9435. 'And Moses went into the midst of the cloud' means the Word in its outward sense. This is clear from the representation of 'Moses' as the Word, at this point the Word in its outward sense since it says that he went 'into the midst of the cloud', and 'the cloud' means the outward sense of the Word. For the representation of 'Moses' as the Word, see above in 9414, and for the meaning of 'the cloud' as its outward sense, in 9430. Moses remained at the foot of the mountain for six days, and then on the seventh day he received the call and went into the cloud, up into the mountain. This happened in order that he might represent that which acted as an intermediary between the people and the Lord, in keeping with what has been stated above in 9414. Degrees of ascent from the people to the Lord are described by this. When Moses went eventually into the mountain he first represented the outward holiness of the Word, which acted as an intermediary; for that mountain means heaven, where holiness dwells. But he was allowed no further in than the outermost part of heaven, where the outward holiness of the Word comes to an end. His being allowed only that far in has been demonstrated to me in a representative manner by means of a spirit, the upper part of whose face down to the chin appeared in the light of heaven, while the lower part from the chin downwards, together with the whole of the body, was in a cloud. This showed me how much of the outward holiness, which acted as an intermediary, Moses represented. The reason why the six days that Moses remained at the foot of the mountain has meant the state of truth, and the seventh day when he went up into the mountain means the state of good, in keeping with the explanation above in 9431, 9432, is that those who are being regenerated by the Lord mount by like degrees of ascent from the world into heaven. The person is raised from outward things to inward ones, because he is raised from the level of natural man, where outward things exist, to that of the spiritual man, where inward things exist. This kind of raising or ascent was also represented by Moses when he took on the representation of the outward holiness that acted as an intermediary. For the outward holiness of the Word is the gateway to the state of good, and so to heaven.

9139. 'When a man devastates a field or a vineyard' means a stripping away of the Church's goodness and truth by evil desires. This is clear from the meaning of 'devastating' as a stripping away by evil desires, dealt with below in 9141; from the meaning of 'a field' as the Church in respect of good, dealt with in 2971, 3766, 4982, 7502, thus the Church's good; and from the meaning of 'a vineyard' as the Church in respect of truth, thus the Church's truth. The reason why 'a field' is the Church in respect of good is that the products of a field, such as wheat and barley, mean forms of good in the Church, internal and external ones, 3941, 7602, 7605; and the reason why 'a vineyard' is the Church in respect of truth is that 'wine', which is the product of a vineyard, means the truth of good, 1071, 6377.

[2] The origin of these meanings of 'a field' and 'a vineyard' lies in representatives in the spiritual world. For fields full of wheat and barley appear before the eyes of spirits when angels in a higher heaven are talking about an assembly of people governed by good; and vineyards full of grapes appear, together with winepresses in them, when angels are talking about an assembly of people governed by the truth of good. Those representatives are not due to the existence of such fields and vineyards on earth; rather, they are due to correspondences, in that wheat and barley, or bread made from them, nourish the body just as the good of love and charity nourishes the soul, and in that wine serving as drink nourishes the body just as the truth and good of faith nourish the soul. This is the reason why in the Word the good of love and the truth of faith are called food and drink; indeed in this sense they are heavenly food and drink, 56-58, 680, 681, 1973, 1974, 4459, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5576, 5579, 5915, 8562.

[3] The fact that 'a vineyard' means the Church in respect of the good and truth of faith, which is called a spiritual Church, is clear from places in the Word in which a vineyard is mentioned, as in Jeremiah,

Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard, they have trampled down My field; they have rendered the field of [My] delight into a lonely wilderness. They have made it (the vineyard) into a solitary place. Jeremiah 12:10-11.

Here 'vineyard' and 'field' plainly stand for the Church; and since the Church is the Church by virtue of the truth and good of faith and charity, it is evident that in these verses 'vineyard' is the Church in respect of truth and 'the field' the Church in respect of good. In Isaiah,

Jehovah enters into judgement with the elders of His people and with its princes. You set alight the vineyard. Isaiah 3:14.

Here also 'vineyard' plainly stands for the Church in respect of the good and truth of faith; for 'the elders' with whom Jehovah will enter into judgement are the Church's forms of good, 6524, 6525, and 'the princes' are its truths, 5044.

[4] In the same prophet,

I will sing to my beloved a song of my friend regarding His vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard in a horn of a son of oil, ¹ which he surrounded [with an enclosure], and planted with the choicest vine. Isaiah 5:1-2ff.

This refers to the Lord, who is the 'beloved' and 'friend'. 'The vineyard' is His spiritual Church, 'the choicest vine' is that Church's good of faith, and 'a horn of a son of oil' is that Church's good of faith growing out of the good of love. The person who knows nothing whatever about the internal sense of the Word cannot possibly know what 'a vineyard in a horn of a son of oil' means. Nevertheless this expression has a meaning lying hidden within it such as no words can express. They contain a full description of the Lord's spiritual kingdom linked to His celestial kingdom, that is, of the second heaven to the third, consequently a full description of the good of faith in the Lord, which is the spiritual kingdom's, linked to the good of love to the Lord, which is the celestial kingdom's. 'The vineyard' is the spiritual kingdom; 'in a horn' is in power, thus in that kingdom, 'a son of oil' being the external level of the good of love in the celestial kingdom. The celestial kingdom, which is the Lord's inmost heaven, is called the olive or an olive-grove, for 'oil' means the good of celestial love, 886, 4582, 4638. It should be recognized that the Lord's kingdom on earth is the Church. As regards the existence of two kingdoms, the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom, and the fact that the spiritual kingdom constitutes the second heaven and the celestial kingdom the third, see 3887, 4138, 4279, 4286; and with regard to their being linked together, 6435.

[5] In the same prophet,

On that day, a vineyard of unmixed wine; ² respond to it. I Jehovah am guarding it; every moment I will water it. Isaiah 27:2-3.

'A vineyard of unmixed wine' stands for the spiritual Church. In Amos,

In all vineyards there will be wailing; I will pass through you. Woe to you desiring the day of Jehovah! What will the day of Jehovah be for you? It will be one of darkness, and not of light. Amos 5:17-18.

This refers to the final period of the Church, when the good and truth of faith do not exist any longer, that final period being meant by 'the day of Jehovah, which will be one of darkness, and not of light'. This is why it says, 'In all vineyards there will be wailing'. In John, in Revelation,

The angel sent his sickle into the earth and harvested the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. Revelation 14:18, 19.

'Harvesting the vine of the earth' means devouring the Church's truth and good, 'the earth' being the Church. From all this one may now see why it is that the Lord likened the kingdom of heaven so many times to a vineyard, as in Matthew 20:1ff; 21:28-29, 33-41; Mark 12:1-13; and why it is that the Lord called Himself 'the vine' in John,

As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; apart from Me you cannot do anything. John 15:1ff.

'The vine' is faith in the Lord, and for that reason is the Lord in respect of faith. For the Lord is faith because faith originates in Him; no faith is faith except that which originates in Him. So it is also that 'the vine' means faith that is faith in Him.

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