10048. 'And you shall cut the ram into pieces' means that the interior things must be arranged into order, distinct from one another. This is clear from the meaning of 'the ram' as the good of innocence and charity in the internal man, dealt with in 10042, at this point preparation for the internal man's purification, meant by the burnt offering of the ram; and from the meaning of 'cutting into pieces' as the arrangement of the interiors there into order. The reason why preparation for the arrangement of the interiors into order is meant by 'cutting into pieces, members, and parts' is that the arranging of them is described by the requirement to put the intestines and legs on top of the pieces and of the head. By 'the intestines' are meant the lowest things, which are called the outward things of the senses, and by 'the legs' those immediately above, which are called natural things, so that by 'the pieces', which were higher still, interior things are meant, and by 'the head' inmost ones. ¹ The fact that the intestines, legs, and head mean those things will be clear from what follows below; and the fact that the organs and members of the human being mean such things arranged in order may be seen above in 10030.

[2] Since sacrifices and burnt offerings serve in the representative sense to mean the regeneration of a person, something brief must be stated about the nature of the arranging into order which takes place during regeneration. With those who are being regenerated interiors and exteriors are being arranged into order by the Lord for the purpose of all subsequent states, so much so that things in the present entail those in the future, as do things in the future when they become those in the present, and so on forever. For the Lord foresees all things and provides all things, and His Foresight and Providence looks to eternity, and so is everlasting; for the Divine nature, which He alone possesses, is in itself infinite, and what is infinite in duration is everlasting. Consequently whatever the Lord arranges into order is everlasting. This is what happens to those whom the Lord is regenerating; the regeneration of a person begins in the world and carries on forever, for when a person becomes an angel he is always being made more perfect. In the human being there are outward things, inward things, and inmost ones. All these are arranged into order simultaneously and in successive stages for the purpose of the things to be received in the subsequent states following on forever. But in what order the regeneration of outward, inner, and inmost things takes place, and the reverse, will in the Lord's Divine mercy be stated in what follows.

Notas de rodapé:

10031. 'And the omentum over the liver' means the more internal good of the external or natural man. This is clear from the meaning of 'the omentum', which is over the liver, as the more internal good of the external or natural man. 'The omentum' means this good because it consists wholly of fat, and by 'fat' good is meant, dealt with above in 10029. The reason why the good is more internal is that this fat is higher in the body or more internal than the fat covering the intestines, which is spoken of immediately above. Also 'the liver' means more internal purification, for the liver purifies the blood, whereas the intestines purify the substances from which blood is produced. And the reason why that good belongs to the external or natural man is that 'the young bull' in which this omentum resided means the good of innocence and of charity in the external or natural man, 9990. In other places 'the liver' means the external good of innocence, the kind of good that exists with young children or infants. The reason for this is that before every other organ has been fully formed to serve its particular function, which is done while they are still in the womb, infants are fed through the liver; for it is to this organ that all their fluid nourishment is brought from their mother's womb by way of the placenta and umbilical cord. This fluid corresponds to the good of innocence.

[2] The fact that this good is meant by 'the liver' is clear in Jeremiah,

My eyes have been consumed by tears, my internal organs have been disturbed, ¹ my liver has been poured out onto the earth, because of the destruction ² of the daughter of my people, while the infant and the suckling faint in the streets; they say to their mothers, Where is grain and wine? Lamentations 2:11-12.

This describes the grief of a Church when it has been laid waste. Grief on account of truth that has been lost is meant by 'eyes have been consumed by tears'; grief on account of the truth of innocence which has been lost is meant by 'internal organs have been disturbed'; and grief on account of the good of innocence which has been lost is meant by 'liver has been poured out onto the earth'. This is the reason for the words, 'While the infant and the suckling faint in the streets', and 'they say to their mothers, Where is grain and wine?' 'The daughter of my people' because of whose destruction that grief exists is the Church, 2362, 3963, 6729; 'eyes' are the powers of inward sight, thus the truths of faith, 4526, 4528, 9051; 'internal organs' or 'bowels' are the truths of innocence, 3294; 'liver' is the good of innocence, since the infants and sucklings who faint in the streets are those with whom the good of innocence is present, 430, 3183, 4563, 5608; 'the grain and wine' - about which they say to their mothers, Where are they? - are the good of truth and the truth of good, 'grain' being the good of truth, 5959, and 'wine' the truth of good, 1071, 1798.