Syrians from Kir' are those who were in possession of cognitions of goodness and truth, which they likewise perverted, 1232, 1234, 3051, 3249, 3664, 3680, 4112.

[7] In Jeremiah,

... because of the day that is coming to lay waste all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper that is left, for Jehovah is laying waste the Philistines, the remnants of the island of Caphtor. Jeremiah 47:4.

The subject in Jeremiah 47 is the laying waste of the Church's truths of faith, interior truths of faith being meant by 'the Philistines' and exterior truths by 'the remnants of the island of Caphtor'.

[8] In Joel,

What have you to do with Me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the borders of Philistia? Swiftly I will return your recompense upon your own head, inasmuch as you have taken My silver and My gold, and My good and desirable treasures you have carried into your temples. Joel 3:4-5.

'All the borders of Philistia' stands for all the interior and the exterior truths of faith; 'carrying silver and gold, and good and desirable treasures into their temples' stands for perverting truths and forms of good, and profaning them by putting them together with evils and falsities. For the meaning of 'silver and gold' as truths and forms of good, see 1551, 2954, 5658, 6112, 6914, 6917, 8932.

[9] In Obadiah,

At that time those in the south will be the heirs of the mountain of Esau, and of the plain of the Philistines, and they will become the heirs of the field of Ephraim; but Benjamin [will be the heir] of Gilead. Obad. verse 19.

This refers to the establishment of the Church; but spiritual things are implied by the names. 'Those in the south' are people who dwell in the light of truth, 1458, 3195, 3708, 5672, 5962; 'the mountain of Esau' is the good of love, 3300, 3322, 3494, 3504, 3576; 'the plain of the Philistines' is the truth of faith, 'the plain' being also that which constitutes matters of doctrine about faith, 2418; 'Ephraim' is the Church's power of understanding, 3969, 5354, 6222, 6234, 6238, 6267; 'Benjamin' is the Church's spiritual-celestial truth, 3969, 4592, 5686, 5689, 6440; and 'Gilead' is the corresponding exterior good, 4117, 4124, 4747.

[10] In Isaiah,

He will gather the outcasts of Israel, and will assemble the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. They will fly down onto the shoulder of the Philistines towards the sea, together they will plunder the sons of the east. Isaiah 11:12, 14.

Here 'Israel' and 'Judah' are not used to mean Israel and Judah; rather, 'Israel' means those who are governed by the good of faith, and 'Judah' those who are governed by the good of love. 'Flying down onto the shoulder of the Philistines' stands for receiving and taking into possession interior truths of faith; and 'plundering the sons of the east' stands for receiving and taking into possession interior forms of the good of faith, for 'the sons of the east' are people who are governed by forms of the good of faith and with whom cognitions or knowledge of good exists, 3249. 3762. For the meaning of 'plundering' as receiving and taking into possession, see what has been shown in 6914, 6917, regarding the plundering of the Egyptians by the children of Israel.

[11] Since 'the land of Philistia' meant knowledge of the interior truths of faith, and since Abraham and Isaac represented the Lord, and the sojourning of these two in places meant instruction received by the Lord in the truths and forms of the good of faith and love, which belong to God's wisdom, therefore - to provide a figurative representation of this - Abraham was commanded to sojourn in Philistia, Genesis 20:1-end, and so too was Isaac, Genesis 26:1-24. Therefore also Abimelech king of the Philistines made a covenant with Abraham, Genesis 21:22-end, and also with Isaac, Genesis 26:26-end. Regarding all this, see the explanations to those chapters.

Footnotes:

295. And by thy will they are, and were created. That this signifies that by means of the Divine good they are, and by means of the Divine truth they exist, is evident from the signification of will, when said of the Lord, as being Divine love; and from the signification of are, or being (esse), as being the good of love, in this case, the Divine good of the Divine love received (concerning which we shall speak presently); and from the signification of they were created, or being created, as being the Divine truth also received, thus those who are reformed by it. The reason why to be created signifies to exist is that those alone are said to exist who are reformed, for in them is life, and they have intelligence and wisdom; whereas those who are not reformed have not life in them but spiritual death, neither have they intelligence and wisdom, but insanity and folly, hence they cannot be said to exist. Everything which appears to any of the senses may indeed be said to exist, but it cannot be said of man spiritually, unless he be in good and truth; for man was created that he might be alive, intelligent and wise; consequently, when he is dead, he is insane and foolish, and so far as this is the case with him, he does not exist. There are two things which constitute man, namely good and truth, and both are from the Lord; good is the being (esse) of life, but truth is the manifestation (existere) of life therefrom, for all truth exists from good, because it is the form of good, and hence the quality of good; and whereas good is the being (esse) of life, and truth is the manifestation (existere) of life therefrom, and by being created is signified to exist, it is therefore said, "by thy will they are, and were created." This, then, is the spiritual content of these words.

[2] The reason why will, when said of the Lord, denotes Divine love is, that the essential Divine, from which all things exist, is the Divine love; hence the Lord appears before the angels as a Sun, fiery and flaming, the ground and reason of which is, that love, in the spiritual world, appears as fire; this is why fire in the Word, when said of the Lord, of heaven, or of the church, signifies love. From that Sun in the heavens proceed heat and light; and the heat there is Divine good proceeding, and the light is Divine truth proceeding. (These things are more fully shown in the work, Heaven and Hell, concerning the Sun of heaven, n. 116-125; and concerning heat and light in heaven, n. 126-140). And because the essential Divine from which all things exist is Divine love, therefore will also, when said of the Lord, denotes Divine love, for what love itself wills is the good of love; the truth which is called the truth of faith being only a means that good may exist, and that the truth of faith may afterwards exist from good. From this origin man possesses will and understanding; the will is the receptacle of the good of love with him, and the understanding is the receptacle of the truth of faith with him; the understanding is the means by which the will may be reformed, and by which afterwards the will may appear in form, such as it is by means of the understanding. Hence also it is evident that the will is the being (esse) of man's life, and the understanding is the manifestation (existere) of life therefrom. (But these things may also be seen more fully shown in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, where the will and understanding are treated of, n.28-35).

[3] Because the will of man is his love, and the will of God is the Divine love, it is plain what is meant in the spiritual sense by doing the will of God, and the will of the Father, viz., that it is to love God above all things and the neighbour as oneself. And because to love is to will, so also it is to do, for what a man loves that he wills, and what he wills he also does. Hence, by doing the will of God, or of the Father is meant to do His precepts, or to live according to them, from the affection of love or charity.

This is what is meant by the will of God and of the Father in the following passages.

In John:

"God heareth not sinners; but if any man worshippeth God, and doeth his will, him he heareth" (9:31).

In Matthew (that he who does the will of the Father who is in the heavens, shall enter into the kingdom of the heavens):

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of the heavens; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in the heavens" (7:21).

Again:

"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven so upon the earth" (6:10).

And again:

"It is not the will of the Father that one of the little ones should perish" (18:14).

That it's not being His will that one of the little ones should perish, denotes love, is evident. It is said "The will of your Father" because the Father denotes the Divine good. In John:

"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you" (15:7),

The reason why it is said that whatsoever they should will and ask, should be done to those who abide in the Lord, and in whom His words abide, is that in such case they will nothing but what the Lord gives them to will, and this is good, and good is from Himself.

[4] The will of the Lord is called His good pleasure in the Old Testament, and in like manner signifies the Divine love; and to do His good pleasure, or His will, signifies to love God and the neighbour, thus to live according to the Lord's precepts, because this is to love God and the neighbour. And this also descends from the Lord's love; for no one can love the Lord and the neighbour, except from the Lord, for this is the very essential good pertaining to man, and all good is from the Lord. That good pleasure has this signification is clear from the following passages. In Isaiah:

"In mine anger I smote thee, but in my good pleasure have I had mercy on thee" (60:10).

By smiting in anger is signified temptation; and by having mercy in good pleasure is signified deliverance, from love (having mercy, is doing good to the needy from love).

[5] In David:

"My prayer is unto thee, O Jehovah, in the time of thy good pleasure; O God, in the greatness of thy mercy answer me, in the truth of thy salvation" (Psalms 69:13).

The time of the good pleasure of Jehovah signifies acceptance from love; time signifies the existing state when said of men, but perpetually existing when said of Jehovah, thus His love, because this is perpetual. Hearing and help springing from love by the proceeding Divine which is Divine truth is signified by in the greatness of thy mercy answer me, in the truth of thy salvation.

[6] In Isaiah:

"Jehovah said, In the time of good pleasure have I heard thee, and in the day of salvation have I helped thee" (49:8).

By the time of good pleasure, or will, also here is signified the Divine love; and to answer signifies to bring aid, and to benefit.

[7] In the same:

"To proclaim the year of the good pleasure of Jehovah, to comfort all that mourn" (61:2).

Here the subject is the advent of the Lord, and by the year of his good pleasure is signified the time and state of the members of the church, when they must be aided from love; therefore it is also said, to comfort all that mourn.

[8] In David:

"Thou wilt bless the just; with good pleasure wilt thou compass him as with a shield" (Psalms 5:12).

Here good pleasure manifestly means the Divine love, from which the Lord protects every one; His protection from love is signified by, thou wilt compass him as with a shield.

[9] Again:

Jehovah "opening his hand and satisfying every living thing with good pleasure" (Psalms 145:16).

Here by opening the hand is signified to gift with good; and by satisfying every living thing with good pleasure is signified, from love to enrich with Divine truth all who receive life from Him.

[10] In Moses:

"Of the precious things of the earth and of the fulness thereof, and for the good pleasure of him who dwelleth in the bush, let them come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the head of the Nazarite of his brethren; of Naphtali, satisfied with the good of pleasure and the blessing of Jehovah " (Deuteronomy 33:16, 23).

By Joseph, in the highest sense, is signified the Lord as to the spiritual Divine, in the internal sense the spiritual kingdom, and, in the external sense, salvation, fructification of good and multiplication of truth (as may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 3969, 3971, 4669, 6417). Hence it is evident what is signified by the precious things of the earth and the fulness thereof, and the good pleasure of him that dwelleth in the bush, belonging to Joseph. The precious things of the earth denote the spiritual goods and truths pertaining to the church, the earth denoting the church; the good pleasure of him that dwelleth in the bush is the Lord's Divine love of truth, the bush in which the Lord also appeared before Moses signifies that Divine love. The head of Joseph signifies the wisdom pertaining to the internal man, and the crown of the head of the Nazarite of his brethren signifies the intelligence and knowledge (scientia) belonging to the external man. Naphtali, so called from strugglings, signifies temptations, and consolation and benediction from the Divine love after them, which are meant by being satisfied with the good pleasure and the blessing of Jehovah.

[11] In Isaiah:

"Wilt thou call this a fast, and a day of the good pleasure of Jehovah? Is it not to break thy bread to the hungry, and when thou seest the naked that thou cover him?" (58:5, 7).

That by the good pleasure of Jehovah, when said of men, is signified to live according to His precepts, which is to love God and the neighbour (as said above), is evident; for it is said that His good pleasure is that they should break their bread to the hungry and cover the naked. By breaking bread to the hungry is signified from love to do good to the neighbour who desires good; and by covering the naked is signified to instruct in truths him who desires to be instructed.

[12] In David:

"I have desired to do thy good pleasure (or thy will), my God, and thy law is in my bowels" (Psalms 40:8).

Again:

"Teach me to do thy good pleasure; let thy good spirit lead me in the land of uprightness" (Psalms 143:10).

And again:

"Bless ye Jehovah, all ye his hosts; ye his ministers who do his good pleasure" (Psalms 103:21).

To do the good pleasure of Jehovah God signifies to live according to His precepts; this is His good pleasure, or will, because from Divine love He wills that all may be saved, and by this they are saved. The word good pleasure, in the Hebrew tongue, also signifies will; for whatever is done according to the will is well pleasing, and the Divine love wills no other than that the love which is from Himself may be with angels and men, and His love is with them, when they love to live according to His precepts. That this is to love the Lord, He himself teaches in John (14:15, 21, 23, 24; 15:10, 14; 21:15, 16).

[13] That will signifies love in the opposite sense, namely, the love of evil and the love of falsity, is evident in John:

As many as received Jesus, "to them gave he power to become the sons of God, to them that believe in his name; who were born, not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (1:12, 13).

To believe in the name of the Lord signifies to live according to the precepts of His doctrine. (That the name of the Lord signifies all those things by which He is worshipped, consequently all those things that appertain to love and faith, may be seen above, n. 102, 135.) Who are not [born] of bloods signifies those who are not in a life contrary to good and truth; nor of the will of the flesh signifies those who are not in the love of evil; who are not [born] of the will of man (vir) signifies those who are not in the love of falsity. (That flesh, when said of man, denotes his voluntary proprium, consequently evil, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 148, 149, 780, 999, 3813, 8409, 10283; and that man (vir) denotes the intellectual proprium of man, which is falsity, may be seen, n. 4823).