46. That 'beasts' means affections residing with man - evil affections in evil men and good affections in good men - becomes clear from many examples in the Word, as in Ezekiel,

Behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, so that you will be tilled and sown; and I will multiply upon you man and beast, and they will be multiplied and be fruitful, and I will resettle you ¹ to be as in your ancient times. Ezekiel 36:9-11.

This refers to regeneration. In Joel,

Fear not, you beasts of My field, for the dwelling-places of the wilderness have been made green. Joel 2:22.

In David,

I was stupid, a beast ² was I with God. Psalms 73:12.

In Jeremiah,

Behold, the days are coming when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast, and I will watch over them to build and to plant. Jeremiah 31:27-28.

This refers to regeneration.

[2] 'Wild animals' (fera) has a similar meaning, as in Hosea,

I will make for them a covenant on that day, with the wild animals of the field, and with the birds of the air, ³ and with the creeping things of the earth. Hosea 2:18.

In Job,

You will not fear the wild animals of the earth, for your covenant will be with the stones of the field, and the wild beasts of the field will be at peace with you. Job 5:22-23.

In Ezekiel,

I will make with them ⁴ a covenant of peace, and I will banish the evil wild animal from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness. Ezekiel 34:25.

In Isaiah,

The wild animals of the field will honour me, for I have given water in the desert. Isaiah 43:20.

In Ezekiel,

In its branches all the birds of the air ³ made their nests and under its branches every wild animal of the field gave birth, and in its shadow dwelt all great nations. Ezekiel 31:6.

This refers to Assyria, which means the spiritual man and is compared to the Garden of Eden. In David,

Praise Jehovah, all his angels, praise Him from the earth, sea monsters, fruit trees, wild animals, and all beasts, creeping things, and flying birds! Psalms 148:2-4, 7, 9-10.

Here the list is precisely the same - sea monsters, fruit trees, wild animals, beasts, creeping things, and birds. Unless they all mean things that are alive in human beings, they cannot possibly be referred to as praising Jehovah.

[3] A careful distinction is made in the Prophets between beasts and wild animals of the earth, and between beasts and wild animals of the field. The practice of calling goods 'beasts' extends to calling people in heaven who are nearest to the Lord 'living creatures', both in Ezekiel and in John,

All the angels stood around the throne, and the elders, and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God. ⁵ Revelation 7:11; 19:4.

The expression 'creatures' is also used of people who are to have the gospel preached to them because they are to be created anew, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15.

Footnotes:

9088. 'He shall give silver to its owner' means by means of truth with him whose good or truth in the natural has been perverted. This is clear from the meaning of 'silver' as truth, dealt with in 1551, 2048, 5658, 6112, 6914, 6917, 7999, and of 'giving silver' as redeeming by means of truth 2954; and from the meaning of 'its owner' - the owner of the ox or ass that fell into the pit - as the one whose good or truth in the natural has been perverted. For 'ox' is good in the natural, and 'ass' the truth there, 9086; and 'falling into a pit' means perverting them, 9086.

[2] The situation here is that if good or truth is perverted by falsity, then what has been perverted must be amended by means of truth, within the Church by means of truth from the Word, or from teachings drawn from the Word. The reason why it must be done this way is that truth teaches what evil is and what falsity is, and thereby a person sees and acknowledges them; and when he sees and acknowledges them amendment can be accomplished in him, since the Lord enters into those things with a person that the person knows, not into those he does not know. He does not therefore amend evil or falsity until the person has learned that it is evil or falsity. So it is that those who have to do the work of repentance must see and acknowledge their evils, and accordingly lead the life of truth, 8388-8392. The situation is similar with purification from the evils of self-love and love of the world. Purification from those loves cannot at all be accomplished except by means of the truths of faith, because these teach that all sinful desires spring from those loves. This explains why circumcision among the Israelite and Jewish nation was performed with a knife made of flint; for circumcision was a sign of purification from those foul loves, and the knife of flint with which it was performed was a sign of the truth of faith, 2799 (middle), 7044. By means of the truths of faith also a person is regenerated, 8635-8640, 8772. This was meant by the washings used in former times for ritual cleansings; and the same thing is also meant at the present day by the waters of baptism. For the waters are a sign of the truths of faith, by means of which evils are removed, 739, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 7307, 8568, and baptism is a sign of regeneration, 4255, 5120 (end).

[3] From all this it is evident how false the thinking is of those who believe that a person's evils or sins are wiped away as dirt on the body is washed away by water, that the interiors of those who were washed with water in former times according to the rules of the Church were cleansed, and also that people at the present day are saved through undergoing baptism. In actual fact the washings in former times did no more than represent the cleansing of people interiorly, and baptism is only the sign of regeneration. The waters there mean the truths of faith by means of which a person is cleansed and regenerated, for by means of those truths are evils removed. Baptism is for those within the Church, because they have the Word, where the truths of faith, the means by which a person is regenerated, are to be found.