71. And His voice as the voice of many waters, signifies Divine truth in ultimates. This is evident from the signification of a "voice" when it is from the Lord, as being Divine truth (See Arcana Coelestia 219, 220, 3563, 6971, 8813, 8914, and above, n. 55); and from the signification of "waters," as being the truths of faith, and also the knowledges of truth (of which see n. 2702, 3058, 5668, 8568, 10238); and since the knowledges of truths are in ultimates, "the voice as the voice of many waters," because it is said of the Lord, signifies Divine truth in ultimates. (That knowledges and scientifics are of the external or natural man, because they are in the light of the world, thus in ultimates, see Arcana Coelestia 5212, and in general, in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, n.51.) As it is not yet known that "waters" in the Word signify the truths of faith and the knowledges of truth, I would like, since this signification may possibly appear remote, to show here briefly that this is what is meant in the Word by "waters." This, moreover, is necessary, because without a knowledge of what "waters" signify, it cannot be known what baptism signifies, nor the "washings" in the Israelitish church so frequently referred to. "Waters" signify the truths of faith, as "bread" signifies the good of love. "Waters" and "bread" have this signification because things that pertain to spiritual nourishment are expressed in the sense of the letter by such things as belong to natural nourishment; for bread and water, which include in general all food and drink, nourish the body, while the truths of faith and the good of love nourish the soul. This also is from correspondence, for when "bread" and "water" are read of in the Word, angels, because they are spiritual, understand the things by which they are nourished, which are the goods of love and the truths of faith.

[2] But I will cite some passages from which it may be known that "waters" signify the truths of faith, likewise the knowledges of truth. Thus in Isaiah:

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

In the same:

Then with joy shall ye draw waters out of the fountains of salvation (Isaiah 12:3).

In the same:

He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly, bread shall be given him, and his waters shall be sure (Isaiah 33:15-16).

In the same:

The poor and the needy seek water, but there is none; their tongue faileth for thirst. I will open rivers upon the heights, and will place fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness into a pool of waters, and the dry land into a going forth of waters; that they may see, and know, and consider, and understand (Isaiah 41:17, 18, 20).

In the same:

I will pour waters upon him that is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground; I will pour My spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring (Isaiah 44:3).

In the same:

Thy light shall arise in the darkness, and thy thick darkness be as the noonday; that thou mayest be like a watered garden, and like a going forth of waters, whose waters shall not prove false (Isaiah 58:10-11).

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 (Jeremiah 2:13).

In the same:

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 (Jeremiah 14:3).

In the same:

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

In the same:

They shall come with weeping, ¹ and with supplications will I lead them; I will lead them unto fountains of waters, in the way of right (Jeremiah 31:9).

In Ezekiel:

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

In Amos:

Behold the days come, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, 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 (Amos 8:11-13).

In Zechariah:

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

In David:

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

In Isaiah:

They shall not thirst, He will cause waters to flow out of the rock for them, and He will cleave the rock, that the waters may flow out (Isaiah 48:21).

In David:

O God, early will I seek Thee; my soul thirsteth, I am weary without waters (Psalms 63:1).

In the same:

Jehovah sendeth His word, He maketh the wind to blow, that the waters may flow (Psalms 147:18).

In the same:

Praise Jehovah, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens (Psalms 148:4).

In John:

When Jesus came to the fountain of Jacob, a woman of Samaria came to draw water; Jesus said to her, 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, From whence hast Thou living water? Jesus said to her, Everyone that drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever shall drink of the water that I shall give him shall not thirst for ever; and the water that I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up unto everlasting life (John 4:7-15).

In the same:

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. (John 7:37-38).

In Revelation:

I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely (Revelation 21:6).

And in another place:

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

And again:

The spirit and the bride say, Come. He that heareth, let him say, Come. And he that is athirst, let him come. And he that wisheth, let him take the water of life freely (Revelation 22:17).

[3] These passages have been cited that it may be known that in the Word "waters" signify the truths of faith, consequently what is meant by the water of baptism, about 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 (John 3:5).

"Waters" here are the truths of faith, and "spirit" a life according to them (See New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine, n. 202-209 seq.). Because it had not been known that "waters" signified the truths of faith, and that all things that were instituted among the sons of Israel were representative of spiritual things, it was believed that by the washings that were prescribed for them their sins were wiped away; yet this was not at all the case; those washings only represented purification from evils and falsities by means of the truths of faith and a life according to them (See Arcana Coelestia 3147[1-10], 5954, 10237, 10240). From this it is now clear that by "the voice," which was "as the voice of many waters," is meant Divine truth; as likewise in Ezekiel:

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

And in David:

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

And in the following words in Revelation:

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

[4] I know that some will wonder why "waters" are mentioned in the Word, and not the truths of faith, since the Word is to teach man about his spiritual life; and since, if the expression the truths of faith had been used, instead of "waters," man would have known that the waters of baptism and of washings contribute nothing to the purifying of man from evils and falsities. But it is to be known, that the Word in order to be Divine, and at the same time useful to heaven and the church, must be wholly natural in the letter, for if it were not natural in the letter there could be no conjunction of heaven with the church by means of it; for it would be like a house without a foundation, and like a soul without a body, for ultimates enclose all interiors, and are a foundation for them (See above, n. 41). Man also is in ultimates, and upon the church in him heaven has its foundations. For this reason the style of the Word is such as it is; and as a consequence, when man from the natural things that are in the sense of the letter of the Word thinks spiritually, he is conjoined with heaven, and in no other way could he be conjoined with it.

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: