10048. 'And you shall cut the ram into pieces' means that the interior things must be arranged into order, distinct from one another. This is clear from the meaning of 'the ram' as the good of innocence and charity in the internal man, dealt with in 10042, at this point preparation for the internal man's purification, meant by the burnt offering of the ram; and from the meaning of 'cutting into pieces' as the arrangement of the interiors there into order. The reason why preparation for the arrangement of the interiors into order is meant by 'cutting into pieces, members, and parts' is that the arranging of them is described by the requirement to put the intestines and legs on top of the pieces and of the head. By 'the intestines' are meant the lowest things, which are called the outward things of the senses, and by 'the legs' those immediately above, which are called natural things, so that by 'the pieces', which were higher still, interior things are meant, and by 'the head' inmost ones. ¹ The fact that the intestines, legs, and head mean those things will be clear from what follows below; and the fact that the organs and members of the human being mean such things arranged in order may be seen above in 10030.

[2] Since sacrifices and burnt offerings serve in the representative sense to mean the regeneration of a person, something brief must be stated about the nature of the arranging into order which takes place during regeneration. With those who are being regenerated interiors and exteriors are being arranged into order by the Lord for the purpose of all subsequent states, so much so that things in the present entail those in the future, as do things in the future when they become those in the present, and so on forever. For the Lord foresees all things and provides all things, and His Foresight and Providence looks to eternity, and so is everlasting; for the Divine nature, which He alone possesses, is in itself infinite, and what is infinite in duration is everlasting. Consequently whatever the Lord arranges into order is everlasting. This is what happens to those whom the Lord is regenerating; the regeneration of a person begins in the world and carries on forever, for when a person becomes an angel he is always being made more perfect. In the human being there are outward things, inward things, and inmost ones. All these are arranged into order simultaneously and in successive stages for the purpose of the things to be received in the subsequent states following on forever. But in what order the regeneration of outward, inner, and inmost things takes place, and the reverse, will in the Lord's Divine mercy be stated in what follows.

Voetnoten:

9088. 'He shall give silver to its owner' means by means of truth with him whose good or truth in the natural has been perverted. This is clear from the meaning of 'silver' as truth, dealt with in 1551, 2048, 5658, 6112, 6914, 6917, 7999, and of 'giving silver' as redeeming by means of truth 2954; and from the meaning of 'its owner' - the owner of the ox or ass that fell into the pit - as the one whose good or truth in the natural has been perverted. For 'ox' is good in the natural, and 'ass' the truth there, 9086; and 'falling into a pit' means perverting them, 9086.

[2] The situation here is that if good or truth is perverted by falsity, then what has been perverted must be amended by means of truth, within the Church by means of truth from the Word, or from teachings drawn from the Word. The reason why it must be done this way is that truth teaches what evil is and what falsity is, and thereby a person sees and acknowledges them; and when he sees and acknowledges them amendment can be accomplished in him, since the Lord enters into those things with a person that the person knows, not into those he does not know. He does not therefore amend evil or falsity until the person has learned that it is evil or falsity. So it is that those who have to do the work of repentance must see and acknowledge their evils, and accordingly lead the life of truth, 8388-8392. The situation is similar with purification from the evils of self-love and love of the world. Purification from those loves cannot at all be accomplished except by means of the truths of faith, because these teach that all sinful desires spring from those loves. This explains why circumcision among the Israelite and Jewish nation was performed with a knife made of flint; for circumcision was a sign of purification from those foul loves, and the knife of flint with which it was performed was a sign of the truth of faith, 2799 (middle), 7044. By means of the truths of faith also a person is regenerated, 8635-8640, 8772. This was meant by the washings used in former times for ritual cleansings; and the same thing is also meant at the present day by the waters of baptism. For the waters are a sign of the truths of faith, by means of which evils are removed, 739, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 7307, 8568, and baptism is a sign of regeneration, 4255, 5120 (end).

[3] From all this it is evident how false the thinking is of those who believe that a person's evils or sins are wiped away as dirt on the body is washed away by water, that the interiors of those who were washed with water in former times according to the rules of the Church were cleansed, and also that people at the present day are saved through undergoing baptism. In actual fact the washings in former times did no more than represent the cleansing of people interiorly, and baptism is only the sign of regeneration. The waters there mean the truths of faith by means of which a person is cleansed and regenerated, for by means of those truths are evils removed. Baptism is for those within the Church, because they have the Word, where the truths of faith, the means by which a person is regenerated, are to be found.