104. Verse 4. But I have against thee that thou hast left thy first charity, signifies that they do not make such a life as those lived who were in the church at its beginning, the essential of knowledges. This is evident from the signification of "first charity," as being a life according to the knowledges of good and truth, such as those lived who were in the church at its beginning (of which presently); and from the signification of "leaving that charity," as being not to make it the essential of knowledges; for those who are eager for the knowledges of truth and good, and who believe that they are saved thereby, make knowledges essential, and not life, when yet a life according to knowledges is the essential. But as this essential of the church and of salvation is treated of in what follows, more will there be said about it. Charity is life, because all life in accordance with the precepts of the Lord in the Word is called "charity;" therefore to exercise charity is to live according to those precepts. (That this is so, see in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, in the chapter on Love to the Neighbor or Charity 84-106; and in the small work on The Last Judgment 33-39.) The life of the church at its beginning is here meant by "first charity;" for every church begins from charity, and successively turns away from it to faith alone or to meritorious works. (On which subject, and on charity, see what is shown in the Arcana Coelestia, namely, that every church begins from charity, but in process of time turns away from it, n. 494, 501, 1327, 3773, 4689; thus to falsities from evil, and at length to evils, n. 1834, 1835, 2910, 4683, 4689; commonly to faith alone, n. 1834, 1835, 2231, 4683, 8094. A comparison of the church in its beginning and in its decline, with the rising and setting of the sun, n. 1837; and with the infancy and old age of man, n. Arcana Coelestia 10134; that the church is not with man until the knowledges of good and truth have been implanted in the life, n. 3310; that charity constitutes the church, n. 809, 916, 1798, 1799, 1844, 1894; that the internal of the church is charity, n. 4766, 5826; that there would be one church, and not many, as at this day, if all were regarded from charity, although they might differ in respect to doctrinals of faith and rituals of worship, n. 1286, 1316, 1798, 1799, 1834, 1844, 2385, 2982, 3267, 3451; that worship of the Lord consists in a life of charity, n. 8254, 8256; that the quality of worship is according to the quality of charity, n. 2190.)

152. That hath His eyes as a flame of fire, signifies Divine Providence from His Divine love, also Divine wisdom and intelligence communicated to those who are in love towards Him and from that in faith in Him. That "eyes as a flame of fire," means in reference to the Lord, His Divine Providence from His Divine love, see above (n. 68). This means also Divine wisdom and intelligence communicated to those who are in love towards the Lord, and from that in faith in Him, because "eyes" in the Word signify in reference to man the understanding of truth, and the understanding of truth is intelligence and wisdom; consequently "eyes" signify, in reference to the Lord, Divine wisdom and intelligence proceeding from Him; and what proceeds from Him is communicated to angels and to men who are in love towards Him and from that in faith in Him. All the wisdom and intelligence that angels and men have is the Lord's with them and not their own; and this is also well known in the church; for it is known that all good, which is of love, and all truth, which is of faith, are from God, and nothing thereof from man; and truths interiorly seen and acknowledged constitute intelligence, and these together with goods interiorly perceived and thence seen constitute wisdom. From this then it is that "having His eyes as a flame of fire" also signifies the Lord's Divine wisdom and intelligence communicated to those who are in the goods of love, and from that in faith in Him.

[2] "Eyes" signify the understanding, because all the sight of the eyes with men and angels is from the understanding. That all the sight of the eyes is from the understanding must sound absurd to those who are ignorant of the interior causes of things, out of which effects are presented in the body; those ignorant of these causes believe no otherwise than that the eye sees of itself, that the ear hears of itself, that the tongue tastes of itself, and that the body feels of itself; when yet it is the interior life of man, the life of his spirit, which is the life of his understanding and will, or of his thought and affection that, through the organs of the body, has sensation of the things that are in the world, and thus perceives them naturally. The whole body, with all its sensories, is merely an instrument of its soul, or of its spirit; which is also the reason that when man's spirit is separated from the body the body has no sensation whatever, but the spirit afterwards continues to have sensation as before. (That man's spirit sees, hears, and feels, after it is released from the body equally as before while in the body, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 461-469; and on The Correspondence of the Understanding with the Sight of the Eye, see Arcana Coelestia 4403-4421, 4523-4534.) With beasts, moreover, their interior life, which is also called their soul, has sensation equally through the external organs of their body, but with a difference, in that the sensation of the beast is not rational like man's, thus is not formed from an understanding and will such as man has (See in the work on Heaven and Hell 108, and The Last Judgment 25).

[3] From this, then, it is, that by "eye" in the Word is signified the understanding of truth, or intelligence and wisdom, as may be seen from the following passages. In Isaiah:

Say to this people, hear ye in hearing, but understand not; and see ye in seeing, and know not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and smear their eyes, lest they see with their eyes (Isaiah 6:9-10; John 12:40).

"To smear the eyes, lest they see with their eyes," is to darken the understanding, that they may not understand.

[4] In the same:

Jehovah hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes; the prophets and your heads, the seers hath He covered (Isaiah 29:10);

where "He hath closed the eyes; the prophets and the heads, and the seers hath He covered," is the understanding of truth. "Prophets" are those that teach truths, who are also called "heads," because the head signifies intelligence, and are also called "seers" from the revelation of Divine truth with them.

[5] In the same:

The eyes of them that see shall not be closed, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken (Isaiah 32:3).

"The eyes of them that see" means of those that understand truths. In the same:

Who shutteth his eyes from seeing evil. Thine eyes shall behold the king in his beauty (Isaiah 33:15, 17).

"To shut the eyes from seeing evil" is not to admit evil into the thought; "their eyes shall behold the king in his beauty" is that they are to understand truth in its light with pleasantness; for by "king" here is not meant a king but truth (See above, n. 31).

[6] In Jeremiah:

Hear now this, O foolish people, who have no heart; who have eyes and see not; who have ears and hear not (Jeremiah 5:21; Ezekiel 12:2).

In Lamentations:

The crown of our head hath fallen; for this our heart hath become faint; and for this our eyes have been darkened (Lamentations 5:16, 17).

"The crown of the head" is wisdom (See above n. 126; the "faint heart" means that the will of good is no more (that "heart" is the will and love, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 95). "Eyes" are the understanding of truth, and they are said to be darkened when truth is no longer understood.

[7] In Zechariah:

The punishment of the shepherd forsaking the flock, a sword upon his right eye; and his right eye in growing dim shall be dimmed (Zechariah 11:17).

"The sword upon the right eye," and "the right eye in growing dim shall be dimmed," means that all truth in the understanding is to perish through falsity (that "sword" is the destruction of truth by falsity, see above, n. 131.

[8] In the same:

The plague wherewith Jehovah will strike all the peoples that shall war against Jerusalem; their eyes shall consume away in their sockets (Zechariah 14:12).

"The peoples that shall war against Jerusalem" are those that fight against the church; "Jerusalem" is the church; that "their eyes shall consume away" means that intelligence is to perish because they fight by falsities against truths.

[9] In Zechariah:

I will smite every horse with astonishment, and every horse of the peoples with blindness (Zechariah 12:4).

Here the vastation of the church is treated of; by "horse" is signified the intellectual, therefore the understanding is meant when it is said that the horse should be smitten with astonishment and with blindness. (That "horse" signifies the intellectual, see the small treatise on The White Horse 1-5.)

[10] In David:

Hear me, O Jehovah, my God; lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep [the sleep of] death (Psalms 13:4).

"Lighten the eyes" means the understanding.

In Moses:

Thou shalt not take a gift, for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise (Deuteronomy 16:19).

"To blind the eyes of the wise" is that they may not see or understand the truth.

[11] In Matthew:

The lamp of the body is the eye: if the eye be single the whole body is light; if the eye be evil the whole body is darkened. If therefore the light be darkness, how great is the darkness (Matthew 6:22, 23; Luke 11:34).

By "eye" here is not meant the eye, but the understanding; by "the eye single" the understanding of truth; by "the eye evil" the understanding of falsity; "darkness" is falsities; "the whole body" is the whole spirit, which is wholly such as the will is and the understanding therefrom; but if it has the understanding of truth from the will of good it is an angel of light; but if it has an understanding of falsity it is a spirit of darkness. By these words the reformation of man through the understanding of truth is described. From this it is clear that he who knows what "eye" signifies can know the arcanum of these words. That man is reformed by means of truths in the understanding, see above (n. 112, 126).

[12] In Matthew:

If thy right eye causeth thee to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from thee; for it is better for thee to enter life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire (Matthew 5:29; 18:9; Mark 9:47).

Here also, by "eye" is not meant the eye, but the understanding thinking; by "the right eye causing to stumble" the understanding thinking evil; "plucking it out and casting it away" is not admitting such evil, but rejecting it; "having one eye" is the understanding thinking not evil, but truth only, for the understanding can think the truth; if it thinks evil it is from the will of evil. It is said "the right eye," because "the right eye" signifies the understanding of good, and the "left eye" the understanding of truth (See Arcana Coelestia 4410, 6923).

[13] In Isaiah:

In that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of thick darkness and out of darkness (Isaiah 29:18).

In the same:

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf (Isaiah 35:5).

In the same:

I will give thee for a light of the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to lead him that is bound out of the dungeon, and them that sit in darkness out of the house of prison (Isaiah 42:6, 7).

In the same:

Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears (Isaiah 43:8).

"To open the eyes of the blind" is to instruct those who as yet are ignorant of truths, but nevertheless have a longing for them, that is, the Gentiles. The like is signified by:

The Lord's healing the blind (Matthew 9:27-29; 20:29-34 to the end; 21:14; Mark 8:23, 25; Luke 18:35-43; John 9:1-21);

for all the Lord's miracles involved such things as pertain to the church and heaven, therefore they were Divine (See Arcana Coelestia 7337, 8364, 9301).

[14] Because the "eye" signified the understanding it was among the statutes pertaining to the sons of Israel:

That no one of the seed of Aaron who was blind or had a blemish in the eye should come nigh to offer sacrifice, or enter within the veil (Leviticus 21:17-23).

That what was blind should not be offered for a sacrifice (Leviticus 22:22; Malachi 1:8);

so also among the curses was:

A fever that should consume the eyes (Leviticus 26:16).

From all this it can now be known what is signified by "the eyes of the Son of God that were as a flame of fire," namely, Divine wisdom and intelligence communicated to those who are in love towards the Lord and thence in faith in Him.

[15] That His Divine Providence is also signified is evident from what was shown above n. 68. To this may be added what is said of the cherubim in Ezekiel, and of the four animals about the throne in Revelation, which also signify the Divine Providence of the Lord, and in particular, a guard that the Lord be not approached except through good. In Ezekiel:

I saw, and behold four wheels near the cherubim; their whole flesh, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes round about (Ezekiel 10:9, 12).

In Revelation:

About the throne were four living creatures full of eyes before and behind; each one had wings full of eyes about and within (Revelation 4:6, 8).

These four "living creatures" also were cherubim, for the description of them is almost like that of the cherubim in Ezekiel. So many "eyes" are ascribed to them because the Lord's Divine Providence, which is signified by "cherubim," is His government of all things in the heavens and on the earth by Divine wisdom; for the Lord by Divine Providence sees all things, disposes all things, and looks out for all things. (That by "cherubim" is signified the Lord's Divine Providence, and in particular, a guard that the Lord be not approached except through good, see n. 9277, 9509, 9673)

10283. 'It shall not be poured onto the flesh of a person' means no imparting [of what is the Lord's] to a person's proprium or self. This is clear from the meaning of 'the flesh of a person' as his proprium, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'pouring onto' as imparting to. For 'pouring' has a similar meaning to 'touching'; but 'pouring' is used in connection with liquids, namely oil, wine, and water, and 'pouring out' in connection with Divine, heavenly, and spiritual realities, whereas 'touching' is used in connection with dry substances and with bodily things. For the meaning of 'touching' as imparting, see 10130. From this it follows that 'the anointing oil shall not be poured onto the flesh of a person' means that there is no imparting of the Divine Good of the Lord's Divine Love to a person's proprium or self, because a person's proprium is nothing but evil and the Lord's Divine Good cannot be imparted to what is evil.

A person's proprium or self is nothing but evil, see 210, 215, 694, 731, 874-876, 987, 1023, 1024, 1047, 5660, 5786, 8480.

[2] One part of the human proprium belongs to the will and the other part to the understanding; the will part consists of evil, and the understanding part of falsity arising from this. The former - the will part of the proprium - is meant by human flesh, and the understanding part by the blood of that flesh. The truth of this is clear from the following places: In Matthew,

Jesus said, Blessed are you, Simon, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. Matthew 16:17.

It is plainly evident that 'flesh' here, and also 'blood', means the human proprium or self.

[3] In John,

As many as received Him, to them He gave power to be sons of God, who were born, not of blood ¹ , nor of the will of the flesh, but of God. John 1:12-13.

'Blood' here means falsities that come out of the understanding part of the human proprium, and 'the will of the flesh' evils that spring from the will part of it. For the meaning of 'blood' as falsity arising from evil, thus what is in the understanding part of the proprium as a result of what is in the will part, see 4735, 9127.

[4] In Isaiah,

I will feed your oppressors with their flesh and they will be drunk with their blood as with new wine. Isaiah 49:26.

'Feeding them with their flesh' and 'making them drunk with their blood' stands for filling them up with evil and the falsity of evil, thus with what is of the proprium or what is one's own; for both the evil and the falsity come out of the proprium.

[5] In Jeremiah,

Cursed is the man (homo) who trusts in man (homo) and makes flesh his arm. Jeremiah 17:5.

'Trusting in man and making flesh his arm' means trusting in oneself and one's proprium.

[6] In Isaiah,

The people have become as fuel for the fire. If any of them cuts down on the right he will be hungry, and if any eats on the left they will not be satisfied. Each will eat the flesh of his own arm ² ; Manasseh [will eat] Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh. Isaiah 9:19-21.

'Fuel for the fire' means making the evils or desires of self-love and love of the world one's own, 'being hungry' and 'not being satisfied' mean not accepting the good or the truth of faith, and 'the flesh of his arm' means both parts of the human proprium, 'Manasseh' meaning evil in the will, 'Ephraim' falsity in the understanding, and 'eating' making one's own.

'Fire' means the evils or desires of self-love and love of the world, see 5071, 5215, 6314, 6832, 7324, 7575, 9141.

The reason why 'being hungry' and 'not being satisfied' mean not accepting the good or the truth of faith is that 'hunger' or famine and 'thirst' mean desolation with regard to goodness and truth, 5360, 5376, 6110, 7102, 8568(end).

'The right' means good from which truth emanates, and 'the left' truth through which good comes, 10061; consequently 'being hungry if any of them cuts down on the right, and not being satisfied if any eats on the left' means that no matter how much instruction they may receive about goodness and truth they will not accept them.

[7] 'Manasseh' means good in the will, 5351, 5353, 5354(end), 6222, 6234, 6238, 6267, and 'Ephraim' truth in the understanding, 3969, 5354, 6222, 6234, 6238, 6267, so that in the contrary sense 'Manasseh' means evil in the will and 'Ephraim' falsity in the understanding, since almost everything in the Word also has a contrary meaning.

'Eating' means making one's own, 3168, 3513(end), 3596, 4745, from which it is evident what 'eating the flesh of his own arm' means, namely making evil and falsity originating in the proprium one's own.

The expression 'flesh of the arm' is used because 'the arm', like 'the hand', means the powers present in a person, in which he puts his trust, see in the places referred to in 10019.

[8] In Zechariah,

I said, I will not feed you. Let the one that is dying die; [the sheep] that are left will eat, every one the flesh of another. Zechariah 11:9.

'Not feeding' stands for not teaching and reforming, 'dying' for loss of spiritual life, and 'eating the flesh of another' for making evils originating in the proprium of another one's own.

[9] In Ezekiel,

Jerusalem committed whoredom with the sons of Egypt, her neighbours, the great in flesh. Ezekiel 16:26.

'Jerusalem' stands for the perverted Church, 'committing whoredom with the sons of Egypt, the great in flesh' for falsifying the Church's truths by means of factual knowledge which begins in the natural man alone, thus by means of factual knowledge based on sensory evidence.

'Jerusalem' means the Church, see 402, 2117, 3654, in this instance the Church when it has been perverted.

'Committing whoredom' means falsifying truths, 2466, 2729, 8904.

'Sons' means truths, or else falsities, 1147, 3373, 4257, 9807.

'Egypt' means factual knowledge, in either [a good or a bad] sense, see in the places referred to in 9340, and also the natural, in the places referred to in 9391.

Consequently the words 'the great in flesh' describe people who, relying on sensory evidence, reason and draw conclusions about the Church's truths. Those who do this lay hold of falsities as truths, for to rely on sensory evidence to reason and draw conclusions about anything is to rely on the illusions of the bodily senses. People therefore who are ruled by their senses are meant by 'the great in flesh'; for their own bodily perceptions govern their thinking.

[10] In Isaiah,

Egypt is man (homo) and not God, and his horses are flesh, but not spirit. Isaiah 31:3.

Here also 'Egypt' stands for factual knowledge, 'his horses' for a power of understanding consisting of this. That power is called 'flesh, not spirit' when people use what is their own and not God's to draw conclusions.

By 'horses' is meant the power of understanding, see 2761, 2762, 3217, 5321, 6534, and by 'the horses of Egypt' factual knowledge supplied from a perverted understanding, 6125, 8146, 8148.

[11] The fact that 'flesh' means a person's proprium or selfhood, or what amounts to the same thing, his own evil will, is clear in Moses, where the subject is the Israelite people's desire for flesh to eat, described as follows,

The rabble who were in the midst of the people had a strong craving and said, Who will feed us with flesh? Jehovah said, Tomorrow you will eat flesh. Not for one day will you eat it, nor for two days, nor for five days, nor for ten days, nor for twenty days, [but] for a whole month. And a wind set out from Jehovah, and it cut off the quails from the sea and sent them down ³ over the camp, about two cubits above the surface of the land. The people rose up that whole day, and the whole night, and the whole of the next day, and gathered them and spread them out all around the camp. The flesh was still between their teeth, before it could be swallowed, and Jehovah's anger flared up against the people, and He struck the people with an extremely great plague. So he called the name of the place The Graves of Craving. Numbers 11:4, 18-20, 31-34.

[12] The fact that 'flesh' meant that nation's proprium becomes clear from every detail in these verses; for unless this had been meant what evil could there have been in their desire for flesh, especially as flesh had been promised them on a previous occasion, Exodus 16:12? But since it meant the proprium, thus an evil will, which that nation possessed in greater measure than other nations, it says - when they desired flesh - that they 'had a strong craving', on account of which they were struck with a great plague, and on account of which the place where they were buried was called The Graves of Craving. Whether you speak of an evil will or of craving, it amounts to the same thing, for an evil will consists in craving. The human proprium has no desire for anything apart from what belongs to itself; it has no desire for anything that concerns the neighbour or anything that concerns God, unless this is beneficial to itself. Since that nation was like this it says that they would eat flesh not for one day, not for two, not for five, nor for ten, nor for twenty, but for a whole month, meaning that this nation would be like that forever (for 'a whole month' means forever); and for the same reason it says that while the flesh was still between their teeth, before it could be swallowed, they were struck with a great plague. For by 'teeth' the bodily level of the proprium, the lowest of a person's mind, is meant, 4424(end), 5565-5568, 9062. The fact that this nation was like this may be seen in the places referred to in 9380, and in the Song of Moses, at Deuteronomy 32:20, 22-26, 28, 32-34.

[13] In the Word spirit is set in contrast to flesh, for 'spirit' means life from the Lord and 'flesh' life from man, as in John,

It is the Spirit which bestows life, the flesh does not profit anything. The words that I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life. John 6:63.

From this it is clear that 'spirit' means life from the Lord, which is the life of love to Him and faith in Him, received from Him, and that 'flesh' means life from man, thus his selfhood. This is why it says 'the flesh does not profit anything'. Something similar is meant elsewhere in John,

That which has been born from the flesh is flesh, but that which has been born from the spirit is spirit. John 3:6.

In David,

God remembered that they were flesh; a spirit which would pass away would not come back. Psalms 78:39.

[14] Since 'flesh' in reference to man means his proprium, which consists of the evil of self-love and love of the world, it is evident what 'flesh' means when used in reference to the Lord, namely His Proprium, which consists of the Divine Good of Divine Love. This is what 'the Lord's flesh' means in John,

The bread which I will give you is My flesh. Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you will have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life; for My flesh is truly food and My blood is truly drink. John 6:51, 53-55.

'The flesh' of the Lord means the Divine Good of His Divine Love, and 'the blood' the Divine Truth emanating from that Divine Good, so that they are similar in meaning to the bread and wine in the Holy Supper; and those Divine Realities are His own, present within His Divine Human, see 1001, 3813, 4735, 6978, 7317, 7326, 7850, 9127, 9393, 10026, 10033, 10152. Also, the sacrifices represented forms of good that originate in the Lord, and therefore the flesh of those sacrifices meant forms of good, 10040, 10079. Furthermore, various places in the Word use the expression 'all flesh', by which every human being should be understood, as in Genesis 6:12-13, 17, 19; Isaiah 40:5-6; 49:26; 66:16, 23-24; Jeremiah 25:31; 32:27; 45:5; Ezekiel 20:48; 21:4-5; and elsewhere.

Footnotes: