4424. Wat de hiervoor aangevoerde woorden van de Heer in de innerlijke zin behelzen, kan zonder ontvouwing vaststaan: de Heer immers sprak daar niet zo door uitbeeldende en aanduidende dingen, maar door vergelijkingen; alleen wat de woorden van het laatste vers betekenen dient gezegd te worden, namelijk:

‘Hij zal hem verdelen en zijn deel zetten met de geveinsden; daar is wening en knersing der tanden’. Hij zal hem verdelen, betekent hun afscheiding en verwijdering van de goede en ware dingen; van hen toch die in de erkentenissen van het goede en ware zijn, zoals degenen zijn die binnen de Kerk zijn en toch in een leven van het boze, wordt gezegd dat zij worden verdeeld, wanneer zij daarvan worden verwijderd; want de erkentenissen van het goede en het ware worden in het andere leven van hen gescheiden en zij worden in de boze dingen en vandaar eveneens in de valse dingen gehouden; de oorzaak hiervan is deze dat zij niet door de erkentenissen van het goede en het ware gemeenschap zouden hebben met de hemel en door de boze dingen en de valse dingen daaruit gemeenschap met de hel en zo tussen beide hangen; en eveneens dat zij de goede en de ware dingen niet zouden ontwijden, wat plaatsvindt wanneer zij met de valse en de boze dingen worden vermengd. Iets dergelijks wordt eveneens aangeduid met de woorden van de Heer tot hem die het talent in de aarde had verborgen:

‘Neemt van hem het talent weg en geeft het aan degene die de tien talenten heeft; want eenieder die heeft, die zal gegeven worden, opdat hij overvloedig hebbe; van degene echter die niet heeft, van die zal genomen worden, ook wat hij heeft’, (Mattheüs 25:28, 29) en verder met de dingen die de Heer elders zegt bij (Mattheüs 13:12; Markus 4:25; Lukas 8:18). En zijn deel zetten met de geveinsden, betekent zijn lot, namelijk het deel, met hen die aan de buitenkant in het ware ten aanzien van de leer en in het goede ten aanzien van het leven verschijnen, maar aan de binnenkant niets van het ware geloven en niets van het goede willen, zij zijn dus de geveinsden; die zijn zo verdeeld; daarom verschijnen zij, wanneer hun de uiterlijke dingen worden afgenomen, zoals bij allen in het andere leven gebeurt, zodanig als zij zijn ten aanzien van de innerlijke dingen, namelijk zonder geloof en naastenliefde; toch hebben zij daarmee te koop gelopen om anderen te vangen ten einde eerbewijzen, gewin en roem te oogsten. Zij die binnen de verwoeste Kerk zijn, zijn bijna allen zodanig; zij hebben immers uiterlijke dingen, maar geen innerlijke; vandaar hebben zij een overstroming van de innerlijke dingen, zie nr. 4423. Daar zal een wening en knersing der tanden zijn, betekent hun staat in het andere leven: de wening de staat ten aanzien van de boze dingen en de knersing der tanden de staat ten aanzien van de valse dingen; tanden immers betekenen in het Woord de laagste natuurlijke dingen, in de echte zin de ware dingen ervan en in de tegenovergestelde zin de valse dingen ervan; de tanden stemmen ook daarmee overeen; daarom is de knersing van de tanden de botsing van de valse dingen met de ware dingen. Van degenen die in louter natuurlijke dingen zijn en in die vanuit de begoochelingen van de zinnen, en niets geloven wat zij daaruit niet zien, wordt gezegd dat zij in de knersing van de tanden zijn en in het andere leven schijnt het hun eveneens toe daarin te zijn wanneer zij vanuit hun begoochelingen gevolgtrekkingen maken ten aanzien van de ware dingen van het geloof. In een ten aanzien van het goede en het ware verwoeste Kerk wemelt het van zulke mensen. Iets eenders wordt ook elders met de knersing van de tanden aangeduid, zoals bij Mattheüs:

‘De zonen des koninkrijks zullen worden uitgeworpen in de uiterlijke duisternis; aldaar zal zijn wening en knersing der tanden’, (Mattheüs 8:12);

de zonen des koninkrijks zijn diegenen die in de verwoeste Kerk zijn; de duisternis is de valse dingen, nr. 4418; zij zijn immers in de duisternis wanneer zij in de nevelachtige wolk zijn, waarover eerder; de knersing der tanden is de botsing van de valse dingen met de ware dingen daar; evenzo elders, zoals bij, (Mattheüs 13:42, 50; 22:13; 25:30; Lukas 13:28).

122. The twelve disciples of the Lord represented the church as to all things of faith and charity in the complex, as did also the twelve tribes of Israel (n. 2129, 3354, 3488, 3858, 6397). Peter, James, and John represented faith, charity, and the goods of charity in their order (n. 3750). Peter represented faith (n. 4738, 6000, 6073, 6344, 10087, 10580). And John represented the goods of charity, see the preface to the eighteenth (Arcana Coelestia 2135) and twenty-second Arcana Coelestia 2760vvv1-2 chapters of Genesis.

That there would be no faith in the Lord, because no charity, in the last time of the church, was represented by Peter's thrice denying the Lord before the cock crew the third ¹ time; for Peter there, in a representative sense, is faith; (n. 6000, 6073). "Cock crowing," as well as "twilight," signifies in the Word the last time of the church (n. 10134[1-13]). And "three" or "thrice," signifies what is complete to the end (n. 2788, 4495, 5159, 9198, 10127). The like is signified by the Lord's saying to Peter, when Peter saw John follow the Lord:

What is it to thee, Peter? follow thou Me, John; for Peter had said of John, What is this? (John 21:21, 22); (n. 10087).

John lay on the breast of the Lord, because he represented the good of charity (n. 3934, 10081). That the good of charity constitutes the church, is also signified by the words of the Lord from the cross to John:

Jesus saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved, who stood by, and He said to His mother, Woman, behold thy son: and He said to that disciple, Behold thy mother; and from that hour that disciple took her to himself (John 19:26, 27).

"John" signifies the good of charity, and "woman" and "mother," the church; and the whole passage signifies that the church will be where the good of charity is; that "woman" in the Word means the church (see n. 252-253, 749, 770, 3160, 6014, 7337, 8994). And likewise "mother" (n. 289, 2691, 2717, 3703, 4257, 5580, 8897, 10490). All the names of persons and places in the Word signify things abstractly from them (n. 768, 1888,4310, 4442, 10329).

Voetnoten:

10648. 'And they go whoring after their gods' means from which falsities of evil arise. This is clear from the meaning of 'whoring after the gods of the nations' as being linked to falsities of evil; for being linked together unlawfully is meant by 'whoring', and falsities of evil by 'the gods of the nations'. For the meaning of 'gods' as falsities, see 4402(end), 4544, 7873, 8867, and for that of 'nations' as evils, above in 10638. The expression 'from which falsities of evil arise' is used because from evil all kinds of falsity come forth. Falsities however which do not arise from evil are indeed falsities in the outward form they take, but they are not inwardly so. For falsities can exist with someone who leads a good life; but they have good interiorly present in them which causes the evil of the falsity to be removed. Consequently that falsity does not appear before angels as falsity but as a sort of truth; for angels look at the inner features of faith, not the outward aspects of it. This is why everyone, whatever their religion, even gentiles who possess no truths from the Word, can be saved, provided that they have regarded leading a good life as their end in view, and the religious teachings they have received as the means to that end, see 2589-2604.

[2] 'Whoring' is spoken of frequently in the Word. An unlawful joining to truth is meant by this, and an unlawful joining to good by 'committing adultery', so that 'whoring' means the falsification of truth, and 'committing adultery' the adulteration of good. The falsification of truth takes place in the following three ways,

1. If a person leads an evil life while acknowledging truths received through religious teachings, for the truths then have evil inside them, and evil falsifies truth. It does so because evil dispels from truths what is heavenly and Divine, and introduces what is hellish, as a consequence of which falsification takes place.

[3] 2. If a person first accepts the truths in religious teachings and afterwards assents to the falsity of another set of teachings, which happens solely in the case of those who lead an evil life, because evil has an appetite for falsity and freely takes hold of it as the truth.

3. If a person who is leading an evil life and adopting falsities as his religious teachings takes hold of truths belonging to another set of teachings, he too falsifies truths, because he does not acknowledge truths for their own sake, only for the sake of earning some gain, important position, or reputation.

[4] In the Word all these kinds of falsification are called acts of whoredom and prostitution, because a lawful joining together, which is that of goodness and truth, is meant by a marriage, see 2727-2759, so that instances of an unlawful joining together are meant by acts of whoredom. The truth of this may be recognized from a large number of places in the Word, of which let just these two be brought forward here:

In Ezekiel,

O Jerusalem, you committed whoredom because of your renown, and poured out your acts of whoredom on every passer-by. You took some of your garments and made for yourself high places variously coloured, and on them committed whoredom. For your adornment you took vessels made of My gold and of My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself figures of the male, and committed whoredom with them. You took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to Me, and sacrificed them to them. Were your acts of whoredom a small matter? You committed whoredom with the sons of Egypt, your neighbours, great in flesh, and multiplied your whoredom to provoke Me to anger. You committed whoredom with the sons of Asshur, and you committed whoredom with them and were not satisfied. And you multiplied your whoredom, even as far as the trading land of Chaldea. Ezekiel 16:15-17, 20, 26, 28-29ff.

And in the same prophet,

Two women, the daughters of one mother, committed whoredom in Egypt. In their youth they committed whoredom. Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem. Oholah committed whoredom under Me and doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours. She bestowed her acts of whoredom on them. Her acts of whoredom brought from Egypt she did not give up, for they had lain with her in her youth. Oholibah corrupted her love more than she, and multiplied her acts of whoredom above her sister's acts of whoredom; she doted on the sons of Asshur. She added to her acts of whoredom and saw the images of the Chaldeans. As soon as her eyes saw them she desired them. The sons of Babel came to her, into her love-bed. Ezekiel 23:2-5, 7-8, 11-12, 14, 16ff.

Further examples of the same thing occur in many other places, which may be seen, together with explanations of them as well as of the two quoted here, in 2466, 8904.