1072. Dat de woorden ‘hij werd dronken’ betekenen, dat hij daardoor in dwalingen verviel, blijkt uit de betekenis van de beschonkene in het Woord; beschonkenen worden diegenen genoemd, die niets geloven dan wat zij begrijpen, en daarom de geheimenissen van het geloof onderzoeken, en daar dit, zoals het de aard is van de mens, gebeurt door zinnelijke, wetenschappelijke of filosofische dingen, kan het niet anders of hij vervalt daardoor in dwalingen. Het denken van de mens is alleen aards, lichamelijk en stoffelijk, omdat het uit aardse, lichamelijke en stoffelijke dingen voortkomt, welke het steeds aankleven, en waarin de voorstellingen van zijn denken haar grondslag en haar begrenzing vinden. Daarom staat het denken en het redeneren uit die dingen over de Goddelijke dingen gelijk met zich te storten in dwalingen en verkeerdheden en het is even onmogelijk, daardoor geloof te verwerven, als het voor een kameel onmogelijk is, door het oog van een naald te gaan. De dwaling en de waanzin, welke hieruit ontstaan, worden in het Woord dronkenschap genoemd, en zelfs worden de geesten of zielen, die in het andere leven over en tegen de waarheden van het geloof redeneren, als beschonken en gedragen zich ook zo. Hierover zal, door de Goddelijke barmhartigheid van de Heer, in hetgeen volgt, besproken worden. Het wordt duidelijk waargenomen, of de geesten al dan niet in het geloof van de naastenliefde zijn. Zij, die in het geloof van de naastenliefde zijn, redeneren niet over de waarheden van het geloof, maar beamen en zij bevestigen zich zoveel zij kunnen door zinnelijke en wetenschappelijke dingen en door redelijke ontledingen. Zodra er zich echter iets duisters voordoet, waarvan zij geen innerlijke gewaarwording hebben, verwerpen zij dit, en gedogen geenszins dat zoiets hen in twijfel zou brengen; zij zeggen dat het maar heel weinig dingen zijn, die zij begrijpen kunnen, en dat het daarom waanzin zou zijn om te denken dat iets niet waar is, omdat zij het niet vatten. Dezen zijn in de naastenliefde; zij daarentegen, die niet in de naastenliefde zijn, willen maar aan één stuk door voortredeneren of iets waar is, en weten hoe het daarmee gesteld is; zij zeggen, dat als zij niet kunnen weten hoe het daarmee gesteld is, zij niet kunnen geloven dat het zo is. Hieruit alleen wordt al terstond gekend, dat zij in geen geloof zijn, en het is een aanwijzing, dat zij niet slechts aan alles twijfelen, maar ook nog alles in hun hart loochenen, en wanneer zij onderwezen worden, hoe het met een zaak gesteld is, blijven zij nochtans aan hun mening vasthouden, en voeren tegen elke uitleg alle mogelijke bedenkingen aan, en houden nooit op, ook al duurde het tot in eeuwigheid voort. Zij, die zo aan hun mening vasthouden, stapelen dwalingen op dwalingen; dezen zijn het, of huns gelijken, die in het Woord dronken van wijn of van sterke drank worden genoemd, zoals bij Jesaja:

‘Deze dwalen van de wijn en zij dolen van de sterke drank; de priester en de profeet dwalen van de sterke drank; zij zijn verslonden van de wijn, zij dolen van sterke drank; zij dwalen in het gezicht, alle tafels zijn vol uitspuwsel van ontlasting; wie zou Hij wetenschap leren, en wie zou Hij het gehoorde te verstaan geven, de gespeenden van melk, de afgetrokkenen van de borsten’, (Jesaja 28:7, 8, 9);

het blijkt duidelijk dat hier zulke mensen worden verstaan.

Ook bij Jesaja:

‘Hoe zegt gijlieden tot Farao: Ik ben een zoon van wijzen, een zoon van de koningen van de oudheid, waar zijn nu uw wijzen, ik vraag u, dat zij het te kennen geven; Jehovah heeft een geest van verkeerdheden ingeschonken in het midden van hen, en zij hebben Egypte doet dwalen in al zijn werken, gelijk een dronkaard ronddwaalt in zijn uitspuwsel’, (Jesaja 19:11, 12, 14);

dronkaard staat voor hen, die met wetenschappelijkheden de geestelijke en hemelse dingen willen navorsen; Egypte betekent de vergaarde kennis, waarom het zichzelf ook wel een zoon van wijzen noemt.

Bij Jeremia:

‘Drinkt en wordt dronken, en spuwt, en valt neer, en staat niet weer op’, (Jeremia 25:27);

voor valsheden.

Bij David:

‘Zij draaien in een kring rond en waggelen als een dronken man, en al hun wijsheid wordt verslonden’, (Psalm 107:27).

Bij Jesaja:

‘Komt, ik zal wijn halen, en wij zullen sterke drank zuipen, en er zal morgen als heden grote overvloed zijn’, (Jesaja 56:12);

dit wordt gezegd van hen, die tegen de waarheden van het geloof zijn.

Bij Jeremia:

‘Elke zak zal met wijn gevuld worden, alle inwoners van Jeruzalem met dronkenschap’, (Jeremia 13:12, 13);

wijn voor het geloof, dronkenschap voor de dwalingen.

Bij Joël:

‘Waakt op, gij dronkenen en weent en huilt, alle gij wijnzuipers, om de most, terwijl hij van uw mond is afgesneden; want een natie komt op over Mijn land en stelt Mijn wijnstok tot verlating’, (Joël 1:5, 6, 7);

de naar de waarheden van het geloof verwoeste Kerk.

Bij Johannes:

‘Babylon heeft uit de wijn van de toorn de hoererij van alle heidenen gedrenkt, van de wijn van de hoererij zijn de bewoners van de aarde dronken geworden’, (Openbaring 14:8, 10; 16:19; 17:2; 18:3; 19:15);

wijn van hoererij staat voor de verkrachte waarheden van het geloof, waaraan dronkenschap wordt toegeschreven. Op dezelfde wijze bij Jeremia:

‘Babel was een gouden beker in de hand van Jehovah, die de gehele aarde dronken maakte; de heidenen hebben van haar wijn gedronken, daarom zijn de heidenen dol geworden’, (Jeremia 51:7). Daar de dronkenschap de razernijen ten aanzien van de waarheden van het geloof betekende, werd zij ook tot een uitbeelding, en aan Aharon werd zo verboden:

‘Aharon en zijn zonen zullen wijn noch benevelende drank drinken, wanneer zij in de tent binnengaan, opdat zij niet sterven, en om onderscheid te maken tussen het heilige en tussen het onheilige, tussen het onreine en tussen het reine’, (Leviticus 10:8, 9, 10). Zij, die niets geloven dan hetgeen zij door de zinnelijke en de wetenschappelijke dingen begrijpen, zijn ook helden om te drinken genoemd, bij Jesaja:

‘Wee degenen, die in hun ogen wijs, en voor hun aangezichten vol inzicht zijn; wee degenen, die helden zijn om wijn te drinken, en die mannen van de sterkte zijn om sterke drank te mengen’, (Jesaja 5:21, 22). Zij worden wijs in hun ogen en voor hun aangezichten vol inzicht genoemd, omdat zij, die tegen de waarheden van het geloof in redeneren, in wijsheid boven anderen menen te staan. Daarentegen worden zij, die zich niet in het minst om het Woord en om de waarheden van het geloof bekommeren, en zo niets van het geloof willen weten, terwijl ze op deze wijze de beginselen loochenen, dronken zonder wijn genoemd, bij Jesaja:

‘Zij zijn dronken, maar niet van wijn, zij waggelen, maar niet van sterke drank, want Jehovah heeft over u een geest van bedwelming uitgegoten, en Hij heeft uw ogen toegesloten’, (Jesaja 29:9, 10);

dat het dergelijke mensen zijn, blijkt uit het voorafgaande en uit het volgende bij de profeet. Zulke beschonkenen geloven klaarder wakker te zijn dan anderen, maar ze verkeren in een diepe bedwelming. Dat de Oude Kerk in het begin zo was, als in dit vers beschreven wordt, en wel voornamelijk diegenen zo waren, die van het geslacht van de Oudste Kerk waren, kan blijken uit hetgeen eerder in nummer 788 is gezegd.

2162. 'Wash your feet' means that they were to take on something natural so that during the state He was then passing through His perception might be improved. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'feet' as natural things, and also in a like manner from the train of thought. That arcana lie concealed here becomes clear to a certain extent from the fact that Abraham besought the three men to take a little water and wash their feet, and to relax under a tree, even though he knew that it was the Lord or Jehovah; also from the fact that if it was not so such details would not have been mentioned.

[2] That 'feet' means natural things becomes clear from the representatives in the next life, and consequently from representatives derived from these that existed among the most ancient people and so occur in the Word. Celestial and spiritual things are represented by 'the head' and the parts of the head; by 'the breast' and the parts of the breast are represented rational concepts and aspects of these; by 'the feet and the parts of the feet are represented natural things and the different kinds of these. Consequently 'the sole' and 'the heel' of the foot mean the lowest natural things, regarding which see 259, while 'a shoe' means the lowest things of all, which are filthy, regarding which see 1748.

[3] Similar things are meant by the representations in the dreams and visions in the Prophets, such as the statue seen by Nebuchadnezzar, the head of which was fine gold, the breast and arms were silver, the belly and thighs were bronze, the legs were iron, and the feet were partly iron and partly clay, Daniel 2:32-33. In this case 'the head' means celestial things, which are inmost and are 'gold', as shown in 113, 1551, 1552; 'the breast and arms' spiritual or rational things, which are 'silver', as shown in 1551; but 'the feet' means lower things, which are natural, the truths of which are meant by 'iron' and the goods by 'clay' or mud. As regards 'iron' meaning truth, see 425, 426, and 'clay' good, 1300, both of which in the present case are natural. These things come in the same order in the Lord's kingdom in heaven, and in the Church which is the Lord's kingdom on earth, and also in every individual who is a kingdom of the Lord.

[4] It is similar with the vision which Daniel himself saw, of which the following is said,

I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, a man clothed in linen whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz and whose body was like tarshish, ¹ and whose face was like the appearance of lightning, and whose eyes were like fiery torches, and whose arms and feet like the shine of burnished bronze. Daniel 10:5-6.

Specifically these words mean the interiors of the Word as to goods and truths. 'The arms and feet' are its interiors, which constitute the sense of the letter, for natural things occur there, since natural things are the source from which the exteriors of the Word are drawn. What further is meant by each of these parts, namely the loins, body, face, eyes, and many others in man, becomes clear from the representatives in the next life, which will in the Lord's Divine mercy be spoken of when the Grand Man - which is the Lord's heaven - and the representatives that originate in heaven but occur in the world of spirits are dealt with.

[5] That which one reads about Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders seeing the God of Israel, under whose feet there was so to speak a paved work of sapphire stone, like the substance of the sky for pureness, Exodus 24:9-10, means that they saw, represented in natural things, merely the external features of the Church, and also the literal sense of the Word, in which too, as has been stated, external things are represented by natural things. And these external things are 'the feet' under which there is so to speak 'a paved work of sapphire stone, like the substance of the sky itself'. It is clear that it was the Lord whom they saw, though only in those lower or natural things, since He is called 'the God of Israel', whom all things of the Church represented and whom all things of the Word in the internal sense meant. For the Lord is presented visually in accordance with the things that are meant at the time. When, for example, in John, He was seen as a Man on a white horse, the Word was in this case meant by Him, as is explicitly stated in Revelation 19:11, 13.

[6] The living creatures seen by Ezekiel, which were cherubs, are described as regards celestial and spiritual things by their faces and wings, and also many other things. But as regards natural things they are described as follows, by their feet, a straight foot, and the soles of their feet being like the sole of a calf's foot, and sparkling like the shine of burnished bronze, Ezekiel 1:7. The reason their feet, that is, natural things, are said to have sparkled like burnished bronze is that 'bronze' means natural good, dealt with in 425, 1551. It was similar when the Lord appeared to John as the Son of Man: His eyes were like a flame of fire and His feet were like burnished bronze, Revelation 1:14-15; 2:18.

[7] That 'feet' means natural things is further evident from the following places: In John, who saw,

A mighty angel coming down out of heaven, wrapped in a cloud, and a rainbow around his head, his face was like the sun and his feet like pillars of fire. In his hand he had a little book opened, and he set his right foot on the sea and his left on the land. Revelation 10:1-2.

This angel in a similar way means the Word. The nature of the Word in the internal sense is meant by 'the rainbow around his head' and by 'his face being like the sun'; but the external sense, or sense of the letter, is meant by his 'feet'. 'The sea' is natural truths, 'the land' natural goods, from which it is clear what is meant by his setting his right foot on the sea and his left on the land.

[8] Reference is made in various places in the Word to 'a footstool', but no one knows what is meant by this in the internal sense; as in Isaiah,

Jehovah said, The heavens are My throne and the earth My footstool. Where is this house which you are going to build for Me and where is this place of My rest? Isaiah 66:1.

'The heavens' means the celestial and spiritual things, and so the inmost things, both of the Lord's kingdom in heaven and of the Lord's kingdom on earth, which is the Church. Also meant by 'the heavens' are those same things as they exist with every individual who is a kingdom of the Lord or a Church. Thus 'the heavens' also means the celestial and spiritual things regarded in themselves which are matters of love and charity and of faith that springs from these, and so means all things that belong to internal worship and similarly all things that belong to the internal sense of the Word. These things are meant by 'the heavens' and are called 'the Lord's throne', but by 'the earth' are meant all lower things corresponding to those meant by 'the heavens'. By 'the earth' lower rational and natural things are meant, which from correspondence are likewise referred to as celestial and spiritual things, such as those that exist in the lower heavens and also in the Church, and those things which belong to external worship and also those present in the literal sense of the Word. In short, all things that stem from internal things and manifest themselves in external are, being natural things, called 'the earth' and 'the Lord's footstool'. What heaven and earth mean in the internal sense of the Word, see also 82, 1733. What the new heaven and new earth mean, see 2117, 2118 (end). And that man is a miniature heaven, see 911, 978, 1900.

[9] Similarly in Jeremiah,

In His anger the Lord covers the daughter of Zion with a cloud, He has cast down from heaven to earth the splendour of Israel, and has not remembered His footstool on the day of His anger. Lamentations 2:1.

Also in David,

Exalt Jehovah our God, and bow down at His footstool. Holy is He! Psalms 99:5.

Elsewhere in the same author,

We will enter His dwelling-places, we will bow down at His footstool. Psalms 132:7.

People in the representative Church - and thus the Jews - imagined that God's house and the temple were His footstool. They did not know that by the Lord's house and the temple was meant external representative worship. What the internal features of the Church were, meant by 'heaven' or God's throne, they had no knowledge at all.

[10] In the same author,

Jehovah said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand till I make your enemies a stool for your feet. Psalms 110:1; Matthew 22:44; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42-43.

Here 'footstool' in a similar way means natural things - both sensory impressions and factual knowledge, and man's rational ideas formed from these - which are called 'enemies' when worship is perverted by them (which is done from the literal sense of the Word). As a result worship exists solely in things that are external, and no internal worship - or rather only internal worship that is defiled - exists, concerning which see 1094, 1175, 1182. When these have became perverted and defiled in this manner they are called 'enemies'; but because, regarded in themselves, they have reference to internal worship, when this is restored, they become - both the things that belong to external worship and those that belong to the sense of the letter of the Word - 'a footstool', as stated already.

[11] In Isaiah,

The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the fir, the pine, and the box tree together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; and I will make the place of My feet glorious. Isaiah 60:13.

This refers to the Lord's kingdom and Church, the celestial-spiritual things of which are meant by 'the glory of Lebanon', that is, cedar trees, but the celestial-natural things of it by 'the fir, the pine, and the box', as also in other places in the Word. Thus it is the external aspects of worship that are referred to when it is said that 'I will make the place of My feet glorious'; and this cannot he made glorious by the fir, the pine, and the box, but by the things meant by these.

[12] That 'feet' means these things is also clear from the representatives in the Jewish Church, for example, by the requirement that Aaron and his sons were to wash their hands and feet before entering the tabernacle, Exodus 30:19-20; 40:31-32. No one is able to see that arcana were represented by this, for what is such washing of the hands and feet but some external act which does not do anything at all if the internal is not pure and clean? Nor can the internal be made pure and clean by such a washing. But because all the forms of ritual of that Church meant internal things that are celestial and spiritual, so it was with this form; that is to say, it meant the cleanliness of external worship, which is clean when internal worship is present within it. This explains why their lavers were made of bronze, and also the large laver which was called 'the bronze sea', together with the ten smaller ones made of bronze around Solomon's temple, 1 Kings 7:23, 38. They were made of bronze because 'bronze' represented good present in external worship, which is the same as natural good. Regarding this meaning of bronze, see 425, 1551.

[13] Similarly representative was the prohibition that no man among Aaron's descendants who had a broken foot or a broken hand should draw near to offer fire-offerings to Jehovah, Leviticus 21:19, 21. 'Broken feet and hands' represented those people whose external worship was perverted.

[14] That 'feet' means natural things is also evident from various other places in the Prophets, as in these prophetical utterances in Moses,

Blessed above sons be Asher; let him be acceptable among his brothers, and dipping his foot in oil. Your shoes will be iron and bronze. Deuteronomy 33:24-25.

These words will not be understood by anybody unless he knows what the meaning of oil, foot, iron, bronze, and shoe are in the internal sense. 'Foot' is the natural; 'shoe' the still lower natural, such as that which is connected with the senses and the body, see 1748; 'oil' is the celestial, 886; 'iron' natural truth, 425, 426; and 'bronze' natural good, 425, 1551. From these places it is evident what these words embody.

[15] In Nahum,

The way of Jehovah is in storm and tempest, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. Nahum 1:3.

Here 'the dust of the feet' means the natural and bodily things with man which give rise to clouds. The same is also meant by these words in David,

Jehovah bowed the heavens and came down, and thick darkness was under His feet. Psalms 18:9.

[16] When goods and truths of faith are perverted by natural light, as people call it, it is described in the Word as the feet and hoofs of a beast which trouble waters and trample on food, as in Ezekiel,

You have come forth into the rivers, and have troubled the waters with your feet and trampled their rivers. I will destroy all its beasts from over many waters, and the foot of man will not trouble them any longer, nor will the hoofs of beast. Ezekiel 32:2, 13.

This refers to Egypt, which meant forms of knowledge, as shown in 1164, 1165, 1462. Thus by 'feet and hoofs which trouble the rivers and water' are meant facts gained from sensory and from natural things, on the basis of which people reason about the arcana of faith and do not believe anything until they grasp it by this method. This amounts to not believing at all, for the more such people go on reasoning, the less believing they are; see what is said in 128-130, 215, 232, 233, 1072, 1385. From all these quotations it is now evident that 'feet' in the Word means natural things. But what further meaning 'feet' may have is evident from the context in which the expression occurs.

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