9207. 'And your sons orphans' means that at the same time truths will do so, that is to say, will perish. This is clear from the meaning of 'orphans' as those who possess truth but not as yet good, and still have a desire for good, dealt with in 9199, at this point those who have truth but no desire for good, thus those with whom truths perish; for it is speaking about evil people whose sons will become orphans. The fact that truths perish with those who have no desire for good is evident from what has been stated immediately above in 9206 regarding goodness and truth when joined together. But something further must be stated regarding that joining together. Truths that have been joined to good always hold within them a desire to do good, and at the same time to be joined more closely to good by doing it. Or what amounts to the same thing, those who possess truths always have a desire to do good and to join it thereby to their truths. People therefore who think that they are in possession of truths but who have no desire to do good do not in fact possess truths; that is, they have no belief in them, however much they imagine they do have.

[2] Their condition is portrayed by the Lord when He speaks of 'salt', in Matthew,

You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt is tasteless, by what will it be made salty? It no longer has any use, except to be thrown outdoors and trodden down by people. Matthew 5:13-14.

The Lord says these things to the disciples and to the people. By 'the salt of the earth' He means the Church's truth that has a desire for good, and by 'tasteless salt' He means truth devoid of any desire for good. The fact that such truth is worthless is portrayed by the idea of salt which has become tasteless and no longer has any use, except to be thrown outdoors and trodden down by people. Having a desire for good means having a desire to do good and thereby be joined to good.

[3] In Mark,

Everyone will be salted with fire, and every sacrifice will be salted with salt. Salt is good; but if the salt becomes tasteless, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and seek ¹ peace with one another. Mark 9:49-50.

'Being salted with fire' means good that has a desire for truth, and 'being salted with salt' truth that has a desire for good. 'Tasteless salt' is truth devoid of any desire for good; 'having salt in oneself' means possessing that desire.

[4] In Luke,

Any of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be My disciple. Salt is good; but if the salt is made tasteless, by what will it be seasoned? It is fit neither for the land nor for the dunghill; people throw it outdoors. Luke 14:33-35.

Here 'salt' in a similar way stands for truth that has a desire for good, and 'tasteless salt' for truth that is devoid of any desire for good, 'unfit for the land or for the dunghill' standing for its total inability to serve any use, good or bad. People possessing such truth are called the lukewarm, as is evident from the words immediately before, stating that a person cannot be the Lord's disciple if he does not renounce all his possessions, that is, if he does not love the Lord above all things. For those loving the Lord and also themselves equally are the ones who are called the lukewarm and who are unfit to serve any use, good or bad.

[5] In Moses,

Every offering of your minchah shall be salted with salt; you shall not leave the salt of the covenant of your God off your minchah. ² On all your offerings you shall offer salt. Leviticus 2:13.

Salt in every offering was a sign that truth's desire for good and good's desire for truth should be present in all worship. This also explains why this salt is called 'the salt of God's covenant'; for 'a covenant' is a joining together, 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021, 2037, 6804, 8767, 8778, and 'salt' is the desire for the joining together.

[6] When each desires to be joined to the other, that is, good to truth and truth to good, they look towards each other. But when truth tears itself away from good, they turn away from each other and look backwards or behind themselves. This is what is meant in Luke by Lot's wife who had become a pillar of salt,

Whoever will be on the housetop with his vessels in the house, let him not come down to take them away; and whoever is in the field likewise, let him not return to the things behind him. Remember Lot's wife. Luke 17:31-32.

This means looking behind oneself or backwards, see 3652, 5895 (end), 5897, 7857, 7923, 8505, 8506, 8510, 8516.

[7] One reason why 'salt' means the desire truth possesses is that salt renders land fertile and makes food tasteful, and another reason is that salt contains a fiery property and at the same time a conjunctive power, even as truth contains a burning desire for good and at the same time a conjunctive power. 'A pillar of salt' is a separation from truth, for 'salt' in the contrary sense means truth that has been destroyed and laid waste, as in Zephaniah 2:9; Ezekiel 47:11; Jeremiah 17:6; Psalms 107:33-34; Deuteronomy 29:23; Judges 9:45; 2 Kings 2:19-22.

These matters have been introduced so that people may know what truth's desire for good is, and what good's desire for truth is, meant by 'orphan' and 'widow'.

Footnotes:

7441. 'behold, I send onto you, and onto your servants, and onto your people, and into your houses, noxious flying insects' means that malevolent falsity will be present in every single aspect. This is clear from the meaning of 'Pharaoh, his servants, and his people' as every single part of the natural mind, dealt with in 7396, and when 'into the houses' is added, an entry into the interior parts of that mind as well is meant, as above in 7407; and from the meaning of 'noxious flying insects' as falsities arising out of the evil that was meant by the previous wonder, thus malevolent falsities. Exactly which falsities therefore are meant here by 'noxious flying insects', and what type they belong to, is evident from the evils they spring from. And those evils were evils that exist on the outermost levels of the natural mind, thus on those of the senses, see above in 7419. The falsities which spring from them belong to the same sort.

[2] The same falsities are what are also meant by 'the flies of Egypt' in Isaiah,

It will happen on that day, that Jehovah will whistle for the fly that is in the furthest part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Asshur. They will come and all of them will rest in rivers of desolations, and in the clefts of rocks. Isaiah 7:18-19.

'The fly in the farthest part of the rivers of Egypt' is falsities which reside in the outermost parts of the natural mind, thus on the level of the senses nearest to the body. These falsities are compared to an insect like that sort of insect because on that level they are exactly like insects that fly in the air, obscure the things on more internal levels, and inflict harm on them. For the things which are there are for the most part figments of the imagination; they are illusions giving rise to reasonings that are like buildings founded on nothing but air. Mention of this kind of noxious flying insect occurs again only in David, in Psalms 78:45 and Psalms 105:31, where also the reference is to Egypt. It should be recognized that flying creatures in the Word all mean things that are connected with the understanding, consequently truths or in the contrary sense falsities, 40, 745, 776, 778, 866, 988, 3219, 5149. But the lowest sort of flying creatures, which are insects, mean truths, or in the contrary sense falsities, which are quite low-grade and obscure, as those are which belong properly to the level of the senses. For unless they receive light from the more internal levels, gloom and darkness completely envelop them; for they are nearest to the body and therefore close to earthly things that form the base on which heavenly things rest, and are immersed in thick darkness.