41. Anything that is man's own has no life in it; and when depicted visually it looks like something hard as a bone and black. But anything that comes from the Lord does contain life. It has that which is spiritual and celestial within it, and when depicted visually it looks human and alive. It is perhaps incredible, but nevertheless absolutely true, that every expression, every idea, and every least thought of an angelic spirit is alive. In even the most detailed areas of his thought there is an affection that comes from the Lord, who is life itself. Consequently all that derives from the Lord has life within it, for it contains faith in Him, and is here meant by 'a living creature'. It then has the outward appearance of a body, meant here by that which is moving, or creeping. To man these matters remain arcana, but since the subject here is the living and moving creature, they ought at least to be mentioned here.

4516. 'You have brought trouble on me, by making me stink to the inhabitant of the land' means that those who belonged to the Ancient Church abominated them. This is clear from the meaning of 'bringing trouble on me, by making me stink' as causing them to abominate, and from the meaning of 'the inhabitant of the land' here as those who belonged to the Ancient Church. For 'the land' means the Church, 566, 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 2928, 3355, 4447, and so 'the inhabitant of the land' those who belong to the Church, which in this case is the Ancient Church since that Church continued to exist among some nations in the land of Canaan. But that which was a representative of the Church was not established among the people descended from Jacob until that Ancient Church had completely come to an end. This fact is also meant by those descended from Jacob not being allowed into the land of Canaan until the iniquity of the inhabitants of the land had come to a close, as stated in Genesis 15:16. For no new Church is ever established until the previous one has been laid waste.