8858. A person's whole character is determined by the nature of whatever dominates his life; this is what marks him off from others. His heaven is formed in accordance with it if he is good, or his hell if he is bad. For it constitutes his true will and so the true being of his life, which is unchangeable after death. From all this one may see what the life is like in a person who has been regenerated, and what it is like in one who has not been regenerated.

9409. 'And on the children of Israel who had been set apart' means those restricted to the outward sense, separated from the inward. This is clear from the representation of 'the children of Israel who had been set apart' - that is, those who had been separated from Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders, and about whom verse 2 above says 'they shall not come up' - as those restricted to the outward sense of the Word, separated from the inward, dealt with above in 9380. Something brief must be stated here about who exactly those people are, and what they are like, who are restricted to the outward sense of the Word, separated from the inward. They are those who draw no teachings about charity and faith from the Word but confine themselves to the sense of the letter. Teachings about charity and faith compose the inward substance of the Word, while the sense of the letter composes its outward form. The worship too of those restricted to the outward sense of the Word without the inward is something outward devoid of anything inward. They venerate outward things as being holy and Divine, and also believe that these things are in themselves holy and Divine, when in fact they are holy and Divine by virtue of inner realities. This was what the children of Jacob were like, see 3479, 4281, 4293, 4307, 4429, 4433, 4680, 4844, 4847, 4865, 4868, 4874, 4899, 4903, 4911, 4913, 6304, 8588, 8788, 8806, 8871.

[2] But let some examples serve to illustrate this matter. They believed that they were pure, free from all sin and all guilt, when they offered sacrifices and ate from them. For they thought that the sacrifices in their outward form alone, without the inward, were the most holy things of worship, that when used in those sacrifices the oxen, young bulls, lambs, she-goats, sheep, rams, and he-goats were holy, and that the altar was the most holy thing of all. And they thought of the bread of the minchahs and the wine of the drink-offerings in a similar way. They also believed that when they had washed their clothes and their bodies they were altogether clean, and in like manner that the perpetual fire on the altar and the fires in the lamps were in themselves holy, also the loaves of the presence, the anointing oil, and all else. This was what they believed because they rejected everything internal, so completely that they were unwilling even to hear about internal things, such as that they should love Jehovah for His sake and not their own, that is to say, not in order that they might be raised to important positions and wealth above all nations and peoples throughout the world. Nor therefore were they willing to hear that the Messiah was going to come for the sake of their eternal salvation and happiness, only for the sake of their pre-eminence over all in the world. Nor were they willing to hear about mutual love and charity towards the neighbour for the neighbour's sake and good, only for their own, so far as the neighbour was favourably disposed towards them. They thought nothing of entertaining feelings of enmity, harbouring hatred, taking vengeance, acting savagely, so long as they could lay hold of some reason.

[3] Their beliefs and actions would have been altogether different if they had been willing to accept teachings about love to and faith in the Lord and charity towards the neighbour. They would then have known and believed that burnt offerings, sacrifices, minchahs, drink-offerings, and feasting on sacrifices would not purify them from any guilt or sin, but that worship of God and heartfelt repentance would do so, Deuteronomy 33:19; Jeremiah 7:21-23; Micah 6:6-8; Hosea 6:6; Psalms 40:6, 8; 51:16-17; 1 Samuel 15:22. They would in a similar way have known that the washing of clothes and body rendered no one clean, only purification of the heart; and in like manner that the fire on the altar and fires in the lamps, also the loaves of the presence, and the anointing oil were not holy of themselves but by virtue of the inner realities which they were the signs of. They would have known too that when they were governed by those holy and inner realities they would be holy people, not on their own account, but on that of the Lord from whom everything holy springs. The children of Israel would have known these inner realities if they had received teachings about love and charity, because these declare what it is that outward things include within them. Those teachings also provide knowledge of the internal sense of the Word, because the internal sense of the Word constitutes true teachings about love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour. It is also what the Lord teaches, when He says that on both these commands all the Law and the Prophets depend, Matthew 22:36, 40.

[4] The situation is virtually the same today in the Christian world. Here people are restricted to outward things, without anything inward, because teachings about love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour are lacking, so much so that there is scarcely any knowledge of what celestial love is and what spiritual love is, which is charity. For the good of celestial and spiritual love, and consequently the truth of faith, constitute the inner level in a person. So it is that even at the present day the outward sense of the Word, without doctrinal teachings as regulator and guide, can be distorted as much as anyone likes. For teachings about faith without teachings about love and charity are like the darkness of night, whereas teachings about faith arising out of teachings about love and charity are like the light of day. For the good that belongs to love and charity is like the flame, while the truth of faith is like the light radiating from it.

[5] This being what people in the Christian world are like at the present day, that is to say, people restricted to outward things without anything inward, scarcely any have an affection for truth for its own sake. Here also is the reason why they are not even aware of what good, charity, or the neighbour is. They are not even aware of what the inner level in a person is, nor of what heaven is and hell is, nor of the fact that everyone is alive immediately after death. And those among them who keep to the teachings of their Church do not care whether those teachings are false or true. They learn them and endorse them not for the sake of exercising the good of charity from the heart, nor for the sake of the salvation of their soul and eternal happiness, but for the sake of getting on in the world, that is, to earn reputation, important positions, and wealth. For this reason they receive no enlightenment when they read the Word, and so will altogether deny the existence of anything inwardly present in the Word apart from what stands out in the letter. But more on this subject from experience will in the Lord's Divine mercy be stated elsewhere.

9643. 'And forty bases of silver' means complete support received through truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'forty' as completeness, dealt with in 9437; from the meaning of 'bases' as support, since bases serve as supports; and from the meaning of 'silver' as truth, dealt with in 1551, 2954, 5658, 6112, 6914, 6917, 7999. The bases were made from silver and the boards overlaid with gold because good is meant by 'the boards', 9634, and truth by 'the bases', and good possesses power and on this account lends support through truth. As regards good, that it possesses power through truth, see 6344, 6423, 9327, 9410, and that 'gold' means good and 'silver' truth, 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917, 8932, 9490, 9510. Good possesses power through truth because truth gives shape to good, which means that good also possesses specific quality; for outward shape exists where specific quality does so. The good can then be a real influence among things, in one way or another. So it is that the ability resides potentially in good, but that this cannot be exercised except through truth. Ability so exercised is actual power, consequently power that provides support.

[2] Bases also correspond to a person's feet and soles of the feet; in general they correspond to the bones, which lend support to all the fleshy parts in the body. By the feet and likewise the bones truth that provides support is meant, and by the fleshy parts in the body good which supports itself by means of truth.

All things on the natural level resemble the human form, and carry the same meaning as the parts of it they resemble, see 9496.

'Flesh' means good, 3813, 6968, 7850, 9127.

'Feet' means the natural, thus truth that has power from good within it, 5327, 5328.

'Body' means good, 6135.

'Bones' means truth that provides support, 3812 (end), 8005.

[3] So it is also that by 'foundations', which are a general base, the truth of faith and faith itself are meant, as becomes clear from places in the Word where 'foundations' are mentioned, for example in Isaiah,

Do you not know, do you not hear, do you not understand the foundations of the earth? Isaiah 40:21.

A person unacquainted with what 'the foundations' and what 'the earth' mean inevitably takes 'the foundations of the earth' here to denote the inner depths of the planet, even though he may realize, if he stops to think about it, that something other than them is meant; for what meaning can knowing, hearing, and understanding the foundations of the earth have? From this it becomes clear that by 'the foundations of the earth' such things as have to do with the Church are meant. The fact that 'the earth' in the Word means the Church is plainly evident from places in the Word where 'the earth' is mentioned, see those quoted in 9325. And the fact that its foundations are the truths of faith, for these truths serve the Church as foundations, becomes clearer still from the following places: In David,

They do not acknowledge, neither do they understand; they walk in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are unstable. Psalms 82:5.

It is not the foundations of the earth that are unstable but, as is self-evident, it is the truths of the Church with those who neither acknowledge nor understand them and walk in darkness. In the same author,

The earth quaked and trembled, and the foundations of the mountains shook and quaked. Psalms 18:7.

'The mountains' are forms of the good of love, 795, 4210, 6435, 8327, their 'foundations' are the truths of faith. In Isaiah,

The floodgates from on high have been opened, and the foundations of the earth have been shaken. Isaiah 24:18.

Since 'the foundations' means the truth of faith, and 'city' doctrine based on it, therefore also the Word speaks of 'the foundations of the city' when the truth of doctrine is meant. For the meaning of 'city' as doctrinal teachings based on truth, see 402, 2449, 2943, 3216, 4492, 4493.

[4] This goes to show what the meaning is of 'the foundations of the city, the holy Jerusalem' in John,

The wall of the city, the holy Jerusalem, had twelve foundations, and on them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of precious stone. Revelation 21:14, 19-20.

A person unacquainted with what 'the holy Jerusalem', 'the city', 'the wall', 'the foundations', and 'the twelve apostles' mean cannot see any arcanum at all that lies within this description. Nevertheless 'the holy Jerusalem' means the Lord's New Church which will take the place of the one that is ours at the present day; ¹ 'the city' doctrinal teachings; 'the wall' the truth protecting and defending, and 'its foundations' the truths of faith; and 'the twelve apostles' all forms of the good of love and the truths of faith in their entirety. From this it becomes clear why it says that there will be twelve foundations, adorned with every kind of precious stone; for 'precious stone' means the truth of faith springing from the good of love, 114, 3858, 6640, 9476, and 'the twelve apostles' all aspects of love and faith in their entirety, 3488, 3858 (end), 6397.

[5] From all this it is evident what is meant by 'the foundations' in those verses in John and also by 'the foundations' in Isaiah,

Behold, I am arranging your stones with antimony, and will lay your foundations in sapphires. Isaiah 54:11.

'Sapphires' are interior truths, 9407. In the same prophet,

Jehovah will strike Asshur with a rod. At that time every stroke ² will be that of the rod of the foundation on which Jehovah will cause [him] to rest. Isaiah 30:31-32.

'The rod of the foundation' is the power of truth. For the meaning of 'the rod' as power, see 4013, 4015, 4876, 4936, 6947, 7011, 7026. And in Jeremiah,

They shall not take from you a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations. Jeremiah 51:26.

'A stone for foundations' stands for the truths of faith.

[6] In Job,

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. ³ Who determined the measures of it, if you know? Onto what [were] its bases [fastened]? Or who laid its corner-stone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God bellowed? Job 38:4-7.

A person unacquainted with what 'the earth', 'its measures', and 'its bases' mean in the internal sense, and also what 'corner-stone', 'morning stars', and 'the sons of God' mean, sees no arcanum at all in this description. He will suppose that the actual earth, and also the foundations, measures, bases, and corner-stone of it are what is meant. Nor will he have any idea at all of what is meant by 'the morning stars sang' and 'the sons of God bellowed'. But a person will pass from darkness to light if he knows that 'the earth' is the Church, 'its foundations' are the truth of faith, 'its measures' the state of good and truth, 'its bases' the actual truths that provide support, 'the corner-stone' the power of truth, 'the morning stars' cognitions or knowledge of good and of truth springing from good, and 'the sons of God' God's truths. These sons are said 'to bellow' when they come into existence, those stars 'to sing' when they rise.

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