70. The reason why the feet are said to be like unto fine brass is, that by fine brass is meant brass polished and shining, like something fiery; and brass in the Word signifies natural good. Metals, like all other things in the Word, are significative. Gold in the Word signifies celestial good, which is inmost good; silver signifies its truth, which is spiritual good; brass natural good, which is ultimate good, and iron its truth, which is natural truth. That such things are signified by metals, is from correspondence; for many things are seen in heaven shining like gold and silver, and also many things shining like brass and iron. And it is there known, that by those things are signified the above-mentioned kinds of good and truth; this is why the ancients, who were in the knowledge of correspondences, named the ages after those metals. The first age they called the golden age, because innocence, love and wisdom therefrom, then reigned; but the second age they called the silver age, because truth from that good, or spiritual good, and intelligence therefrom, then reigned; the third age they called the brazen, or copper, age, because only natural good, which is what is just and sincere pertaining to moral life, then reigned; but the last age they called the iron age, because only truth without good then reigned, and when that reigns, then also falsity reigns. The reason why the ages were thus distinguished, was from the spiritual signification of those metals.

[2] From these considerations it is evident what is signified by the statue of Nebuchadnezzar, seen in his dream,

"whose head was of gold, the chest and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, the legs of iron, and the feet partly of iron and partly of clay" (Dan. 2:32, 33).

The state of the church from its first time to its last as to good and truth, is here signified; its last time was when the Lord came into the world.

When it is known that gold signifies celestial good, silver spiritual good, brass natural good, and iron natural truth, many arcana in the Word where those metals are mentioned can be known. For example, what is signified by these words in Isaiah:

"For brass I will bring gold, for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron; I will also make thy government peace, and thine exactors justice" (60:17).

[3] But as the signification of brass is what is here treated of, as being natural good, it is necessary only to adduce a few passages where brass is mentioned and signifies that good. Thus in Moses:

"Asher acceptable to his brethren, and dipping his foot in oil; iron and brass thy shoe, and as thy day, thy fame" (Deuteronomy 33:24, 25).

Asher, as one of the tribes, signifies the happiness of life, and the delight of the affections (see Arcana Coelestia 3938, 3939, 6408); to dip the foot in oil signifies natural delight (that oil denotes delight, see n. 9954, and that the foot denotes the Natural, see above, n. 69); the shoe being iron and brass signifies the lowest Natural derived from truth and good, shoe denoting the lowest Natural (see n. 1748, 1860, 6844); iron is its truth, and brass its good, as above. Again,

"Jehovah thy God will bring thee into a rich land; a land out of whose stones thou shalt cut iron, and out of whose mountains brass" (Deuteronomy 8:7, 9).

And in Jeremiah:

"I will give thee unto this people for a fortified wall of brass, that they may fight against thee, and not prevail over thee" (15:20).

And in Ezekiel:

"Javan, Tubal, and Mesech, they were thy merchants; with the soul of man and vessels of brass they gave thy merchandise" (27:13).

In this chapter the merchandises of Tyre are treated of, by which are signified the knowledges (cognitiones) of good and truth. By the names Javan, Tubal, and Mesech, are signified those things that pertain to good and truth, to which the knowledges relate; the soul of man denotes the truth of life; vessels of brass denote scientifics of natural good.

[4] (What is signified by Tyre, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 1201; what by merchandises, n. 2967, 4453; what by Tubal and Mesech, n. 1151; what by Javan, n. 1152, 1153, 1155; what by the soul of man, n. 2930, 9050, 9281; what by vessels, n. 3068, 3079, 3316, 3318.)

Again, in the same prophet:

The feet of the cherubs "shone like the appearance of polished brass" (1:7).

(What the cherubs and the feet signify, may be seen above, n. 69.) And in the same prophet:

"I saw, and, lo, a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, and a thread of flax in his hands; he stood in the gate" (40:3).

Because the angel here mentioned measured the wall and the gates of the house of God, which signify the externals of the church, his appearance was seen to be the appearance of brass.

He who knows that brass signifies the external of the church, which in itself is natural, may in some measure understand why the altar of burnt-offering was overlaid with brass, and the gate round it was of brass, and the vessels of brass (Exodus 27:1-4), also why the great vessel, which was called the sea, with the twelve oxen under it, and the ten lavers with the bases, and also all the vessels of the tabernacle for the house of God, were made by Solomon of polished brass (1 Kings 7:43-47). He who knows what brass signifies, can also enter into the arcanum why a serpent of brass was commanded to be set up for the people to look at, concerning which it is thus written in Moses:

"Jehovah sent serpents among the people, which bit the people. And he said unto Moses, Make thee a serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass that every one that is bitten, when he hath looked upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that when a serpent had bitten any man, and he looked upon the serpent of brass, he lived" (Numbers 21:6, 8, 9).

That the Lord was signified by that serpent, He himself teaches in John:

"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (3:14, 15).

By the serpent is signified the ultimate of life in man, which is called the external Sensual, which is natural. To represent this ultimate, which in the Lord was Divine, among the sons of Israel, with whom all things were representative, a serpent of brass was made; and the signification was, that, if they looked to the Divine Human of the Lord, they would revive, that is, if they believed in Him, they should have eternal life, as the Lord himself also teaches. (That to see in the spiritual sense is to believe, may be seen above, n. 37, 68; and that a serpent denotes the external Sensual, which is the ultimate of the life of man, see Arcana Coelestia 195-197, 6398, 6949, 10313.) That brass and iron in the Word also signify what is hard, as in Isaiah 48:4; Dan. 7:19; and other places, will be seen in the following pages.

71.And his voice as the voice of many waters. That this signifies Divine truth in ultimates, is evident from the signification of a voice, when it is from the Lord, as denoting Divine truth (concerning which see Arcana Coelestia 219, 220, 3563, 6971, 8813, 8914, and above, n. 55), and from the signification of the waters, as denoting the truths of faith, and also the knowledges (cognitiones) of truth (concerning which see n. 2702, 3058, 5668, 8568, 10238); and because the knowledges (cognitiones) of truth are in ultimates, therefore by His voice as the voice of many waters, because it relates to the Lord, is signified Divine truth in ultimates. (That knowledges (cognitiones) and scientifics (scientifica) belong to the external or natural man, because they are in the light of the world, thus, in ultimates, may be seen,Arcana Coelestia 5212, and in general from what is said in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 51.) As it is not yet known that waters in the Word signify the truths of faith and the knowledges (cognitiones) of truth, and, perhaps, because it appears far-fetched, I wish here briefly to show that such things are meant by waters in the Word. This is also necessary because without a knowledge of the signification of waters, it cannot be known what is signified by baptism, nor what by the washings observed in the Israelitish Church, of which mention is so frequently made. Waters signify the truths of faith, because bread signifies the good of love; the reason why waters and bread have such a signification is that the things that pertain to spiritual nourishment are expressed, in the sense of the letter, by those things that have reference to natural nourishment. For bread and water, by which are meant all food and drink in general, nourish the body, and the truths of faith and the good of love nourish the soul. This is also from correspondence; for when bread and water are read in the Word, the angels, being spiritual, understand those things which nourish them; these are the goods of love and the truths of faith.

[2] But some passages shall be here adduced, whence it may be known that waters signify the truths of faith, likewise the knowledges (cognitiones) of truth.

Thus in Isaiah:

"The earth shall be full of the knowledge (scientia) of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea" (11:9).

Again:

"With joy shall ye draw water out of the fountains of salvation" (12:3).

Again:

"He that walketh in justice, and speaketh uprightnesses, bread shall be given him, and sure waters" (33:15, 16).

Again:

"The poor and the needy seek water, but there is none; their tongue faileth for thirst. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of waters, and the dry land springs of waters. That they may see, and know, and hearken, and understand" (41:17, 18, 20).

Again:

"I will pour out waters upon him that is thirsty; and, floods upon the dry ground; I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring" (44:3).

Again:

"Thy light shall arise in obscurity, and thy darkness as the noon-day; that thou mayest be as a watered garden, and as the going forth of waters, whose waters shall not lie" (58:10).

In Jeremiah:

"My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, to hew out for themselves pits that hold no water" (2:13).

Again:

"Their nobles sent their little ones for water; they came to the pits, and found no waters; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded" (14:3).

Again:

"They have forsaken Jehovah, the fountain of living waters" (17:13).

Again:

"They shall come with weeping, and with weeping will I lead them; I will lead them to fountains of waters, in a way of rectitude" (31:9).

And in Ezekiel:

"I will break the staff of bread, and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment. That they may want bread and water, and be desolated, a man and his brother, and consume away for their iniquities" (4:16, 17; 12:18, 19; Isaiah 51:14).

And in Amos:

"Behold, the days come, in which I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for waters, but for hearing the Word of Jehovah. They shall wander from sea to sea, they shall run to and fro, to seek the Word of Jehovah, and shall not find it; in that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst" (8:11-13).

And in Zechariah;

"In that day living waters shall go out from Jerusalem" (14:8).

And in David:

"Jehovah is my shepherd, I shall not want. He will lead me to the waters of rest" (Psalm 23:1, 2).

In Isaiah:

"They shall not thirst; he will make waters to flow for them out of the rock, and he will cleave the rock, that the waters may flow out" (48:21).

In David:

"O God, early will I seek thee; my soul thirsteth, weary without waters" (Psalm 63:1).

Again:

Jehovah "sendeth his Word, he maketh the wind to blow, that the waters may flow" (Psalm 147:18).

Again:

"Praise Jehovah, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters which are above the heavens" (148:4).

In John:

Jesus came to the fountain of Jacob; "A woman of Samaria came to draw water, to whom Jesus said, Give me to drink; - if thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith unto thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest ask of him, and he would give thee living water. The woman said unto him, Whence hast thou that living water? Jesus said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him, shall be in him a fountain of water, springing up into everlasting life" (4:7-15).

Again:

Jesus said, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture saith, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" (7:37, 38).

And in the Apocalypse:

"Unto him that is athirst shall be given of the fountain of the water of life freely" (21:6).

And in another place:

The angel showed him "a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb" (22:1).

And again:

"The spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst, come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (22:17).

[3] These passages are adduced, that it may be known that by waters in the Word are signified the truths of faith, and hence what is signified by the water of baptism, concerning which the Lord thus teaches in John:

"Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (3:5);

where water denotes the truths of faith, and the spirit a life according to them (as may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 202-209, and the following numbers). Because it has not hitherto been known that waters signify the truths of faith, and that all things that were instituted amongst the sons of Israel were representative of spiritual things, it has therefore been believed, that by the washings commanded them their sins were wiped away, although they were in no sense wiped away; those washings only represented purification from evils and falsities, by means of the truths of faith and a life according to them (as may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 3147, 5954, 10237, 10240). From these considerations it is now clear, that by His voice as the voice of many waters, is meant Divine truth; as also in Ezekiel:

"Behold the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east, and his voice was as the voice of many waters; and the earth was enlightened by his glory" (43:2).

And in David:

"The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters, Jehovah is upon many waters" (Psalms 29:3).

And in the following words in the Apocalypse:

"I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters" (14:2).

[4] I know that some will wonder why waters are mentioned in the Word, and not the truths of faith, although the purpose of the Word is to teach man about his spiritual life; and if the truths of faith had been mentioned instead of waters, men would have known that the waters of baptism and of washings contribute nothing to his purification from evils and falsities. But it must be noted, that the Word, to be Divine, and at the same time to be for heaven and the church, must be altogether natural in the letter; for unless this were the case, it could not be the medium of effecting the conjunction of heaven with the church; for it would be like a house without a foundation, and like a soul without a body; for the ultimates include all the interiors, and are their foundation (as may be seen above, n. 41). Man also is in ultimates, and heaven has its foundation upon the church in him. This is why the style in which the Word is written is of such a character; therefore, when man thinks spiritually from the natural things which are in the sense of the letter of the Word, he is conjoined with heaven which could not otherwise be the case.