6677. And if it be a daughter, then she shall live. That this signifies that they should not do so if it is good, is evident from the signification of “daughter,” as being good (see n. 489-491, 2362); and from the signification of “living,” as being not to be destroyed. The reason why the king of Egypt said that a son should be slain, but not a daughter, is plain from the internal sense, which is that they would attempt to destroy truth, but not good; for when the infernals infest, they are allowed to attack truths, but not goods. The reason is that truths are what can be assaulted, but not goods, these being protected by the Lord; and when the infernals attempt to attack goods, they are cast down deep into hell, for they cannot withstand the presence of good, because in all good the Lord is present. Hence it is that the angels, being in good, have such power over infernal spirits that one angel can master thousands of them. Be it known that there is life in good, for good is of love, and love is the life of man. If evil, which is of the love of self and of the world, and which appears good to those who are in these loves, assaults the good which is of heavenly love, the life of the one fights against the life of the other; and as the life from the good of heavenly love is from the Divine, therefore if the life from the love of self and of the world comes into collision with the former life, it begins to be extinguished, for it is suffocated. Thus they are tortured like those who are in the death agony, and therefore they cast themselves headlong into hell, where they again recover their life (n. 3938, 4225, 4226, 5057, 5058). This also is the reason why good cannot be assaulted by evil genii and spirits; and thus that they dare not destroy good. It is otherwise with truth, which has not life in itself; but from good, that is, through good from the Lord.

4225. At the outset it must be stated who are within the Grand Man, and who are out of it. All those are within the Grand Man who are in love to the Lord and in charity toward the neighbor, and who do good to the neighbor from the heart according to the good that is in him, and who have a conscience of what is just and equitable; for these are in the Lord, and consequently in heaven. But all those are outside the Grand Man who are in the love of self and the love of the world and the derivative concupiscences, and who do what is good solely on account of the laws, and for the sake of their own honor and the world’s wealth and the consequent reputation, and who thus are interiorly unmerciful and in hatred and revenge against the neighbor for their own and the world’s sake, and are delighted with the neighbor’s injury when he does not favor them for these are in hell. These do not correspond to any organs and members in the body, but to various corruptions and diseases induced in them; concerning which also of the Lord’s Divine mercy, I shall speak from experience in the following pages.

[2] They who are out of the Grand Man (that is, out of heaven), cannot enter into it, for their lives are contrary to it. Nay, if in any way they do enter, which is sometimes done by such as have learned in the life of the body to counterfeit angels of light; nevertheless on arriving there, as is sometimes permitted in order that they may learn their own character, they are admitted only to the first entrance, that is, to those who are as yet simple-minded, and who have not as yet been fully instructed. And even there those who enter as angels of light are scarcely able to tarry a few moments, because the life there is that of love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor; and as there is nothing there which corresponds to their life, they are hardly able to breathe. (That spirits and angels breathe, may be seen above, n. 3884-3893.) Consequently they begin to be distressed, for respiration takes place in accordance with freedom of life; and wonderful to say they are finally scarcely able to move, but become like those who are in, anguish and torment taking possession of their interiors, and they therefore cast themselves down headlong, even into hell, where they recover their respiration and power of motion. Hence it is that in the Word life is represented by mobility.

[3] But they who are in the Grand Man breathe freely when they are in the good of love; but nevertheless they are distinguished according to the quality and the amount of the good. Hence there are so many heavens, which in the Word are called “mansions” (John 14:2). And everyone when in his own heaven is in his life, and receives influx from the universal heaven, each person there being a center of all the influxes, and therefore in the most perfect equilibrium; and this according to the amazing form of heaven, which is from the Lord alone; thus with all variety.

489. That by “sons and daughters” are signified the truths and goods which they had a perception of, and indeed by “sons” truths, and by “daughters” goods, is evident from many passages in the Prophets; for in the Word, as also in olden time, the conceptions and births of the church are called “sons and daughters” as in Isaiah:

The Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising; lift up thine eyes round about and see; all they gather themselves together and come to thee; thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side; then thou shalt see and flow together, and thy heart shall be amazed, and shall be enlarged (Isaiah 60:3-5),

in which passage “sons” signify truths, and “daughters” goods.

[2] In David:

Deliver me and rescue me from the hand of the sons of the stranger, whose mouth speaketh vanity; that our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth, that our daughters may be as corner-stones hewn in the form of a temple (Psalms 44:11-12),

where the “sons of the stranger” signify spurious truths, or falsities; “our sons” signify doctrinals of truth; “our daughters” doctrinals of good.

[3] In Isaiah:

I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Keep not back; bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the ends of the earth; bring forth the blind people, and they shall have eyes; the deaf, and they shall have ears (Isaiah 43:6, 8),

in which passage “sons” signify truths; “daughters” goods; the “blind” those who would see truths; and the “deaf” those who would obey them.

[4] In Jeremiah:

Shame hath devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth; their flocks, their herds, their sons, and their daughters (Jeremiah 3:24),

where “sons” and “daughters” signify truths and goods. That “children” and “sons” signify truths, is plain from Isaiah: Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale; for when he shall see his children the work of My hands in the midst of him, they shall sanctify My name, and shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel; they also that erred in spirit shall know understanding (Isaiah 29:22-24,

where the “Holy One of Jacob, the God of Israel” signifies the Lord; “children” signify the regenerate, who have the understanding of good and truth, as is indeed explained.

[5] Again:

Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear, for more are the sons of the desolate than the sons of the married wife (Isaiah 54:1),

where the “sons of the desolate” signify the truths of the primitive Church, or that of the Gentiles; the “sons of the married wife” the truths of the Jewish Church.

[6] In, Jeremiah:

My tent is laid waste and all My cords are plucked out; My sons are gone forth of Me, and are not (Jeremiah 10:20),

where “sons” signify truths. Again:

His sons shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before Me (Jeremiah 30:20),

where “sons” signify the truths of the Ancient Church.

In Zechariah:

I will stir up thy sons, O Zion, with thy sons, O Javan, and make thee as the sword of a mighty man (Zechariah 9:13),

signifying the truths of the faith of love.