5937. En Farao zei tot Jozef; dat dit de doorvatting betekent van het natuurlijke vanuit het innerlijk hemelse, staat vast uit de betekenis van zeggen in de historische dingen van het Woord, namelijk het doorvatten, waarover meermalen eerder; uit de uitbeelding van Farao, namelijk het natuurlijke in het algemeen, nrs. 5160, 5799;

en uit de uitbeelding van Jozef, namelijk het innerlijk hemelse, nrs. 5869, 5877; omdat het hemelse dat Jozef uitbeeldt, innerlijk is en het natuurlijke dat Farao uitbeeldt, uiterlijk is, is daarom het doorvatten van het natuurlijke vanuit het innerlijk hemelse; alle doorvatting immers is vanuit het innerlijke; nooit is er enige doorvatting van het innerlijke vanuit het uiterlijke; waarvandaan immers de invloeiing is, daarvandaan is de doorvatting. Wat doorvatten is dat zo vaak wordt genoemd, moet hier in het kort worden gezegd; bij elk mens is het vermogen om te doorvatten of iets zo is ofwel niet zo is; het vermogen om van binnen in zichzelf of in zijn gemoed te concluderen, maakt dat de zaak wordt doorvat; dit vermogen is nooit bestaanbaar tenzij er invloeiing vanuit de geestelijke wereld is; in deze gave munt de ene mens boven de andere uit; zij die minder uitmunten, zijn diegenen die slechts weinig binnen in zich of in hun gemoed concluderen en dan doorvatten, maar die zeggen dat iets zo is omdat anderen in wie zij geloof hebben, dat zo gezegd hebben; maar zij die meer uitmunten, zijn diegenen die niet vanuit anderen maar vanuit zich zien dat iets zo is; toch is de doorvatting die bij elk mens is, er een in wereldse dingen, niet echter heden ten dage bij iemand in geestelijke dingen; de oorzaak hiervan is deze dat het geestelijke dat invloeit en de doorvatting maakt, verduisterd en bijna uitgeblust is door de verkwikkingen van de liefde van de wereld en van zich; daarom bekommeren zij zich ook niet om de geestelijke dingen dan alleen voor zover uit plicht en gewoonte; indien de vrees vanuit de plicht en de verkwikking vanuit gewoonte werd weggenomen, zouden zij die dingen afwijzen, verafschuwen, ja zelfs loochenen; om geestelijke dingen te kunnen doorvatten, moet men in de aandoening van het ware vanuit het goede zijn en aanhoudend verlangen de ware dingen te weten; vandaar wordt iemands verstandelijke verlicht en wanneer het verstandelijke is verlicht, wordt het hem gegeven van binnen in zich te doorvatten; maar degene die niet in de aandoening van het ware is, weet dat, waarvan hij weet dat het zo is, uit de leerstellingen van de Kerk waaraan hij geloof hecht en omdat een priester, een presbyter of een monnik heeft gezegd dat iets zo is. Hieruit kan vaststaan wat doorvatten is en dat dit bestaat in de wereldse, maar niet in geestelijke dingen; wat nog hieruit blijkt dat eenieder blijft in het dogma waarin hij geboren is, ook zij die als joden zijn geboren, en ook diegenen die buiten de Kerk zijn, hoewel zij binnen haar leven; en eveneens zouden degenen die in een ketterij zijn, indien hun de eigenlijke ware dingen zelf werden gezegd en die eveneens werd bevestigd, toch niet in het minst doorvatten dat het ware dingen zijn, zij zouden aan hen als valse dingen verschijnen.

140. Of Perception.

Perception consists in seeing what is true and good by influx from the Lord (n. 202, 895, 7680, 9128). Perception is given only with those who are in the good of love from the Lord to the Lord (n. 202, 371, 1442, 5228). Perception is given with those in heaven who, whilst they lived in the world, brought the doctrinals of the church which are from the Word immediately into the life, and who did not first commit them to memory; thus the interiors of their minds were formed to the reception of the Divine influx; and thence their understanding is in heaven in continual enlightenment (n. 104, 495, 503, 521, 536, 1616, 1791, 5145). They know innumerable things, and are wise beyond measure (n. 2718, 9543). They who are in perception, do not reason concerning the truths of faith, and if they reasoned their perception would perish (n. 586, 1398, 5897). They who believe that they know and are wise from themselves, cannot have perception (n. 1386). The learned do not comprehend what this perception is, from experience (n. 1387).

They who are in the Lord's celestial kingdom, have perception; but they who are in the spiritual kingdom, have no perception, but conscience in its place (n. 805, 2144-2145, 8081). They who are in the Lord's celestial kingdom do not think from faith, like those in the Lord's spiritual kingdom, because they who are in the celestial kingdom are in perception from the Lord of all things of faith (n. 202, 597, 607, 784, 1121, 1387, 1398, 1442, 1919, 7680, 7877, 8780). Wherefore the celestial angels say concerning the truths of faith only, Yea, yea, or Nay, nay, because they perceive them and see them; but the spiritual angels reason concerning the truths of faith, whether a thing be so or not (n. 2715, 3246, 4448, 9166, 10786); where the words of the Lord are explained:

Let your discourse be Yea, yea, Nay, nay: what is beyond these is from evil (Matt. 5:37).

The celestial angels, because they know the truths of faith from perception, are not even willing to name faith (n. 202, 337). The distinction between the celestial angels and the spiritual angels (n. 2088, 2669, 2708-2715, 3235, 3240, 4788, 7068, 8521, 9277, 10295). Of the perception of those who were of the Most Ancient Church, which was a celestial church (n. 125, 597, 607, 784, 895, 1121, 5121).

There is interior and exterior perception (n. 2145, 2171, 2831, 5920). There is in the world a perception of what is just and equitable, but rarely a perception of spiritual truth and good (n. 2831, 5937, 7977). The light of perception is altogether different from the light of confirmation; and it is not like it, although it may appear so to some persons (n. 8521, 8780).

10609. 'Also no flock or herd shall feed before this mountain' means that neither were they capable of receiving instruction concerning the interior and exterior good of the Church, worship, and the Word. This is clear from the meaning of 'flock' as interior good, and from the meaning of herd' as exterior good, both of which are dealt with in 5913, 6048, 8937; from the meaning of 'feeding' as receiving instruction, dealt with in 5201, 6277; and from the meaning of 'mountain', which at this point is Mount Horeb, as the external aspect of the Church, worship, and the Word, dealt with in 10543. From these meanings it is evident that those words mean that neither was this nation capable of receiving instruction concerning the interior and exterior good of the Church, worship, and the Word, since they stood outside and in no way within that external aspect of them. The reason why they were incapable of receiving instruction concerning it was that they were ruled by self-love and love of the world, and people ruled by those loves are totally incapable of knowing what celestial and spiritual good is, and so of knowing what the Church's good is, since this good, being Divine, is spiritual and celestial. If this good were described to them they would not begin to comprehend it, because the internal part of the mind, where perception of that good takes place, is in their case closed.

[2] That such things are meant by 'no flock or herd shall feed before the mountain' may seem to be strange to those who confine their attention to the historical meaning of the Word and think no further than this, that something involving that nation is meant by these words. Nor is anything other than this known by those unacquainted with the internal sense of the Word, in which flock or herd are not meant by 'flock or herd' but the interior and exterior good residing with a person. For what does the Word, which is Divine, have to do with a flock and herd, that is, with animals? Human beings, their worship, love, and faith, thus such things as compose the Church with them, is what the Divine Word has to do with.

[3] The fact that such things, not flock or herd, are meant by 'flock or herd' is clear from places in the Word where they are mentioned, as in David,

You have given Him dominion over the works of Your hands; and You have put all things under His feet, flocks and all herds, and also the beasts of the fields. Psalms 8:6-7.

This refers to the Lord and to His power over all things in heaven and on earth, 'flocks' and 'herds' meaning forms of good, interior and exterior, that exist with people, and 'beasts' people's affections. If those creatures did not have these meanings what would be the point of describing the Lord's power, which is Divine, as power over flocks, herds, and beasts? For the meaning of 'beasts' as human affections, see in the places referred to in 9280.

[4] In Joel,

The day of Jehovah is near, and as destruction from Shaddai will it come. The beasts groan, the droves of the herd are perplexed, because they have no pasture, even the droves of the flock are made desolate. Joel 1:15, 18.

Here also 'the beasts' stands for human affections, 'the droves of the herd and of the flock' standing for forms of good, interior and exterior. For these verses refer to the Lord's Coming, this being what is meant by 'the day of Jehovah'. They also refer to the Church at that time, to its having been laid waste, that is, to its not possessing the good of love any longer, nor the good of faith, these being what 'beasts', 'herds', and 'flocks' mean. If they did not mean those things what would be the point of saying that the beasts would groan on that day, the droves of the herd would be perplexed, and the droves of the flock would be made desolate? What would all this have to do with the Church? Their having no pasture at that time means that no truth is present in which they may receive instruction.

[5] In Jeremiah,

From our youth shame is devouring the work of our fathers - their flocks and their herds, and their sons and their daughters. Jeremiah 3:24.

Here also 'flocks' and 'herds' mean the Church's forms of good, which are those of love and faith, interior and exterior ones.

[6] In Isaiah,

I will bring forth seed from Jacob, and from Judah the heir of My mountains. Then Sharon will be the dwelling-place of the flock, and the Valley of Achor the place for the herd to lie down ¹ , for My people who have sought Me. Isaiah 65:9-10.

'Jacob' and 'Judah' here are not used to mean the people of Jacob and Judah but the external and internal celestial Church, 'Jacob' the external and 'Judah' the internal. The internal good of that Church is meant by 'the dwelling-place of the flock' and the external good by 'the place for the herd to lie down', 'Sharon' being the internal part [of that Church], where this good resides, and 'the Valley of Achor' the external part. The fact that 'Sharon' means the internal part of the celestial Church is clear from the places where Sharon is mentioned, as in Isaiah 33:9; 35:2; and the fact that 'the Valley of Achor' means the external part of that Church is clear in Hosea 2:15.

[7] In Hosea,

Israel, Ephraim, and Judah will go with their flocks and with their herds to seek Jehovah, and they will not find [Him]. Hosea 5:5, 6.

Here also 'flocks' and 'herds' mean the interior and exterior things with those who should be understood by 'Israel, Ephraim, and Judah'. If they did not mean those things what would be the point of saying that these three would go with their flocks and herds to seek Jehovah?

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