7344. 'For they could not drink from the waters of the river' means non-application through the use of utter falsities. This is clear from the meaning of 'being unable to drink' as non-application, for 'drinking' is applying, see immediately above in 7343; and from the meaning of 'the waters of the river' as falsities, also dealt with above, in 7307. What is meant by 'being unable to drink from the waters of the river' - which is that truths cannot be applied to falsities, that is, be falsified through the use of utter falsities - follows on also from the internal sense of what comes immediately before. That is to say, this meaning follows on from that of 'digging for water to drink round about the river', which is a searching for truths that they could apply to falsities. The reason why utter falsities cannot be used to apply truths to falsities is that they are intermediaries are present to bind them together. The intermediaries which bind them together are the illusions of the outward senses, and also statements made in the Word in accordance with outward appearances. Take for example the truth that nothing but good comes from the Lord, and never anything evil. This truth is falsified through illusions, such as that by His almighty power the Lord is able, if He wills, to take away evil, and that because He does not take it away He is the cause of it, which implies that evil too comes from the Lord. It is falsified by the use of statements made in the Word in accordance with outward appearances, such as that Jehovah or the Lord is angry, punishes, condemns, and casts into hell, when in actual fact the people themselves who are engrossed in evil are the ones who cause these things to happen to them. Consequently they bring upon themselves the evil inflicted as punishment, for in the next life the evil inflicted as punishment and the evil of which a person is guilty go together. Countless other truths can be falsified in ways like these.

790. 'Waters' here and in what follows means falsities. This becomes clear from the places in the Word quoted in the preliminary section of this chapter ¹ and from those at verse 6 of this chapter, where the flood or inundation of waters is the subject. In those places it was shown that 'inundations of waters' meant desolations and temptations, which entail the same thing as falsities, for desolations and temptations are nothing else than inundations of falsities that have been activated by evil spirits. The reason why such waters mean falsities is that generally 'waters' in the Word means that which is spiritual, that is, that which is intellectual, rational, and factual. And since waters mean these they also mean their opposites, for every falsity is a factual matter, and seemingly rational and intellectual since it is a matter belonging to thought.

[2] That 'waters' means spiritual things is clear from very many places in the Word. But that 'waters' also means falsities, let the passages that follow, in addition to those quoted already, serve to confirm the point. In Isaiah,

This people have refused the waters of Shiloah that go out gently. Therefore, behold the Lord is causing to rise up over them the waters of the river, mighty and many. And it will rise up over all its channels and go over all its banks. Isaiah 8:6-7.

Here 'waters that go out gently' stands for spiritual things, 'waters mighty and many' for falsities. In the same prophet,

Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Cush, sending ambassadors to the sea, and in vessels of papyrus over the face' of the waters! Go, you swift ambassadors, to a nation marked out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled. Isaiah 18:1-2.

This stands for falsities, which belong to 'the land shadowing with wings'.

[3] In the same prophet,

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. Isaiah 43:2.

'Waters' and 'rivers' stand for difficulties, and also for falsities. In Jeremiah,

What have you to do with the way to Egypt, to drink the waters of Shihor? And what have you to do with the way to Asshur, to drink the waters of the River? Jeremiah 2:18.

'Waters' stands for falsities arising out of reasonings. In the same prophet,

Who is this coming up like a river, like the rivers his waters are tossed about? Egypt comes up like the river, and like the rivers his waters are tossed about. And he said, I will go up, I will cover the earth, I will destroy the city and those who dwell in it. Jeremiah 46:7-8.

'Waters' stands for falsities arising out of reasonings.

[4] In Ezekiel,

Thus said the Lord Jehovah, When I make you a city laid waste, like the cities that are not inhabited, when I shall cause the deep to come up over you, and many waters have covered you, I will cause you to go down with those who go down into the Pit. Ezekiel 16:19, 20.

'Waters' stands for evils and derivative falsities. In Habakkuk,

You did trample the sea with Your horses, the mud of many waters. Habakkuk 3:15.

'Waters' stands for falsities. In John,

The dragon poured water like a stream out of his mouth after the woman, to swallow her up in the river. Revelation 11:15, 16.

Here 'waters' stands for falsities and lies. In David,

Send forth Your hands from on high, rescue me, and deliver me from the many waters, from the hands of sons of the foreigner, whose mouths speak lies, and whose right hands are right hands of falsity. Psalms 144:7-8.

Here 'many waters' clearly stands for falsities, and 'sons of the foreigner also means falsities.