69. Verse 15. And His feet like unto burnished brass, as if glowing in a furnace, signifies the ultimate of Divine order, which is the natural, full of Divine love. This is evident from the signification of "feet," as being the natural (See Arcana Coelestia 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952); therefore, in reference to the Lord, as meaning the ultimate of Divine order, because that is the natural; also from the signification of "burnished brass," or brass polished, as being natural good (of which presently); and from the signification of "glowing," as being, in reference to the Lord, what is from Divine love (See n. 10055). It is said, "as if glowing in a furnace," in order that the Divine love in the greatest degree and in its fullness may be represented, for the Divine is in its fullness when it is in its ultimate, and the ultimate is the natural (See above, n. 66).

From this it is clear that by "His feet like unto burnished brass, as if glowing in a furnace," is signified the ultimate of Divine order, which is the natural, full of Divine love. These things, as well as the preceding, are described by comparisons; as that "His head and His hairs were white as white wool, as snow," and that "His feet were like unto burnished brass, as if glowing in a furnace;" but it is to be noted, that all comparisons in the Word are significative, for they are from correspondences in like manner as the things themselves (See Arcana Coelestia 3579, 4599, 8989).

[2] In reference to the Lord, "feet" signify the ultimate of Divine order, and this is the natural, because heaven is heaven from the Lord's Divine Human, and from this it is that heaven in the whole complex represents one man; and as there are three heavens, that the highest heaven represents the head, the middle heaven the body, and the lowest heaven the feet. The Divine that makes the highest heaven is called the celestial Divine, but the Divine that makes the middle heaven is called the spiritual Divine, and the Divine that makes the lowest heaven is called the natural Divine from the spiritual and celestial. This makes it evident why the Lord is here described in respect to His Divine Human, which is the Son of man seen in the midst of the lampstands, not only as regards His garments, but also as to His head, breast, and feet. (That the Son of man is the Lord as to His Divine Human, see above, n. 63; and that the "lampstands" are heaven, see n. 62, 63. But since these things are arcana hitherto unknown in the world, and yet must be understood in order that the internal sense of this and the following parts of this prophetical book may be comprehended, the particulars have been explained specifically in the work on Heaven and Hell; as

That the Divine Human of the Lord makes Heaven, n. 7-12, 78-86, seq.;

That on this account Heaven in the whole Complex represents one Man, n. 59-77;

That there are Three Heavens, and that the highest refers to the head, the middle to the body, and the lowest to the feet, n. Heaven and Hell 29-40.)

When this is understood it can be seen what is signified in the Word by "the feet of Jehovah" or "of the Lord," namely, the ultimate of Divine order, or the natural; and since the external of the church, of worship, and of the Word is the ultimate of Divine order in the church, and is the natural, this is specifically signified by "the feet of Jehovah" or "of the Lord."

[3] Because of this signification of "the feet of Jehovah" or "of the Lord," therefore when the Lord was seen as an Angel by the prophets elsewhere, He appeared in like manner.

Thus by Daniel:

I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz; His body was like the tarshish stone, and His eyes as lamps of fire, and His arms and His feet like the brightness of polished brass (Daniel 10:5-6).

In like manner the cherubs, by which is meant the Lord in respect to providence and protection (See Arcana Coelestia 9277, 9509, 9673), were seen by Ezekiel:

Their feet sparkled like the brightness of polished brass (Ezekiel 1:7).

The Lord was seen in like manner as an Angel as described further on in Revelation:

I saw an Angel coming down out of heaven, arrayed with a cloud, and a rainbow was about His head, and His face was as the sun, and His feet as pillars of fire (Revelation 10:1).

As the Lord appeared in this manner as to His feet, therefore under His feet there was seen by some of the sons of Israel:

As it were a work of sapphire stone, and as it were the substance of heaven for clearness (Exodus 24:10).

Their vision of the Lord was not as to the feet, but "under the feet," because they were not in, but under, the external of the church, of worship, and of the Word (See The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 248).

[4] Since "the feet of Jehovah" or "of the Lord" signify the ultimate of Divine order, and this specifically is the external of the church, of worship, and of the Word, therefore this external is called in the Word "His footstool," as in Isaiah:

The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; I will make the place of My feet honorable. And they shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet (Isaiah 60:13-14).

In the same:

Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool (Isaiah 66:1).

In Jeremiah:

God doth not remember His footstool in the day of anger (Lamentations 2:1).

In David:

Worship Jehovah at His footstool (Psalms 99:5).

We will go into His tabernacles; we will worship at His footstool (Psalms 132:7).

In Nahum:

Of Jehovah, the clouds are the dust of His feet (Nahum 1:3).

"Cloud" is the external of the Word, or the Word in respect to the letter (See above, n. 36). Because "cloud" is the external of the Word, it is also the external of the church and of worship; for the church and worship are from the Word. "Clouds" are called "dust of His feet," because those things that are in the sense of the letter of the Word, which is natural, appear scattered.

10492. 'And there fell of the people on that day up to three thousand men' means a complete shutting off of what is internal. This is clear from the meaning of 'falling' or being killed as being shut off, dealt with above in 10490; and from the meaning of 'three thousand' as that which is complete. For 'three' means what is full and complete, see 2788, 4495, 7715, 8347, 9198, 9488, 9489, and 'three thousand' likewise, because every large number has a similar meaning to the smaller ones of which it is the product when they are multiplied together, 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973. All numbers in the Word mean spiritual realities or real things, see in the places referred to in 9488, and in 10127, 10217, 10253.

[2] Since then the subject here has been the shutting off of what was internal among the Israelite and Jewish nation, let something further be stated here regarding the shutting off of what is internal. Evils and falsities are what shut off the internal man, or what amounts to the same thing, worldly, earthly, and bodily kinds of love do so when they are predominant; for they are the source of all evils and falsities. The reason why what is internal is shut off by them is that those kinds of love are the opposites of heavenly kinds; or what amounts to the same thing, evils and falsities are the opposites of forms of good and truths. Therefore when opposites act against each other that which has been injured holds itself in, just as a fibre does when it is pricked, or as any other part of the human body does from pain. It is well known that injury or a depressed state of mind can put creases on a person's face, cramp the abdomen, and restrict the lungs and their breathing. So it is also with the internal man when evils and falsities enter thought and will. There is a feeling of detestation then, and a consequent holding in, which also reveal themselves in the face and in the body.

[3] This is the general reason why the internal is closed. But the specific reason is to prevent forms of good and truths from passing from heaven by way of the internal man into the external, and from their being defiled and rendered profane there. To prevent this from happening with the Israelite nation among whom the Word and the holy things of the Church existed, their internal was completely shut off. Its being completely shut off is plainly evident from the fact that although they now live among Christians, and although prophecies plainly refer to the Lord, they still do not at all acknowledge Him. Indeed they are such that they are not even able to entertain any thought that strengthens [belief in the Lord]. There is inward repudiation and revulsion, because their internal has been closed.

[4] In addition it should be recognized that in the Christian world as well the internal is closed in the case of those who know the truths of faith from the Word and do not lead a life in keeping with them. An actual life in keeping with them opens the internal man; without it those truths reside merely in the external man's memory. With those however who repudiate these truths the internal is completely closed. And astonishing though it may seem to be, the internal is closed more in the case of intelligent than in that of simple people. The reason for this is that the intelligent are ruled by desires for high position and monetary gain, and consequently by self-love and love of the world, more than the simple are. They also have a greater ability to justify evils and falsities resulting from those loves by the use of factual knowledge, which the intelligent possess more abundantly than the simple do. Added to this, the majority of them think of the soul on the basis of some hypothesis in the learned world, from which they gain no other idea than that of a breath of air or a puff of wind which perhaps contains some spark of life. The thought of simple but good people on the other hand is not based on such an idea, only on the idea that the soul is the person living after death. So it is that the internal of these simple people is open, whereas that of those intelligent ones is closed. Whether you speak of the internal being opened or closed, or you speak of heaven being so, it amounts to the same thing.