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:

9272. '[And] six years you shall sow [your] land' means the first state, when a member of the Church receives instruction in the truths and forms of the good of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'six years' as the first state of a person who is being regenerated, dealt with below in 9274; and from the meaning of 'sowing the land' as a time when the seeds of the truth and good of faith are implanted. The reason why 'sowing the land' has this meaning is that everything involving the field, what is sown in it, and what it produces means such things as belong in general to the Church and in particular to a member of the Church, that is, to a person regenerated by means of the truth of faith and the good of charity received from the Lord. This is why 'the field' and 'the ground' in the Word mean those within the Church who receive the truths and forms of the good of faith, just as the field receives seeds, and therefore also why the field, seed, sowing, harvest, produce, grain and wheat, bread made from them, and everything else involving the field are mentioned many times in the Word.

[2] Anyone unacquainted with the true nature of the heavenly state inevitably supposes that those things as they are mentioned in the Word are no more than metaphorical ways of speaking and comparisons; yet they are true correspondences. For when angels talk about the Lord's regeneration of a person by means of the truths of faith and forms of the good of charity, there appear at the same time in the world of spirits below them fields, crops, fallow land, and also harvests. The reason for their appearance is their correspondence. Anyone acquainted with this is also able to see that such things have been created in the world in accordance with correspondences; for the whole natural order - that is, all the sky together with the sun, moon, and stars, and the earth together with every object in its three kingdoms - corresponds to such things as exist in the spiritual world, 2993, 5116, 5377, so that the natural order is a theatre which is representative of the Lord's kingdom, 3483, from which all things in the natural world derive their existence, 2987, 2989-2991, 3002, 8211. All this shows how it comes about that what belongs to the field - that is, what is sown in the field and what is harvested from the field - means things of the Church in general and in particular. Even comparisons made in the Word involve the use of things that are correspondential, see 3579, 8989.

[3] The fact that 'sowing the land (or the field)' means teaching and learning about the truths and forms of the good of faith which belong to the Church, and the fact that 'the produce' means resulting forms of the good of truth may be seen from many places in the Word, as in Isaiah,

Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation, therefore you will plant pleasant plants; ¹ but you will plant out the land ² with the vine-sprig of the foreigner. In the day you will cause your plant to grow, and in the morning your seed to flourish. The harvest will be a heap on the day of possession; but the grief will be desperate. Isaiah 17:10-11.

Here such things as grow on earth are mentioned, but holy things of the Church are plainly meant by them. That is to say, 'planting pleasant plants' means such things as delight the affections, and 'planting out the land with the vine-sprig of the foreigner' teaching unauthentic truths.

[4] In Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah to the man of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to Jehovah, and remove the foreskins of your heart. Jeremiah 4:3-4.

'Sowing among thorns' means teaching and learning truths which however are choked and rendered unfruitful by 'the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and cravings', as the Lord teaches in Mark 4:7, 18-19. This is why it says that they were 'to circumcise themselves to Jehovah and to remove the foreskins of their heart', that is, to purify themselves from the kinds of things that choke the truths and forms of the good of faith and render them unfruitful. For this meaning of 'circumcising', see 2039, 2056, 2632, 3412, 3413, 4462, 7045. Sowing wheat and reaping thorns in Jeremiah 12:13 has a similar meaning.

[5] In Micah,

I am tired of striking you, of laying you waste because of your sins. You will sow but not reap; you will tread olives but not anoint yourself with oil, and tread the new wine but not drink wine. Micah 6:13, 15.

'Sowing and not reaping' stands for receiving instruction in the truths of faith but to no further effect. 'Treading olives but not anointing themselves with oil' stands for receiving instruction in goodness of life but still failing to lead a good life. 'Treading the new wine but not drinking wine' stands for receiving instruction in truths flowing from good but still not making them their own. That such aspects of the Church or of heaven are meant by these words is evident from those that come before them, namely the words stating that they were laid waste in that way because of their sins. For one who is wicked and a sinner receives instruction but he does no more than store it away among items of knowledge in his memory which he draws on in his quest for reputation, position, and riches, thus which he uses to serve an evil end and purpose. As a consequence the truths and forms of good which the person has learned about forfeit the life of heaven, becoming dead and eventually lethal.

[6] In Isaiah,

Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, who send forth the foot of the ox and the ass. Isaiah 32:20.

'Sowing beside all waters' stands for receiving instruction in any truths whatever that can be put to useful service, 'sending forth the foot of the ox and the ass' for receiving instruction in external kinds of goodness and truth. In the same prophet,

Those who are to come Jacob will cause to take root. Israel will blossom and flower, so that the face of the earth may be filled with produce. Your teachers will not be compelled to flee away any more; and your eyes will be looking at your teachers, and your ears will hear the word behind you, saying, This is the way, go in it. Then Jehovah will give rain for your seed with which you will sow the land, and bread of the produce of the earth; and there will be fatness and wealthiness. On that day they will feed your livestock in a broad grassland. And oxen and asses tilling the land will eat pure fodder. The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, on the day when Jehovah will bind up the hurt ³ of His people, and will heal the wound of their stroke. Isaiah 27:6; 30:20-26.

[7] When it says that Jehovah would give rain for the seed with which [the people] would sow the land, and bread of the produce of the earth, that they would feed their livestock in a broad grassland, that oxen and asses tilling the land would eat pure fodder, that the light of the moon would be as the light of the sun, and that the latter would be sevenfold, such things as have to do with the Church are meant. This is plainly evident to anyone who gives thought to the matter, as is the fact that receiving instruction in the truths and forms of the good of faith is meant. For it says, 'Your eyes will be looking at your teachers, and your ears will hear the word, saying, This is the way, go in it', and 'teachers' are those who give instruction, while 'the way' in which they were to go is the truth that doctrine teaches and the good in which life consists. But the specific meaning of each individual statement is evident from the meaning of 'rain', 'seed', 'produce', 'the land', 'livestock', 'a broad grassland', 'oxen and asses tilling the land', and 'the fodder they were to eat', as well as from the meaning of 'the light of the moon and of the sun', and also of 'sevenfold' and 'seven days'. And since such things as have to do with the Church are meant by them, that is, matters of doctrine and of life, it follows that this will take place 'on the day when Jehovah will bind up the hurt of His people, and will heal the wound of their stroke' - 'the hurt of the people' being falsity in doctrine that gradually creeps in owing to the dishonesty of teachers, to evil cravings, and to other causes, and 'the wound of their stroke' being consequent evil in life.

[8] Since everything among the Israelite and Jewish people was representative of heavenly and Divine realities, so too were fields and their produce, also vineyards, olive groves, and all cultivated areas, as well as herds and oxen, and in addition mountains, hills, valleys, rivers, and all else that met their eye. In this also lay the reason why, whenever they kept and carried out statutes and judgements, they were made rich in those earthly things, according to the promises made in various places in the Word, for example in Moses,

If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments and do them, I will give you rain in its season, and the land will give its produce, and the tree of the field will give its fruit. Leviticus 26:3-4.

And in Zechariah,

The vine will give its fruit, and the land will give its produce, and the heavens will give their dew. Consequently it will happen, that just as you were a curse among the nations, you will be a blessing. Zechariah 8:12-13.

[9] But the opposite happened to them when they worshipped other gods, for then they no longer represented heavenly and Divine realities but hellish and devilish ones; and for this reason the land was no longer fertile or productive, but was consumed and laid waste, in accordance with the following in Moses,

If you serve other gods Jehovah's anger will be aroused against you; He will close heaven so that there is no rain and the land does not give its produce. Deuteronomy 11:16-17.

And in the same author,

When Jeshurun became fat he kicked, and forsook God. They sacrifice to demons, to gods they have not known. Therefore a fire has flared up in My anger, and will burn right down to the lowest hell, and will consume the land and its produce. Deuteronomy 32:15, 17, 22.

[10] All this shows what it is that 'sowing the land' and 'its produce' means, and also where they derive that meaning from, as well as showing what it is they mean in the following places: In David,

Jehovah turns a wilderness into a pool of water, and parched land into streams of water. He makes the hungry dwell there, that they may sow fields and plant vineyards, and yield a fruitful harvest. ⁴ Psalms 107:35-37.

In the same author,

All the peoples will acclaim You. The land will give its produce; God will bless us. Psalms 67:5-7.

In Moses,

Jehovah causes His people to ride on the heights of the land, and He feeds [them] with the produce of the fields; He causes them to suck honey out of the stony crag and oil out of the stony rock. Deuteronomy 32:13.

Footnotes: