9341. 'And from the wilderness even to the River' means from delight belonging to the sensory level even to good and truth belonging to the rational level. This is clear from the meaning of 'setting the boundary' as the full range, dealt with immediately above in 9340; from the meaning of 'the wilderness' as a place where no one lives and nothing is grown, so that when it applies to the spiritual matters of faith and the celestial aspects of love 'the wilderness' is a place where no good nor any truth resides, as is the situation with the level of the senses (that this is what the sensory level of the human mind is like, see end of 9331), for no celestial good nor any spiritual truth exists on the sensory level, only delight and pleasure having a bodily and worldly origin exist there, which being so 'the wilderness' means this outermost level of mind in a member of the Church; and from the meaning of the Euphrates, to which 'the River' refers here, as good and truth belonging to the rational level. The reason why the Euphrates has this meaning is that Assyria lay there, and Assyria or Asshur means the rational level of the mind, 119, 1186.

[2] This rational level is meant by 'the Euphrates' where the words 'from the wilderness to the Euphrates' occur, and also 'from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates', as in Joshua,

From the wilderness and Lebanon even to the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea, the going down of the sun, will be your boundary. Joshua 1:4.

And in Moses,

To your seed I will give this land, from the river of Egypt even to the great river, the River Euphrates. Genesis 15:18.

Similarly in David,

You caused a vine to journey out of Egypt. You sent out its shoots even to the sea, and its little branches to the River. Psalms 80:8, 11.

'A vine out of Egypt' stands for the spiritual Church represented by the children of Israel; 'to the sea' and 'to the River' stand for interior truths and forms of good. The like occurs in Micah,

They will come to you from Asshur and the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt even to the River, and from sea to sea, ¹ from mountain to mountain. Micah 7:12.

[3] But something different is meant by 'the Euphrates' when, from the middle of the land of Canaan as the standpoint, it is seen to be the furthest limit of the land on one side or that which encloses it on one side. In this case that river means the last and lowest level of the Lord's kingdom, that is, the last and lowest level of heaven and the Church in respect of rational goodness and truth. The fact that the boundaries of the land of Canaan, which were seas and rivers, meant the lowest things in the Lord's kingdom, see 1585, 1866, 4116, 4240, 6516. 'The Euphrates' therefore meant the kinds of truths and forms of good on the sensory level that were in agreement with truths and forms of good on the rational level. But since the sensory level of the human mind lies next to earth and the world and receives its impressions from them, 9331 (end), it does not acknowledge anything as good except that which delights the body, nor anything as truth except that which lends support to that delight. In this sense therefore 'the River Euphrates' means pleasure which is attributable to self-love and love of the world, and falsity that supports it with reasonings based on the illusions of the senses.

[4] These things are meant by 'the River Euphrates' in John,

A voice said to the sixth angel, Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates. They were released, and they killed a third part of mankind. Revelation 9:14-15.

'The angels bound at the Euphrates' stands for falsities which arise through reasonings based on the illusions of the senses, and which lend support to pleasures attributable to self-love and love of the world. In the same book,

The sixth angel poured out his bowl over the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way of the kings who were from the rising of the sun. ² Revelation 16:12.

Here 'the Euphrates' stands for falsities from a similar origin. 'Dried up water' stands for those falsities after they had been removed by the Lord; and 'the way of the kings from the rising of the sun' stands for the fact that at that time the truths of faith were seen by and revealed to those governed by love to the Lord.

'Waters' are truths and in the contrary sense falsities, see 705, 739, 756, 790, 839, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 7307, 8137, 8138, 8568, 9323.

'The way' is truth that has been seen and revealed, 627, 2333, 3477.

'The kings' are those with whom truths exist, 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148.

'The rising' or 'the east' is the Lord, also love from Him and to Him, 101, 1250, 3708.

'The sun' has the same meaning, 1529, 1530, 2440, 2495, 3636, 3643, 4060, 4696, 5377, 7078, 7083, 7171, 7173, 8644, 8812.

[5] In Jeremiah,

You have forsaken Jehovah your God at a time when He led you in the way. For this reason what have you to do with the way of Egypt, that you drink the waters of Shihor, or what [have you to do] with the way of Asshur, that you drink the waters of the River? Jeremiah 2:17-18.

'Leading in the way' stands for teaching truth. 'What have you to do with the way of Egypt, that you drink the waters of Shihor?' stands for, What have you to do with falsities arising through a perverse use of factual knowledge? 'What have you to do with the way of Asshur, that you drink the waters of the River?' stands for, What have you to do with falsities that arise on account of reasonings - reasonings which are based on the illusions of the senses and lend support to pleasures attributable to self-love and love of the world?

[6] In the same prophet,

Jehovah [said] to the prophet, Take the girdle which you have bought, which is over your loins, and arise, go away to the Euphrates, and hide it there in the cleft of a rock. He went away and hid it by the Euphrates. Afterwards it happened at the end of many days, that Jehovah said, Arise, go away to the Euphrates, take from there the girdle. Therefore he went away to the Euphrates and dug, and took the girdle from the place where he had hidden it. But behold, the girdle was spoiled; it was profitable for nothing. Jeremiah 13:3-7.

'The girdle of the loins' is the outward bond that holds within itself all things of love and consequently of faith. 'Being hidden in the cleft of a rock beside the Euphrates' means in a place where faith dwells in obscurity and is rendered no faith at all by falsities that are the product of reasonings. 'The girdle that had been spoiled, so that it was profitable for nothing' stands for the fact that then all the things of love and faith had been broken apart and scattered.

[7] When Jeremiah was to tie a stone to the book written by him and to throw it into the middle of the Euphrates, Jeremiah 51:63, the meaning was that the prophetical part of the Word would be destroyed by like falsities. In the same prophet,

The swift will not flee away, nor the strong man escape. Northwards on the bank of the River Euphrates they have stumbled and fallen. But Jehovah Zebaoth takes revenge on His adversaries, for the Lord Jehovah Zebaoth holds a sacrifice in the land of the north beside the River Euphrates. Jeremiah 46:6, 10.

Here also 'the River Euphrates' stands for truths that have been falsified and forms of good that have been adulterated by reasonings based on illusions, and therefore stands for factual knowledge which lends support to self-love and love of the world.

Footnotes:

9755. 'And the breadth of the court on the side of the sea' means the state of that heaven in respect of truths on the level of factual knowledge. This is clear from the meaning of 'the breadth' as truth, dealt with in 1613, 3433, 3434, 4482, 9487; from the meaning of 'the court' as the lowest heaven, dealt with above in 9741; and from the meaning of 'the sea' as the place where items of knowledge on which reasoning about truths is based are gathered together, thus also the natural level and the sensory level of the mind, for these are containers. Here 'the side of the sea' is an expression denoting the west side, and by 'the west' good dwelling in obscurity is meant. However, since the words 'the west' are not used but 'the sea', factual knowledge is meant, which too dwells in comparative obscurity because factual knowledge belongs to the natural or external man, and the natural or external man dwells in the light of the world. This light, compared with the light of heaven in which the internal man dwells, is like the shade when the sun is going down in the west.

[2] This may also be recognized from things as they appear in the next life. The Sun of heaven, which is the Lord, appears there midway above the horizon in the direction of the right eye. It is for the angels of heaven the Source of all light, and with the light the Source of all intelligence and wisdom. The sun of the world however does not appear as such when they think about it, but instead as a gloomy object in the opposite direction behind the back. That is also where the west is, in the heavens; for the Lord there as the Sun is the east. From all this it becomes clear that 'the west' means good dwelling in obscurity, and that this is the good that governs the external or natural man. The natural man, as has been stated, dwells in the light of the world, and this light in comparison with the light of heaven is like the shade when the sun is going down in the west. The natural man's truth however is meant by the water of the sea. This truth consists in factual knowledge, for truth in the natural or external man is truth present in knowledge, whereas truth in the spiritual or internal man is truth present in faith. And truth present in knowledge comes to be truth present in faith when it is raised from the natural or external man to the spiritual or internal man. So it is that truths with a person in childhood are truths present in knowledge; but in adult life, if the person allows himself to be regenerated, they come to be truths present in faith. For the internal man is being opened gradually as the person advances into adult life.

[3] The reason why 'the sea' means a place where items of knowledge are gathered together is that truths are meant by 'waters', 'springs', and 'rivers', so that gatherings of them are meant by 'seas'. That this is so is also clear from places in the Word where 'the sea' and 'the seas' are mentioned, as in David,

The earth is Jehovah's and the fullness of it, the world and those who dwell in it. He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the rivers. Psalms 24:1-2.

'The earth' and 'the world' stand for the Church. 'The seas' on which He has founded the world are truths on the level of factual knowledge, 'the rivers' on which He has established it are the truths of faith. The fact that the earth, world, seas, or rivers should not be understood here is self-evident; for the world has not been founded upon the seas, nor has it been established upon the rivers.

[4] In the same author,

You broke up the sea by Your strength, You broke the heads of the monsters upon the waters. You broke in pieces the heads of Leviathan; You gave him as food to the people, the Ziim. You dried up the rivers of strength. Psalms 74:13-15.

This refers in the internal sense to knowledge that destroys the truths of faith. 'The monsters' whose heads will be broken are factual knowledge in general, 42, 7293; and 'Leviathan' has a similar meaning, 7293. 'The people, the Ziim', to whom it was to be given as food, are those steeped in falsities, or actual falsities. From this it is evident what 'the sea' means, namely factual knowledge misapplied in order to weaken and destroy truths. In Habakkuk,

You trampled the sea with Your horses, the mud of many waters. Habakkuk 3:15.

'Trampling the sea with horses', when said to have been done by Jehovah, stands for teaching the natural man, where factual knowledge belongs.

[5] In Zechariah,

On that day living waters will flow out from Jerusalem, part of them to the eastern sea, and part of them to the western ¹ sea. Zechariah 14:8.

'Living waters from Jerusalem' are truths of faith that receive their life from the good of love, 'the eastern sea' and 'the western sea' being the natural level and the sensory level of the mind where items of knowledge reside, that is, truths that have been gathered together. In Hosea,

They will go after Jehovah, and respectfully [His] sons from the sea ² will draw near; respectfully they will come like a bird from Egypt. Hosea 11:10-11.

'Sons from the sea' are truths on the level of factual knowledge which belong to the natural man. This explains why it says that 'they will come like a bird from Egypt', for 'Egypt' in the Word means factual knowledge, 9340, 9391.

[6] In Ezekiel,

All the princes of the sea will step down from their thrones, and will cast away their robes and strip off their embroidered clothes. They will clothe themselves with tremblings, they will say, How you have perished, O one inhabited in the seas, O praised city which was powerful in the sea. Ezekiel 26:16-17.

This has to do with the ruination of the cognitions of good and truth, meant by Tyre, to which the words here refer, 1201, cognitions of good and truth being items of knowledge which the Church possesses. 'The princes of the sea' are leading cognitions, 1482, 2089, 5044; and 'casting away robes and embroidered clothes' means removing truths as they exist on the level of factual knowledge, 9688. Since such truths are meant by 'Tyre', Tyre is called 'one inhabited in the seas' and 'a city powerful in the sea'.

[7] In Jeremiah,

The sea has come up over Babel, she has been covered with the multitude of its waves; her cities have been reduced to a desolation. Jeremiah 51:42-43.

'Babel' stands for worship which to outward appearances is holy but inwardly is unholy, 1182, 1326. 'The sea' spread over Babel is falsity rising up from factual knowledge; 'its waves' are reasonings that consist of that knowledge, and the resulting denials; 'cities' which were turned into a desolation are matters of doctrine.

[8] Something similar occurs in the Book of Revelation,

Every shipmaster, and everyone on board ships, and sailors, and all who trade on the sea, stood at a distance [and were crying out] as they saw the smoke of Babylon's burning, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who have ships on the sea have been made rich by her wealth. ³ Then an angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, Thus with vehemence will Babylon be thrown down. Revelation 18:17-21.

'Ships' are teachings drawn from the Word, 6385, and from this it is evident what 'shipmaster' means, and 'sailor', also 'the sea', and 'those who trade on it'. 'A stone like a millstone' is truth through which faith develops; 'being thrown into the sea' means being consigned to the falsity of factual knowledge. In the next life seas appear, and also ships on them; I have often been allowed to see such ships and seas. The seas there are in a bad sense a sign of the falsities of factual knowledge, and people on ships a sign of those who traffic in and supply such falsities.

[9] In Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah who gives the sun for light by day and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea that its waves may roar, ... Jeremiah 31:35.

'The sun for light by day' is the good of love from which light comes to truths. 'The ordinances of the moon and of the stars for light by night' are forms of the good of faith and of cognitions from which truth has light in darkness. 'Stirring up the sea that its waves may roar' means dispelling the falsities of factual knowledge on which mere reasonings about truths are based.

[10] In Isaiah,

Has My hand been altogether shortened, that it cannot redeem? Or is there no power in Me to deliver? Lo, by My rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a desert. Their fish will putrify because there is no water and they die of thirst. Isaiah 50:2.

'Drying up the sea' stands for doing away with the good and truth of factual knowledge, 'making the rivers a desert' for laying actual truths waste. 'The fish' which will putrify means the factual knowledge that the natural man possesses, 40, 991; 'because there is no water' means the non-existence of truth, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, 8568; 'dying of thirst' means owing to the lack of truth, 8568.

[11] Something similar occurs elsewhere in the same prophet,

The waters will fail from the sea, and the river will be parched and dry; and the streams will recede, the rivers of Egypt will diminish and dry up. Isaiah 19:5-6.

'The waters will fail from the sea' stands for the departure of truths in the place where they are gathered together; 'the rivers of Egypt' which are going to dry up are factual knowledge. In the same prophet,

The earth is full of the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters cover the sea. Isaiah 11:9.

'The waters' stands for truths, 'the sea' for a gathering together of them, that is, for knowledge of them, which is why it speaks of the earth's being full of 'the knowledge of Jehovah'.

[12] In John,

The second angel sounded, and so to speak a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea. And a third part of the sea became blood resulting in the death of a third part of the creatures which had their being in the sea. ⁴ And a third part of the ships was destroyed. Revelation 8:8-9.

'A great mountain burning with fire' is self-love; 'the sea' into which it was thrown is factual knowledge in general; 'blood' which it became is truth that has been falsified and made profane, 4735, 4978, 7317, 7326; and 'the creatures' which died as a result are those in possession of teachings which present the truth.

[13] Something similar occurs elsewhere in the same book,

The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of one dead, from which every living soul died in the sea. Revelation 16:3-4.

Factual knowledge serving evils in the destruction of truths and in the substantiation of falsities is meant here by 'the sea'. In the same book,

... a beast coming up out of the sea, speaking blasphemies. Revelation 13:1ff.

'A beast out of the sea' is factual knowledge destroying the truths of faith. From all this it becomes clear that 'the sea' means a place where factual knowledge is gathered together and is the resource which reasoning about the truths of faith makes use of.

[14] Since 'the sea' has this meaning Zebulun is spoken of as dwelling at the shore of the seas and at the haven of ships, Genesis 49:13, and in another place as one who 'will suck the plentifulness of the sea, and the hidden treasures of the sand, Deuteronomy 33:19. Zebulun is used in the representative sense to mean those who make use of factual knowledge to arrive at conclusions about the truths of faith; this is why it says that he was going to dwell 'at the shore of the seas'.

[15] In the contrary sense however 'the sea' means factual knowledge which has the world as the end in view; in this case its 'waves' are reasonings that are the product of worldly notions about Divine matters. Consequently 'being immersed in the sea' means being immersed so thoroughly in factual knowledge which is the product of worldly and earthly notions that there is no belief whatever in God's truth, as in Matthew,

Whoever causes one of the little ones believing in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if an ass's millstone ⁵ were hung onto his neck and he were plunged into the depth of the sea. Matthew 18:6.

'A millstone' is truth which is of service to faith, 4335, 7780, 'an ass' is the natural because it is a servant, 2781, 5741, 5958, 6389, 8078, so that 'an ass's millstone' is natural and worldly knowledge. 'The neck' means the joining of interior things to exterior ones, 3542; 'being hung on it' means a blocking and cutting off of good and truth, 3542, 3603; 'being plunged into the depth of the sea' means sinking into what is merely worldly and bodily, thus into hell. These words, like all others spoken by the Lord, are accordingly such as carry a spiritual meaning.

[16] But [the nature of] the factual knowledge meant by 'the sea' depends altogether on the density and blackness of its waters, or conversely on the clearness and transparency of them. So it is that factual knowledge looking towards heaven, which is the spiritual dimension within the natural man, is called the glassy sea in Revelation 15:1-2. A time when no one will use factual knowledge to reason about the truths of faith, but truths will be imprinted on people's hearts is meant by the sea will be no more in Revelation 21:1.

Footnotes: