803. And there was given to him authority over every tribe and tongue and nation, signifies domination over all the truths and goods of the church, and over the doctrine of faith and love. This is evident from the signification of "authority," as being domination; also from the signification of "tribe," as being the truths and goods of the church in general (See above, n. 39, 330, 430, 431, 454, 657). Also from the signification of "tongue," as being the doctrine of the church, also confession and religion (See above, n. 330, 455, 625, 657), here the doctrine of faith; also from the signification of "nation," as being the good of love, likewise the doctrine of love, and thence of the church (See above, n. 175, 331, 625, 657). From this it can be seen that "authority was given to the beast over every tribe and tongue and nation" signifies domination over all the truths and goods of the church, and over the doctrine of faith and love. And as "the beast" signifies faith separated from the life, corroborated and established by reasonings from the natural man, it follows that to such a faith domination is given over all things of the church and its doctrine. It is evident that domination was given to this faith, since faith alone is the universal prevailing principle in the churches; for it has been taken to be the essential means of salvation, as is clearly evident from the doctrines of the churches, as well as from the verbal profession of the men of the church, and in general from their lives; also from this, that they do not know what charity and love are, consequently what works are. And as such is the domination of faith separate, so it has domination over all the truths and goods of the church, and extinguishes them by falsifying, perverting, and adulterating them; for where that faith rules there is no longer anything good, and thence no truth.

[2] It is known that faith from love is the essential means of salvation, and thus is the principle of the doctrine of the church; but since it is important to know how a man can be in such enlightenment as to learn the truths that must constitute his faith and in such affection as to do the goods that must constitute his love, and thus can know whether his faith is a belief in truth and his love a love of good, this shall be told in its proper order, as follows: 1. Let him read the Word every day, one or two chapters, and learn from a master and from preachings the dogmas of his religion; and especially let him learn that God is one, and that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth (John 3:35; 17:2; Matthew 11:27; 28:18), that the Word is holy, that there is a heaven and a hell, and that there is a life after death.

2. Let him learn from the Word, from a master, and from preachings, what works are sins, and that they are especially adulteries, thefts, murders, false witness, and the others mentioned in the Decalogue; likewise that lascivious and obscene thoughts are also adulteries, that frauds and illicit gains are also thefts, that hatred and revenge are also murders, and that lies and blasphemies are also false witness; and so on. Let him learn all these things from childhood to youth.

3. When man begins to think for himself, which is the case after he has grown up, it must be to him the first and chief thing to refrain from doing evils for the reason that they are sins against the Word, thus against God, and for the reason that if he does them he will gain, not life eternal, but hell; and afterwards as he grows up and becomes old he must shun them as damned, and must turn away from them in thought and intention. But in order to so refrain from them and shun and turn away from them, he must pray to the Lord for help. The sins he must refrain from and must shun and turn away from are chiefly adulteries, frauds, illicit gains, hatreds, revenges, lies, blasphemies, and elation of mind.

4. So far as man detests these evils because they are opposed to the Word, and thence opposed to God, so far there is granted him communication with the Lord, and conjunction is effected with heaven. For the Lord enters, and with the Lord heaven enters, as sins are removed; since these and their falsities are the sole hindrances. The reason is because man has been placed in the midst between heaven and hell, wherefore hell acts from the one side, and heaven from the other; therefore so far as evils that are from hell are removed, so far goods from heaven enter; for the Lord says:

Behold I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hear and open the door, I will come in to him (Revelation 3:20).

But if man refrains from doing these evils for any other reason than because they are sins, and are opposed to the Word and because thence to God, no conjunction of heaven with him is effected, because his refraining is from self, and not from the Lord. The Lord is in the Word, even so that He is called the Word (John 1:1-4), because the Word is from Him; consequently the conjunction of heaven with the man of the church is by means of the Word, as may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell 303-310.

5. So far, then, as man detests these sins so far good affections enter. Then so far as he detests adulteries so far chastity enters; so far as he detests frauds and unlawful gains so far sincerity and justice enter; so far as he detests hatred and revenge so far charity enters; so far as he detests lies and blasphemies so far truth enters; and so far as he detests elation of mind so far humility before God and love of the neighbor as oneself enter; and so on. From this it follows that to shun evils is to do goods.

6. So far as a man is in these good affections he is led by the Lord and not by self; and so far as he acts from them so far he does what is good, because he does this from the Lord and not from self; and then he acts from chastity, from sincerity and justice, from charity, from truth, in humility before God; and from these no one can act from self.

7. The spiritual affections that are granted by the Lord to him who is in them and who acts from them, are the affection of knowing and understanding the truths and goods of heaven and the church, together with the affection of willing and doing them; also the affection of combating with zeal against falsities and evils and dispersing them, both with himself and with others. From this man has faith and love, and from this he has intelligence and wisdom.

8. Thus and in no other way is man reformed; and so far as he knows and believes truths, and wills and does them, so far is he regenerated, and from natural becomes spiritual. The like is true of his faith and his love.

[3] If evils have not been removed because they are sins nothing that a man thinks, speaks, wills, and does, is good or true before God, however it may appear as if good and true before the world. The reason is that they are not from the Lord but from man, since it is the love of the man and of the world from which they are, and which is in them. Most people at this day believe that they will come into heaven if they have faith, live piously, and do goods; and yet they do not turn away from evils because they are sins, consequently they either do them or believe them to be allowable; and those who believe them to be allowable do them when opportunity is given. But let them know that their faith is not faith, that their pious things are not pious, and that their goods are not goods; for they flow from the impurities that lie inwardly concealed with man; and externals derive everything that they are from internals. For the Lord says:

Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the platter, that the outside may become clean also (Matthew 23:26).

From this it can now be seen that if a man were able to fulfill all things of the law, if he should give much to the poor, if he should do good to the fatherless and the widow, and if he should also give bread to the hungry and drink to the thirsty, take in the strangers, clothe the naked, visit the sick, and go to them that are bound in prison, if he should earnestly preach the Gospel, convert the Gentiles, frequent temples, listen devoutly to preachings, observe the sacrament of the Supper often every year, spend his time in prayer, and other things; and his internal has not been purified from hatred and revenge, from craftiness and malice, from insincerity and injustice, from the filthy delight of adultery, from the love of self and the consequent love of rule, and the pride of self-intelligence, from contempt of others in comparison with oneself, and from the other evils and their falsities; still all these works would be hypocritical and from the man himself, and not from the Lord. And yet these same works, when the internal has been purified, are all good, because they are from the Lord with man, and since the man is in the faith and in the love of doing these works he will do them as a matter of course. This has been proved to me by a thousand examples in the spiritual world. I have there heard that it has been granted to many to recall the actions of their life in the world, and to enumerate the goods they had done; but when their internal was opened it was found to be full of every evil and the falsity therefrom; and it was then disclosed to them that the goods they had enumerated had been done from self, because for the sake of self and the world, and that they were full of evils from their interiors; and on this account they appeared either as if scorched with fire, or as if sooty.

[4] But it was otherwise with those who from the Word had abstained from doing evils, and had afterwards shunned them and turned away from them because they were sins and were opposed to love to God and to charity towards the neighbor. Although there was a similar perception to them that their works were done as if from self, yet they were all good, and appeared in the light of heaven like white snow and wool (Isaiah 1:12-18). These are the works that are meant in the Word by the works that can in no wise be separated from faith; for faith separated from them is dead, and a dead faith is a faith in falsity from an evil love; or it is the thought that a thing is true, while the life is still evil.

That abstaining from evils for any reason whatever except from the Word does not purify the internal man is evident from the origin of evil works and from the origin of good works. For example, he that abstains from adulteries from fear of the civil law and its punishments, from fear of the loss of reputation and thus of honor, from fear of deprivations arising from poverty, parsimony, or avarice, from fear of consequent illness, from fear of brawls at home with the wife and the consequent intranquility of life, from fear of chastisement by the servants of the injured husband, from infirmity arising from abuse, or age, or impotence, or even from natural goodness and consequent moral goodness, that is, as not being proper and honorable, and so on, and if for such reasons only he lives chastely still he is interiorly unchaste and an adulterer, so long as he does not abstain from these evils from spiritual faith, which is a belief that adulteries are infernal because they are contrary to the Divine Law, and thus contrary to the fear of God and to love of the neighbor. And so in all other cases.

[5] From what has now been presented it can be seen what the internal and the external are, also what faith and love are, namely, that faith and love are with man when his internal has been purified from evils in the manner just described, and that they are not in him if it be not purified, and that where faith and love are, there is heaven, and where faith and love are not, there is hell. More on this may be seen hereafter n. 825.

2708. 'And dwelt in the wilderness' means that which is obscure comparatively. This is clear from the meaning of 'dwelling' as living, dealt with in 2451, and from the meaning of 'a wilderness' as that which possesses little life, dealt with in 1927, here as that which is obscure comparatively. By that which is obscure comparatively is meant the state of the spiritual Church in comparison with the state of the celestial Church, that is, the state of those who are spiritual in comparison with the state of those who are celestial. Those who are celestial are moved by the affection for good, those who are spiritual by the affection for truth. Those who are celestial possess perception, whereas those who are spiritual possess the dictate of conscience. To those who are celestial the Lord appears as a Sun, but to those who are spiritual as a Moon, 1521, 1530, 1531, 2495. The light which the former have - enabling them to see good and truth from the Lord with their eyes as well as to perceive it - is like the light of the sun in the daytime; but the light which the latter have from the Lord is like the light of the moon at night, and so, compared with those who are celestial, these dwell in obscurity. The reason for this is that those who are celestial dwell in love to the Lord, and so in the Lord's life itself, whereas those who are spiritual dwell in charity towards the neighbour and in faith, and so, it is true, in the Lord's life but in a rather more obscure way. All this explains why those who are celestial never reason about faith or the truths of faith, but because a perception of truth from good exists with them, simply say, 'That is so', whereas those who are spiritual talk and reason about the truths of faith because a conscience for what is good received from truth exists with them. A further reason for this difference is that with those who are celestial the good of love has been implanted in the will part of their minds, where man's chief life resides, but with those who are spiritual it has been implanted in the understanding part, where man's secondary life resides. This is the reason why, compared with the celestial, the spiritual dwell in obscurity, see 81, 202, 337, 765, 784, 895, 1114-1125, 1155, 1577, 1824, 2048, 2088, 2227, 2454, 2507. This comparative obscurity is here called 'a wilderness'.

[2] In the Word 'a wilderness' can mean that which is sparsely inhabited and cultivated, or it can mean that which is totally uninhabited and uncultivated, and so is used in two senses. When it means that which is sparsely inhabited and cultivated, that is, where there are few dwellings, and where there are sheepfolds, pastures, and waters, it means that thing or those persons who, compared with others, have little life and light, as is the case with that which is spiritual or those who are spiritual in comparison with that which is celestial or those who are celestial. When however it means that which is totally uninhabited and uncultivated, that is, where there are no dwellings, sheepfolds, pastures, and waters, it means those who have undergone vastation as regards good and desolation as regards truth.

[3] That 'a wilderness' can mean that which, compared with other places, is sparsely inhabited and cultivated, that is, where there are few dwellings, and where there are sheepfolds, pastures, and waters, is clear from the following places: In Isaiah,

Sing to Jehovah a new song, His praise from the end of the earth, those that go down to the sea, and the fullness of it, the islands and their inhabitants. The wilderness and its cities will lift up [their voice]; Kedar will inhabit the settlements, ¹ the inhabitants of the rock will sing, they will shout from the top of the mountains. Isaiah 42:10-11.

In Ezekiel,

I will make with them a covenant of peace and I will banish the evil wild animal from the land, and they will dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods, and I will give them and the places around My hill a blessing. The tree of the field will give its fruit, and the earth will give its increase. ² Ezekiel 34:25-27.

This refers to those who are spiritual. In Hosea,

I will bring her into the wilderness and will speak tenderly to her; and I will give her her vineyards from it. Hosea 2:14-15.

This refers to the desolation of truth and to the comfort that follows later.

[4] In David,

The folds of the wilderness drip, and the hills gird themselves with rejoicing; the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, and the valleys are covered over with grain. Psalms 65:12-13.

In Isaiah,

I will make the wilderness into a pool of water, and the parched land into streams of water. I will put in the wilderness the shittim-cedar, and the myrtle, and the oil tree. I will set in the wilderness the fir, that men may see and know, and may consider and understand together, for the hand of Jehovah has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it. Isaiah 41:18-20.

This refers to the regeneration of those who have no knowledge of the truth, that is, gentiles, and to the enlightenment and teaching of those who have experienced desolation. 'The wilderness' is used in reference to these. 'The cedar, the myrtle, and the oil tree' stands for the truths and goods of the interior man, 'fir' for those of the exterior man. In David,

Jehovah turns rivers into a wilderness, and streams of waters into dryness. He turns a wilderness into a pool of water, and parched land into streams of water. Psalms 107:33, 35

Here the meaning is similar. In Isaiah,

The wilderness and the dry land will be glad for them, and the lonely place will rejoice and blossom like the rose. It will bud prolifically. Waters will break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the lonely place. Isaiah 35:1-2, 6.

In the same prophet,

You will be like a watered garden and like a spring of waters whose waters do not fail; and those that be of you will build the wilderness of old. Isaiah 58:11-12.

In the same prophet,

Until the spirit is poured out on us from on high, and the wilderness will become Carmel, and Carmel counted as a forest. And judgement will dwell in the wilderness and righteousness on Carmel. Isaiah 32:15-16.

This refers to the spiritual Church which, though inhabited and cultivated, is, in comparison [with the celestial Church], called 'a wilderness', for it is said that 'judgement will dwell in the wilderness and righteousness on Carmel'. It is evident from the places just quoted that 'a wilderness' means an obscure state compared with other states not only because it is described as 'a wilderness' but also as 'a woodland'; and an obscure state is plainly the meaning in Jeremiah,

O generation, observe the word of Jehovah. Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of darkness? Jeremiah 2:31.

[5] That 'a wilderness' can mean that which is totally uninhabited and uncultivated, that is, where there are no dwellings, sheepfolds, pastures, and waters, and so can mean those who have experienced vastation as regards good and desolation as regards truth, is also clear from the Word. This kind of wilderness is used with two different meanings; that is to say, it may be used in reference to those who are subsequently reformed or in reference to those who are unable to be reformed. Regarding those who are subsequently reformed, such as Hagar and her son represent here, it is said in Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah, I have remembered you, the mercy of the days of your youth, your going after Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. Jeremiah 2:2.

This refers to Jerusalem, which in this case means the Ancient Church that was spiritual. In Moses,

The portion of Jehovah is His people, Jacob is the line of His inheritance. He found him in a wilderness land and in the waste, the howling, the lonely place. He encompassed him, led him to understand, and kept him as the pupil of His eye. Deuteronomy 32:9-10.

In David,

They wandered in the wilderness, in a desolate way; they did not find an inhabited city. Psalms 107:4.

This refers to those who have experienced desolation of truth and are being reformed. In Ezekiel,

I will bring you to the wilderness of the peoples and I will enter into judgement with you there, as I entered into judgement with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt. Ezekiel 20:35-36.

This likewise refers to the vastation and desolation of those who are being reformed.

[6] The travels and wanderings of the Israelites in the wilderness represented nothing else than the vastation and desolation prior to reformation of those who have faith. It consequently represented the temptation of them, for when people undergo spiritual temptations they experience vastation and desolation, as may also become clear from the following in Moses,

Jehovah carried you ³ along in the wilderness, as a man carries his son, in [all] the way [you went], until [you reached] this place. Deuteronomy 1:31.

And elsewhere in the same book,

You shall remember all the way in which Jehovah your God has led you forty years already in the wilderness to afflict you, to tempt you, and to know what is in your heart, whether you will keep His commandments or not. He afflicted you, caused you to hunger, caused you to eat manna which you do not know nor your fathers knew, so that you may recognize that man does not live by bread only but that man lives by all that goes out of the mouth of Jehovah. Deuteronomy 8:2-3.

And further on in the same chapter,

Do not forget that Jehovah led you in the great and terrible wilderness where there were serpents, fiery snakes, and scorpions, parched places where there was no water, and that He brought you water out of the rock of flint. He fed you in the wilderness with manna which your fathers did not know, that He might afflict you, tempt you, to do you good in the end. Deuteronomy 8:15-16.

Here 'wilderness' stands for the vastation and desolation such as people experience who undergo temptations. Their travels and wanderings in the wilderness for forty years describe every state of the Church militant - how when it is self-reliant it goes under but when it relies on the Lord it overcomes.

[7] The description in John of the woman who fled into the wilderness means nothing else than temptation experienced by the Church, referred to as follows,

The woman who brought forth the male child fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God. To the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly into the wilderness, into her own place. And the serpent poured water like a stream out of his mouth after the woman, to swallow her up in the river. But the earth helped the woman, for the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the stream which the dragon poured out of his mouth. Revelation 12:6, 14-16.

[8] That 'a wilderness' may be used in reference to a totally vastated Church and to people totally vastated as regards good and truth who are unable to be reformed may be seen in the following in Isaiah,

I will make the rivers a wilderness; their fish will stink for lack of water and will die of thirst; I will clothe the heavens with thick darkness. Isaiah 50:2-3.

In the same prophet,

The cities of Your holiness were a wilderness - Zion was a wilderness, Jerusalem lay waste. Isaiah 64:10,

In Jeremiah,

I looked, and behold, Carmel was a wilderness, and all its cities were destroyed from before Jehovah. Jeremiah 4:26.

In the same prophet,

Many shepherds have spoiled My vineyard, they have trampled down [My] portion, they have made the portion of My delight into a desolate wilderness. They have made it into a desolation; desolate, it has mourned over Me. The whole land has been made desolate, for nobody takes it to heart. On all the slopes in the wilderness those who lay waste have come. Jeremiah 12:10-12.

In Joel,

Fire has devoured the folds of the wilderness, and flame will burn up all the trees of the field. The streams of water have dried up, and fire has devoured the folds of the wilderness. Joel 1:19-20.

In Isaiah, He made the world like a wilderness and destroyed its cities. Isaiah 14:17.

This refers to Lucifer. In the same prophet,

The prophecy concerning the wilderness of the sea. Like storms in the south it comes from the wilderness, from a terrible land. Isaiah 21:1 and following verses.

'The wilderness of the sea' stands for truth that has been vastated by facts and by reasonings based on these.

[9] All these places show what is meant by the following reference to John the Baptist,

It was said by Isaiah, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare a way for the Lord, make His paths straight. Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4; John 1:23; Isaiah 40:3.

These words imply that at that time the Church was so totally vastated that no good and no truth remained any longer. This is quite evident from the fact that nobody at that time knew of the existence in man of anything internal, or of anything internal in the Word, so that nobody knew that the Messiah or Christ was coming to save them for ever. The places quoted above also show what is meant by the statement that John was in the wilderness until the time of his manifestation to Israel, Luke 1:80, that he preached in the wilderness of Judea, Matthew 3:1 and following verses, and that he baptized in the wilderness, Mark 1:4; for by this he also represented the state of the Church. From the meaning of 'a wilderness' it may also be seen why the Lord retired so often into the wilderness, as in Matthew 4:1; Matthew 15:32-end; Mark 1:12-13, 35, 45; 6:31-36; Luke 4:1; 5:16; 9:10 and following verses; John 11:54; and also from the meaning of 'a mountain' why the Lord retired into the mountains, as in Matthew 14:23; 15:29-31; 17:1 and following verses; 28:16-17; Mark 3:13-14; 6:46; 9:2-9; Luke 6:12-13; 9:28; John 6:15.

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