1057. They whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world. That this signifies that they are those who do not acknowledge the Lord's Divine power over heaven and earth, but as transferred to some vicar, and from him to his vicars, is evident from the signification of names not written in the book of life, as denoting those who are not received in heaven (concerning which see (n. 199, 222, 299). And because those who do not acknowledge the Lord's Divine power over heaven and earth are not received in heaven, therefore these are they who are meant; and from the signification of the foundation of the world, as denoting from the establishment of the church. By the foundation of the world, in the literal or natural sense, is meant the creation of the world; but in the internal spiritual sense the establishment of the church is meant. For the spiritual sense treats of spiritual things; and the natural sense of the natural things that pertain to the world. Hence it is that by the creation of heaven and earth, in the first chapter of Genesis, in the spiritual sense, is described the new creation or establishment of the first and Most Ancient Church on this earth. That this is described by the creation of heaven and earth in the first chapter of Genesis may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia, where the things in that chapter are explained. Moreover, by creating, in the Word, is signified to reform, and by Creator, the Lord as Reformer and Saviour. That to create signifies to reform, and that by the creation of heaven and earth in the first chapter of Genesis is described, in the spiritual sense, the establishment of the Most Ancient Church, may be seen above (n. 294, 739).

[2] The establishment of the church is also meant by the foundation of the world in these passages in the Word:

"The king shall say to them on the right hand, Come and possess as a heritage the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matthew 25:34).

Jesus praying said, "Father, because thou hast loved me before the foundation of the world" (John 17:24).

Jesus said, "The blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, shall be required of this generation" (Luke 11:50).

That the establishment of the church is meant by the foundation of the world, is evident from the passages in the Word where it is said to found the earth, the founding of the earth, and the foundation of the earth, by which is not meant the foundation or creation of the earth, but the establishment or creation of the church upon the earth. As in Zechariah:

"Jehovah who stretcheth out the heavens, and layeth the foundations of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man in the midst of him" (12:1).

Here by stretching out the heaven, and founding the earth, is not meant the stretching out of the visible heaven, and founding the habitable earth, but the church as to its internals, which are called spiritual, and as to its externals, which are called natural. To found the latter and stretch out the former is to establish; therefore it is also said, forming the spirit of man in the midst of him, which signifies his reformation and regeneration.

[3] In Isaiah:

"Attend to me, O Jacob and Israel, my hand hath founded the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens" (48:12, 13).

By founding the earth with the hand, and spanning the heavens with the right hand, are signified similar things to those explained just above, as is evident from the preceding and following parts of the chapter, where the establishment of a new church by the Lord is treated of.

In the same:

"Hast forgotten Jehovah thy Maker, who stretcheth out the heavens, and foundeth the earth" (51:13).

Here also by the heavens and the earth is signified the church as to its internal or spiritual things, and as to its external or natural things and by stretching out and founding is signified to establish.

[4] In the same:

"I will put my words into thy mouth, and with the shadow of my hand will I cover thee, to plant the heavens, and to found the earth, and to say unto Zion, Thou art my people; awake, awake, arise, O Jerusalem" (51:16, 17).

Here by planting the heavens and founding the earth, is evidently meant to establish the church; for this is said unto the prophet, that the word should be put in his mouth, and that he should be covered with the shadow of the hand to plant the heavens and to found the earth. By a prophet the earth cannot be founded, but the church. Therefore also it is added, "To say unto Zion, thou art my people;" also, "Awake, awake, arise, O Jerusalem." For by Zion and by Jerusalem, in the Word, is meant the church.

In David:

"The heaven and the earth are thine; the world and the fulness thereof thou hast founded them" (Psalm 89:11).

Here in like manner by heaven and the earth is signified the church, by the world the church as to good; and by the fulness thereof are signified all the goods and truths of the church.

[5] Again:

"Jehovah hath founded the earth and the world upon the seas, and established them upon the rivers. Who shall ascend into the mountain of Jehovah, and who shall stand in the place of his holiness?" (Psalm 24:2, 3).

That the establishment of the church is described by founding the earth and the world upon the seas, and establishing them upon the rivers, may be seen above (n. 304, 518, 741). That the establishment of the church is signified, is evident from what follows here, namely, who shall ascend into the mountain of Jehovah, and who shall stand in the place of His holiness? By the mountain of Jehovah is understood Zion; whereby is signified, where the Lord reigns by means of Divine truth; and by the place of [His] holiness is meant Jerusalem, where the temple was, by which is signified the church as to doctrine. From these things it is evident, that by the foundation of the world is signified the establishment of the church. For the same is meant by the world, as by heaven and the earth. And it is said, "To found the earth;" because by the earth is signified the church on earth, and upon this heaven is founded as to its holy things.

Hence, also, it is evident what is signified by the foundations of the earth in the following passages.

In Isaiah:

"Have ye not known, have ye not heard, hath it not been declared to you from the beginning, have ye not understood the foundations of the earth?" (40:21).

In the same:

"The foundations of the earth are corrupted" (24:18).

Likewise in Isaiah 63:12; Jeremiah 31:37; Micah 6:2; Psalms 18:7, 15; 82:5; and elsewhere).

Continuation concerning the second kind of Profanation:-

[6] The reason why profaners of this kind are stupid and foolish in spiritual things, but cunning and ingenious in worldly things is, that they make one with the devils in hell.

And because, as said above, they are merely sensual, and thence are in their own proprium, which draws its delight of life from the unclean effluvia exhaled from effete things in the body, and exhaled from dunghills, from these also arise their conceit and pride when things are in their delight.

[7] That it arises from these is evident from their delights, after death, when they live as spirits; for then in preference to the most fragrant odours they love the rank stenches that arise from the air discharged from the belly, and from latrines, which smell to them more fragrant than thyme. By the breath and touch of these the interiors of the mind are closed, and the exteriors belonging to the body are opened, whence arise their eagerness in worldly matters, and their dulness in spiritual things. In a word, the love of domination by means of the holy things of the church corresponds to filth, and the delight of it to an unspeakable stench, which to the angels is most horrible. Such is the exhalation from their hells when they are opened, but because of the oppression that arises, and on account of swooning that sometimes follows, they are kept closed.

7418. 'And strike the dust of the land' means that he should remove those things in the natural which are damned. This is clear from the meaning of 'striking' as removing; from the meaning of 'the dust' as that which is damned, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'the land', at this point the land of Egypt, as the natural mind, dealt with above in 7409. The reason why 'the dust' means that which is damned is that the places on the fringes below the soles of the feet, where evil spirits are, look like a land. They look like an uncultivated and dry land, to be exact, below which there are certain kinds of hells. That land is what is called the damned land, and the dust there serves to mean that which is damned. I have been allowed on several occasions to see evil spirits shaking off the dust there from their feet when they wished to consign someone to damnation. I saw them doing this in a position on the right slightly in front of me, on the borders of the hell of magicians, where spirits who during their life in the world have possessed a knowledge of matters of belief, but have nevertheless led a life of evil, are cast down into the hell that is theirs. This then is why 'the dust' means that which is damned, and 'shaking off the dust' damnation.

[2] Since it had that meaning the Lord commanded the disciples to shake off the dust on their feet if they were not well received. What He said about this appears in Matthew as follows,

If anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, as you leave that house or city, shake off the dust on your feet. Truly I say to you, It will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgement than for that city. Matthew 10:14-15; Mark 6:11; Luke 9:5; 10:10-12.

Here the disciples are not meant by the disciples but all aspects of the Church, thus all aspects of faith and charity, 2089, 2129 (end), 2130 (end), 3354, 3858, 3913, 6397. 'Not receiving' and 'not listening to' mean rejecting the truths of faith and forms of the good of charity, while 'shaking off the dust on their feet' means damnation. And the reason why 'it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than that city' is that 'Sodom and Gomorrah' is used to mean those who lead a life of evil but have known nothing about the Lord and the Word, and so could not be receptive. From this it may become clear that a house or a city unreceptive of the disciples is not meant, but those who though they are within the Church do not lead the life of faith. Anyone may see that an entire city could not be damned for not receiving the disciples and instantly accepting the new teaching proclaimed by them.

[3] That which is damned is also meant by 'the dust' which people in former times placed on their heads in grief or when penitent, as in Jeremiah,

The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground, they are silent; they have caused dust to come up over their heads, they have girded themselves with sackcloth; the virgins of Jerusalem have caused their heads to come down to the ground. Lamentations 2:10.

In Ezekiel,

They will cry out bitterly, and will cause dust to come up over their heads; they roll themselves in ashes. Ezekiel 27:30.

In Micah,

Do not weep at all in the house of Aphrah; roll yourself in the dust. Micah 1:10.

In John,

They threw dust onto their heads, and cried out, weeping and wailing. Revelation 18:19.

The same actions are referred to throughout the historical narratives of the Word. Casting dust over the head, prostrating body and head on the ground, and rolling over in the dust on it, represented self-abasement, which - when it is genuine - is such that the person acknowledges and perceives that he is damned, yet is rescued from damnation by the Lord, see 1327, 3994, 4347, 5420, 5957.

[4] The dust' into which the golden calf which they made in the wilderness was crushed and ground down likewise means that which is damned. This is spoken of in Moses as follows,

I took your sin which you had made, the calf, and I burnt it in the fire, and crushed it by grinding it right down until it was as fine as dust; and I threw its dust into the brook descending out of the mountain. Deuteronomy 9:11.

'Dust' again means that which is damned in the following places: In Genesis,

Jehovah God said to the serpent, On your belly you will go, and dust will you eat all the days of your life. Genesis 3:14.

In Micah,

Shepherd Your people as in the days of eternity. The nations will see and be ashamed at all their power; they will lick the dust like a serpent. Micah 7:14, 16-17.

In Isaiah,

For the serpent, dust will be his bread. Isaiah 65:25.

In the same prophet,

Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babel. Isaiah 47:1.

In David,

Our soul was bowed down to the dust, our belly clung to the earth. Psalms 44:25.

In the same author,

My soul clings to the dust; vivify me. Psalms 119:25.

In the Word 'dust' in addition means the grave, as well as that which is lowly, and that which is numerous too.