7668. 'Go now, you young men, and serve Jehovah' means that those guided by truths that have been corroborated will be left alone, in order that they may worship the Lord. This is clear from the meaning of the command 'go' as the intimation that they will be left alone, as above in 7658; from the meaning of 'young men' as corroborated truths, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'serving Jehovah' as worshipping the Lord, as above in 7654, 7664. The reason why 'young men' means those guided by truths that have been corroborated is that by sons, boys, young men, men, and old men' are meant aspects of intelligence and wisdom in their true order. Such aspects instead of those male persons are understood in heaven; for those in heaven possess spiritual ideas which are such that images from the purely natural order or the world cannot enter them without being instantly sloughed off and transformed into the kinds of images that are more in keeping with the wisdom of heaven and with angelic thought. This is why 'sons, boys, young men, men, and old men' cannot in the spiritual sense mean those male persons, only corresponding spiritual realities, which are aspects of intelligence and wisdom. The fact that these are meant is plainly evident from the internal sense of the places in the Word where they are mentioned.

[2] In the Word 'young men' is used to mean those who have intelligence, or - on the level of abstract ideas on which angels think - intelligence itself. And since intelligence is meant by them, so is firmly established truth since this belongs to intelligence. Also the expression which is used here in the original language to denote young men is derived from strength and power, which truth receives from good, and so which firmly established truth receives. And this name is therefore applied to the Lord in Zechariah,

O sword, rise up against My shepherd, and against the (young) man, My neighbour. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep are scattered. Zechariah 13:7.

These words were spoken in reference to the Lord, see Matthew 26:31. And also in Jeremiah,

How long do you wander around, O estranged daughter? Jehovah has created a new thing on the earth, a woman has surrounded a (young) man. Jeremiah 31:22.

[3] Another word for 'young men in the original language stands for intelligence, and so for the truth that belongs to it, in Amos,

I have sent the pestilence upon you in the way of Egypt, I have killed your young men with the sword, along with captured horses. ¹ Amos 4:10.

'The way of Egypt' stands for perverted factual knowledge, young men who have been killed' for truths which have as a result been destroyed, and 'captured horses' for an understanding that has been led into error.

[4] In the same prophet,

They will wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they will run to and fro to seek the Word of Jehovah, and will not find it. On that day the beautiful virgins and the young men will faint from thirst. Amos 8:12-13.

'The beautiful virgins' stands for the affection for truth, 'the young men' for intelligence, and 'fainting from thirst' for being deprived of truth; and this is why it says 'they will run to and fro to seek the Word of Jehovah, and will not find it'. The fact that neither beautiful virgins, nor young men, nor fainting because of thirst are meant here is self-evident.

In Jeremiah,

Death has come up through our windows, it has entered our palaces, cutting off the young child from the street, young men from the lanes. Jeremiah 9:11.

In the same prophet,

How is the city of glory not forsaken, the city of My joy? Therefore her young men will fall in her streets. Jeremiah 49:25-26; 50:30.

In the same prophet,

Hear now, all peoples, see my sorrow; my virgins and my young men have gone into captivity. Lamentations 1:18.

In these places 'young men' stands for the truths that belong to intelligence.

Voetnoten:

6353. 'Instruments of violence are their swords (machaera)' means that religious teachings serve to destroy charitable deeds, thus charity itself. This is clear from the meaning of 'instruments of violence' as things that serve to destroy charity (the fact that 'instruments' are things that serve is self-evident, while the fact that 'violence' means the destruction of charity will be seen shortly below); and from the meaning of 'swords as religious teachings. For 'swords' (gladius) are the truths of faith that are employed to fight against falsities and evils, 2799; thus swords' (machaera) ¹ are religious teachings, here teachings employed to fight against truth and goodness and to annihilate them, for they are employed by those who champion faith alone, or faith separated from charity, and with whom the opposite of charity resides.

[2] The religious teachings employed by those who champion faith alone to dispense with charitable works are principally these:

A person is saved by faith alone without the works of charity.

Those works are unnecessary, and a person can be saved by faith alone even in his final hour when he dies, irrespective of how he has lived throughout the whole course of his life.

Thus those who have performed nothing else than cruel deeds, robberies, acts of adultery, or unholy deeds can be saved.

Consequently salvation is merely a letting into heaven, which means that none are let in except those who have received that grace at the end of their lives, and which also means that some by God's mercy have been chosen and others by the lack of it have been damned.

The truth of the matter however is that the Lord does not deny heaven to anyone. The life people have led and the communication of that life, which is perceived in heaven in the way an odour is on earth by its recipients, make it completely impossible for them to be there; for they are tormented in heaven by the wicked life they led more than they are in the deepest hell.

[3] 'A sword' means falsity fighting and killing. This is evident in John,

There went out another horse, fiery red; and it was granted to the one sitting on it to take away peace from the earth, so that people would kill one another, for which reason there was given him a great sword. Revelation 6:4.

In the same author,

If anyone kills with the sword, he must be killed with the sword. Revelation 13:10, 14.

[4] 'Violence' is the use of force against charity. This is plain from many places in the Word, as in Isaiah,

The violent one will cease to be and the scornful one will be destroyed. All ripeners of iniquity ² will be cut off, those who cause a person to sin by a word, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and cause him who is just to turn aside to something empty. Isaiah 59:20, 21.

Here a different expression is used in the original language for 'the violent one'; but it carries a similar spiritual meaning. The fact that 'the violent one' is someone who uses force against charity is meant when it says that 'they cause a person to sin by a word' and 'cause him who is just to turn aside'.

[5] In the same prophet,

Their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood. Isaiah 59:6-7.

Here 'violence' stands for force used against charity, a force that is also meant by 'shedding blood', see 774, 1005. In the same prophet,

No longer will there be violence in your land, a laying waste and ruin within your borders. Isaiah 60:18.

'Violence' stands for the destruction of charity, for the outcome is a laying waste and ruin in the land, that is, in the Church.

[6] In Jeremiah,

I proclaim violence and a laying waste, for the word of Jehovah was made to me a reproach and ignominy the whole day. Jeremiah 20:8.

Here also 'violence' stands for violence in spiritual things, thus for the destruction of charity, and also of faith. In Ezekiel,

The land is full of the judgement of blood, ³ and the city is full of violence. Ezekiel 7:23.

'The judgement of blood' stands for the destruction of faith, 'violence' for the destruction of charity.

[7] In the same prophet,

If he begets a violent son, a shedder of blood, who does any one of these things; if he eats on the mountains, or defiles his companion's wife, oppresses the wretched and needy, engages in plunderings, does not restore the pledge, or lifts his eyes to idols, commits abomination, lends at interest and takes usury, will he live? He will not live; he will surely die. Ezekiel 18:10-13.

In this description of what 'a violent son and a shedder of blood' is, the wrong-doings that are listed are all the charitable works he destroys; thus 'a violent son and a shedder of blood' is one who destroys charity and faith.

[8] In David,

Deliver me, O Jehovah, from the evil person; from the man of violent actions preserve me. Those who think evil things in their heart gather together all the day for war, they make their tongue sharp, like a serpent; the poison of an asp is under their lips. Keep me, O Jehovah, from the hands of the wicked; from the man of violent actions preserve me. Do not let a slanderer ⁴ be established in the land; as for the violent man, evil hunts him down, to overthrow him. Psalms 140:1-4, 11.

'The man of violent actions' stands for those who destroy the truths of faith and forms of the good of charity. Their fight against these is meant by 'they gather together all the day for war, they make their tongue sharp, like a serpent', 'the poison of an asp is under their lips', and 'evil hunts him down, to overthrow him'. 'Violence' is referred to in other places besides these, such as Ezekiel 12:19; Joel 3:19; Malachi 2:16-17; Zephaniah 3:4; Psalms 18:48; 55:9-11; 58:2-5; Deuteronomy 19:16.

Voetnoten: