1832. But the fowl he did not split means that spiritual things lack this symmetry and correspondence. This can be seen from the symbolism of fowl as something spiritual, as dealt with at verse 9 just above [§§1826-1827]. It can also be seen from the fact that Abram did not divide the fowl in half, so that there is no symmetry or correspondence of this kind.

As noted many times before, ¹ "spiritual" means everything that has to do with faith. Consequently it means all doctrine, since doctrine is called the teachings of faith, even though these teachings are not a part of faith until they are united with charity, or love for others. There is no parallelism or correspondence between these spiritual entities and the Lord, because they are not the kinds of things that enter us by way of an inner voice or conscience, as attributes of love and charity do. Instead they enter us by way of instruction, and so by hearing. ² In other words, they enter not from inside but from outside and therefore create their own vessels or containers in us.

[2] For the most part they seem to be true and yet are not, such as literal statements in the Word that either represent true ideas or symbolize true ideas and therefore are not true in themselves. Some are even false and yet are capable of serving as vessels and containers. In the Lord, though, they are pure truth, truth in its essence. So there is no parallelism or correspondence between the two. However, spiritual elements can still be molded to serve as vessels for heavenly contents, which are matters of love and charity. Spiritual things make up the cloud in our intellectual half that the Lord injects with charity in order to create conscience, as discussed earlier [§1043].

[3] Some people, for instance, restrict themselves to the literal level of the Word and believe that the Lord is the one who leads us into crisis and at the same time tortures our conscience. Because he permits evil, they consider him the cause of evil. They think he sends sinners to hell, and so on. To them these ideas seem true, but they are not, and because they are not strictly true, there is no symmetry or correspondence. Yet the Lord leaves them intact in such a person and adapts them in a miraculous way, by means of charity, to serve as vessels for heavenly impulses.

It is the same with the worship, doctrines, and moral code — even the idols — of honest non-Christians. These the Lord leaves equally intact, at the same time adapting them too, by means of charity, to serve as vessels.

It was the same with very many rituals in the ancient church and later in the Jewish religion. Of themselves these rituals were completely devoid of truth, but they were tolerated and allowed, and even ordered, because ancestors of the people in these religions had held them sacred. As a result, they had been grafted and etched onto these people's minds from infancy as being full of truth.

[4] These and other things like them are what are symbolized by the fact that the fowl were not split. Once an idea has been planted in our mind and we come to view it as holy, the Lord leaves it intact, as long as it does not violate divine order. Although it may not be parallel or correspond, he still adapts it.

These things are also what were symbolized in the Jewish religion by the practice of not splitting birds in sacrifice. Dividing something is putting the parts opposite each other so that like corresponds to like. Because the kinds of things being discussed here have no like to correspond to, in the other world they are erased from consciousness in people who allow themselves to be taught, and genuine truth is transplanted into their positive emotions.

It can be seen in Moses that birds were not divided in the Jewish religion, because of this representation and symbolism:

If their offering to Jehovah is the burnt offering of a bird, they shall bring some turtledoves or some offspring of a pigeon and shall cleave it with its wings, not divide it. ³ (Leviticus 1:14, 17)

Likewise in sacrifices for a sin offering ⁴ (Leviticus 5:7-8).

Footnotes:

1096. The fact that a blessing on Shem's Jehovah means that everything good comes to those who worship the Lord from deep inside can be seen from the symbolism of being blessed.

A blessing involves every heavenly and spiritual kind of benefit, and every earthly kind as well. These are what a blessing symbolizes in an inner sense. In a shallower sense, it symbolizes every temporal, personal, and worldly kind of benefit; but if these are to be true blessings, they have to stem from an inner blessing. Only an inner blessing really is a blessing, because it is eternal and carries with it a full range of happiness. An inner blessing is the essential reality of any blessing, because what else genuinely exists besides what is eternal? Everything else that exists ceases to exist.

"A blessing on Jehovah!" was a common phrase among the ancients, ¹ and by it they meant that all blessings — everything good, in other words — came from him. It was also a standard way to thank the Lord for his benefits in past and present. The phrase occurs in David, for instance, in Psalms 28:6; 31:21; 41:13; 66:20; 68:19, 35; 72:18-19; 89:52; 119:12; 124:6; 135:21; 144:1; and in other authors.

[2] The exact wording in this verse is "A blessing on Jehovah God" because it has to do with Shem, or the inner church. This church is called an inner one because of its charity. Charity holds within it the presence of the Lord, who is accordingly called Jehovah God here. It is not so in the outer church. In this church the Lord admittedly is present, but not the same way as he is with the people of the inner church. Those who belong to the outer church, you see, still believe that they do the good deeds of charity under their own power, and as a result, the Lord is called "God" when they are the people being spoken of. The next verse, for example, which talks about Japheth, says "May God broaden Japheth!"

The fact that everything good comes to those who worship the Lord from deep inside can also be inferred from the pattern of things. This is the pattern: the Lord is the source of all heavenly traits, heavenly traits are the source of all spiritual traits, and spiritual traits are the source of all earthly traits. This pattern governs the emergence of all things, and it sets the pattern by which those things flow into us.

[3] The heavenly element is love for the Lord and for our neighbor. Where love does not exist, the link is broken and the Lord is not present, since he enters into us only through what is heavenly — that is, through love. When there is no heavenly element, no spiritual element is possible either, because everything spiritual comes from the Lord by way of something heavenly. The spiritual element is faith, so faith is impossible unless it comes from the Lord by way of charity, or love. The same is true of the earthly element.

Everything good flows in according to the same pattern, from which it follows that those who receive it are those who worship the Lord from deep inside, or in other words, from charity. It also follows that people who do not worship him in charity do not receive anything good but the kind of things that merely imitate goodness and are essentially evil. An example is the thrill of hatred and adultery, which, viewed in itself, is no more than a delight in excrement; and this is what it turns into in the other life.

Footnotes: