6468. Pas uit de wereld aangekomen geesten, geloven voordat zij door engelen zijn onderricht, niet anders dan dat het al van het leven in de mens zelf is en dat niets invloeit; de oorzaak hiervan is deze dat zij niets in het bijzonder weten over de hemel dus ook niet over de invloeiing daaruit; niet goede geesten willen ook niet in deze dingen onderricht worden, want zij willen uit zich leven; en zij zeiden dat ik geen leven had, omdat zij mij hadden horen zeggen dat ik vanuit mijzelf niet leefde en dat ik dit wist door een voortdurende ondervinding; maar hieraan wilden zij geen aandacht schenken; verder werd het gegeven te zeggen dat eenieder het leven heeft volgens de vorm van de innerlijke dingen die hij zich heeft verworven door willen en handelen, denken en spreken. Daarna sprak ik met goede geesten over de invloeiing van het leven uit de Heer, dat dit invloeit in allen; en dat dit blijkt uit de hemel, namelijk dat deze een mens weergeeft en daarom de Grootste Mens wordt genoemd, over wie en over de overeenstemming van alle dingen bij de mens daarmee aan het einde van verscheidene hoofdstukken is gehandeld; en dat dit geenszins had kunnen gebeuren indien niet het leven uit de Heer invloeide in de hemel in het algemeen en in de afzonderlijke geest daar in het bijzonder; en eveneens dat het daaruit blijkt dat de gehele hemel betrekking heeft op de Heer en dat de Heer daar het middelpunt is van de invloeiing in allen en dat degenen die in de hemel zijn, omhoog tot Hem schouwen en zij die in de hel zijn, omlaag van Hem wegschouwen; de Heer verschijnt immers aan hen die in de hemelen zijn als Zon; de Zon is daar omhoog. Verder werd gezegd dat het duidelijk is dat het al van het leven uit de Heer is, ook daaruit dat de ziel van de mens in de baarmoeder op zo’n wonderbaarlijke wijze het lichaam kan vormen en de vele leden en organen in zo’n reeks en de innerlijke dingen ervan tot het beeld van de hemel; dit zou nooit kunnen geschieden, indien niet alle leven uit de Heer was en indien niet de hemel zodanig was.

279. Of Order.

The Divine truth proceeding from the Lord is the source of order, and the Divine good is the essential of order (n. 1728, 2258, 8700, 8988). The Lord is order, since the Divine good and the Divine truth are from the Lord, yea, are the Lord, in the heavens and on earth (n. 1919, 2011, 5110, 5703, 10336, 10619). Divine truths are the laws of order (n. 2447, 7995). Where order is, the Lord is present, but where order is not, the Lord is not present (n. 5703). As the Divine truth is order, and the Divine good the essential of order, therefore each and all things in the universe have relation to good and truth, that they may be anything, because they have relation to order (n. 2452, 3166, 4390, 4409, 5232, 7256, 10122, 10555). Good, because it is the essential of order, disposes truths into order, and not vice versa (n. 3316, 3470, 4302, 5704, 5709, 6028, 6690). The entire heaven, as to all the angelic societies, is arranged by the Lord according to His Divine order, because the Divine of the Lord with the angels makes heaven (n. 3038, 7211, 9128, 9338, 10125, 10151, 10157). Hence the form of heaven is a form according to Divine order (n. 4040-4043, 6607, 9877).

So far as man lives according to order, thus so far as he lives in good according to Divine truths, which are the laws of order, so far is he a man (n. 4839). Yea, as far as a man thus lives, so far he appears in the other life as a perfect and beautiful man, but so far as he does not thus live, so far he appears as a monster (n. 4839, 6605, 6626). Hence it appears that all things of Divine order are collected together in man, and that from creation he is Divine order in form (n. 4219-4220, 4223, 4523-4524, 5114, 5368, 6013, 6057, 6605, 6626, 9706, 10156, 10742). Every angel is in the human form because he is a recipient of Divine order from the Lord, perfect and beautiful according to reception (n. 322, 1880-1881, 3633, 3804, 4622, 4735, 4797, 4985, 5199, 5530, 6054, 9879, 10177, 10594). The angelic heaven also in its whole complex is in the human form, because the whole heaven as to all its angelic societies, is disposed by the Lord according to Divine order (n. 2996, 2998, 3624-3629, 3636-3643, 3741-3745, 4625). Hence it is evident, that the Divine Human is the source from which all these things are derived (n. 2996-2998, 3624-3649, 3741-3745). Hence also it follows that the Lord is the only Man, and that they are men who receive the Divine from Him (n. 1894[1-2]). So far as they receive it, so far they are images of the Lord (n. 8547).

Man is not born into good and truth, but into evil and falsity, thus not into Divine order, but into what is contrary to order, and on this account into mere ignorance, and he ought therefore necessarily to be born anew, that is regenerated, which is done by Divine truths from the Lord, and by a life according to them, to the intent that he may be inaugurated into order, and thus become a man (n. 1047, 2307-2308, 3518, 3812, 8480, 8550, 10283-10284, 10286, 10731). When the Lord regenerates man, He disposes all things with him according to order, that is, according to the form of heaven (n. 5700, 6690, 9931, 10303). The man who is led by the Lord, is led according to Divine order (n. 8512). The interiors which are of the mind are open into heaven, even to the Lord, with the man who is in Divine order, but shut with him who is not in Divine order (n. 8513). So far as man lives according to order, so far he has intelligence and wisdom (n. 2592).

The Lord rules the firsts and the ultimates of order, and the firsts from the ultimates and the ultimates from the firsts; and thus keeps all things in connection and order (n. 3702, 3739, 6040, 6056, 9828). Of successive order; and of the ultimate of order, in which things successive are together in their order (n. 634, 3691, 4145, 5114, 5897, 6239, 6326, 6465, 8603, 9215-9216, 9828, 9836, 10044, 10099, 10329, 10335).

Evils and falsities are contrary to order, and still they are ruled by the Lord, not according to order, but from order (n. 4839, 7877, 10778). Evils and falsities are ruled by the laws of permission, and this is for the sake of order (n. 7877, 8700, 10778). What is contrary to Divine order is impossible, as that a man who lives in evil can be saved from mercy alone, as likewise that the evil can be consociated with the good in the other life, and many other things (n. 8700).

4747. 'And behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites came from Gilead' means those in whom simple good is present like that present in gentiles. This is clear from the representation of 'Ishmaelites' as those in whom simple good is present so far as life is concerned, and who consequently rely on natural truth so far as doctrine is concerned, dealt with in 3263, and from the meaning of 'Gilead' as exterior good into which, when a person is being regenerated, he is introduced first, dealt with in 4117, 4124. From this it is evident that 'a caravan of Ishmaelites from Gilead' means the kind of good that exists with gentiles, that is, those in whom that kind of simple good is present.

[2] The implications of this may be seen from what has been stated up to now and from what follows below, in advance of which only this needs to be mentioned: If people within the Church who have set themselves firmly against Divine truths - in particular against the truths that the Lord's Human is Divine and that the works of charity do contribute something towards salvation - have so set themselves against them not only from doctrine but also in life, they have driven themselves interiorly into the kind of state in which they cannot possibly be brought after that to accept those truths. For once such opposition has become firmly established in life as well as from doctrine it remains for ever. People who have no knowledge of man's interior state may suppose that no matter how much he has set himself firmly against those truths he can still accept them without difficulty after that, provided he is convinced they are truths. But this is impossible, as I have been allowed to know from a great deal of experience of such persons in the next life. For that which is firmly accepted from doctrine is absorbed into the understanding, and that which is firmly accepted in life is absorbed into the will. That which is deeply implanted in both areas of life in man - that is to say, in the life of his understanding and in the life of his will - cannot be rooted out. A person's essential soul which lives after death is shaped by these and it is such that it never withdraws from them. This also is the reason why the lot of those within the Church in whom such attitudes of mind have developed is worse than the lot of those outside the Church. Those outside the Church, called the gentiles, have not set themselves firmly against those truths because they have no knowledge of them. For this reason those among them who have led charitable lives with one another accept Divine truths with ease, if not in the world then in the next life. See what has been presented from experience regarding the state and lot of gentile nations and peoples in the next life, in 2589-2604.

[3] Consequently when a new Church is established by the Lord it is not established among those within the Church but among those outside it, that is, among gentiles. These are referred to many times in the Word. These preliminary remarks have been made so that what is implied by Joseph's being thrown into the pit by his brothers may be known and what by his being drawn out of it by the Midianites and sold to the Ishmaelites. For by 'Joseph's brothers' are represented those people within the Church who have set themselves firmly against Divine Truth, in particular against the two truths that the Lord's Human is Divine and that the works of charity do contribute something towards salvation, being opposed to them not only from doctrine but also in life. By 'the Ishmaelites' however those in whom simple good is present are represented, and by 'the Midianites' those who rely on the truth partnering that good. The latter are recorded as having drawn Joseph out of the pit, the former as having bought him. But what is meant by their bringing him down into Egypt where they sold him to Potiphar, Pharaoh's bedchamber-servant, will be stated further on.