40. 'Creeping things which the waters bring forth' means facts which belong to the external man, while 'birds' generally means rational concepts and also intellectual concepts, of which the latter belong to the internal man. That creeping things from the waters, or fish, mean facts is clear in Isaiah,

I came, and there was no man. By My rebuke I will dry up the sea, I will make the rivers a desert. Their fish will stink because there is no water and will die of thirst. I will clothe the heavens with darkness. Isaiah 50:2-3.

[2] This is plainer still in Ezekiel where the Lord describes the new temple, or new Church in general, and the member of the Church, or person who has been regenerated, for every regenerate person is a temple of the Lord,

The Lord Jehovih ¹ said to me, Those waters which will go out to the boundary eastwards will come towards the sea, having been directed into the sea, and the waters will be fresh. And it will be that every living creature which swarms will live, wherever the water of the rivers reaches, and there will be very many fish, for these waters are going there and will become fresh; and everything will live where the river goes. And it will be that fishermen from En-gedi to En-eglaim will stand beside it, with nets spread out. Its fish according to their kinds will be very many, like the fish of the great sea. Ezekiel 47:8-10.

'Fishermen from En-gedi to En-eglaim with their nets stretched out' means people who are to teach the natural man about the truths of faith.

[3] In the Prophets 'birds' invariably means rational concepts and intellectual concepts, as in Isaiah,

Calling a bird of prey from the east, a man of My counsel from a distant land. Isaiah 46:11.

In Jeremiah,

I looked, and behold there was no man, and all the birds of the air ² had fled. Jeremiah 4:25.

In Ezekiel,

I will plant the sprig of a lofty cedar, and it will bring forth a branch, and bear fruit, and it will become a noble cedar, and under it will dwell every bird of every sort, ³ in the shade of its branches they will dwell. Ezekiel 17:23.

And in Hosea, when the subject is a new Church, or regenerate person,

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

Anyone may see that because the Lord 'is making a new covenant' with them, 'wild animal' is not used to mean a wild animal, nor 'bird' to mean a bird.

Footnotes:

10064. 'And you shall sprinkle the blood over the altar round about' means the uniting of Divine Truth to Divine Good. This is clear from the meaning of 'the blood', when it refers to the sacrifice and burnt offering, as Divine Truth, dealt with above in 10026, 10033; and from the meaning of 'the altar' as that which is representative of the Lord in respect of Divine Good, dealt with in 9964. When the words 'Divine Good' are used Divine Love is also meant. For all good belongs to love; indeed whatever people love they perceive to be good and therefore also call it good. But all truth belongs to faith; for whatever people believe they perceive to be and also call the truth. From this it follows that the things which compose the human understanding belong to faith and those that compose the will belong to love; for a person's understanding is dedicated to receiving truths that belong to faith and his will to receiving forms of good that belong to love. The character therefore of a person's understanding is determined by that of the truths which compose it and by that of his belief in them; and the character of a person's will is determined by that of the forms of good which constitute it and by that of his love of them. In the contrary sense there is a love of evil and belief in falsity, and also a will and understanding consisting of these. But the character of the understanding is determined by that of the falsity which composes it and by that of the belief in this falsity; and the character of the will is determined by that of the evil which constitutes it and by that of the love of this evil. The fact that a will consisting of evil and an understanding consisting of falsity come from hell, and that they constitute hell with a person, is self-evident, for they are the opposites of an understanding consisting of truth and a will consisting of good, which come from heaven and originate in the Lord, and so which constitute heaven with a person.