THE EXPLANATION of Isaiah Chapter 46

(Note: Rev. Smithson's translation of the Isaiah text is appended below the explanation.)

1. HEARKEN unto Me, you that pursue justice, you that seek Jehovah: look unto the rock whence you were hewn, and to the excavation of the pit, whence you were digged.

VERSE 1. By the "rock." is understood the Lord as to Divine Truth; and by the "pit" is here signified the Word, as also in other places. To be "hewn out of the rock, and digged out of the pit", signifies to be regenerated from divine Truths and divine Goods, thus by Truths from Good from the Lord; for "stones" which are cut out of a rock signify Truths from the Lord, and "ground" which is dug out of the pit signifies Good from the Lord, wherefore it is called "the excavation [effossio] out of the pit." Apocalypse Explained 411.

Verses 1-3. Look unto the rock whence you were hewn, and to the excavation of the pit whence you were digged; etc. - These things are said concerning the Lord, and concerning the New Church from Him. The Lord as to Divine Truth, and as to the doctrine of Truth, is understood by "the rock whence you were hewn", and by "the pit whence you were digged", see above, n.411; but the Lord as to the Divine, from which comes reformation, is understood by "Abraham, to whom they should look", and by "Sarah, who bare them;'' for by "Abraham", "Isaac", and "Jacob", in the Word, are not understood those persons, but the Lord as to His Divine Itself, and the Divine Human, as may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 1893, 2833, 3245. But the heavenly marriage, which is of Divine Good and Divine Truth, from which comes all reformation, and. thence the church, is signified by "Abraham" and, "Sarah, who bare them."

Inasmuch as the Lord is understood by "Abraham", therefore it is said, "I called, him alone [or when he was but one], and, I blessed him, and I multiplied him"; and afterwards that "Jehovah will comfort Zion, and all her waste places"; "Zion" signifying the New Church, "waste places" Truths destroyed, and "comfort" or "consolation" the restoration of the church. That they who will be of that church will acknowledge the Lord, and receive love to Him, and thence wisdom, is signified by "He shall make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Jehovah"; "Eden" denoting love to the Lord, and the "garden of Jehovah" wisdom thence derived. Apocalypse Explained 721.

That the Lord, and the Divine Truth, as well as a true faith, is signified by a "Rock", see Chapter 16:1, : Exposition;

2. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah who bare you: for I called him alone, and I blessed him, and I multiplied him.

Verse 2. The Lord, as to Divine Truth, is called a "rock" and a "pit", and as to Divine Good, "Abraham the father"; and because the marriage of Goodness and Truth is represented by "Abraham and Sarah", as may be seen Arcana Coelestia 1468, 1901, Abraham is called "father", and of Sarah it is said; "she bare you.'" That "Abraham", as father, signifies the Lord as to Divine Good, may be seen in John 8:38, 39; Matthew 3:9, 10; Luke 16:19-31. Arcana Coelestia 3703 Arcana Coelestia 3703[1-23].

3. For Jehovah will comfort Zion: He will comfort all her waste places; and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Jehovah; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of singing.

Verse 3. Speaking of the advent of the Lord, and of the establishment of the church, which at that time was devastated or destroyed. By "Zion" is signified the church where the Lord is to be worshipped; by her "waste places" are signified the defect of Truth and Good from a want of knowledge.

By "making her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Jehovah", is signified that they shall have Truth and Good in abundance; "wilderness" is predicated of the want of Good, and "desert" of the want of Truth :

"Eden" signifies Good in abundance, and the "garden of Jehovah" Truth in abundance. Inasmuch as a "song" and "singing" signify thanksgiving [confession] from joy of heart, therefore it is said, "Joy and gladuess shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of singing"; the "voice of singing"; denoting the same as a "song." Apocalypse Explained 326.

As to "thanksgiving" (or confession), see Chapter 12:1, the Exposition.

He shall make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Jehovah, etc. - The spiritual meaning of a "garden" is grounded in the nature of representations in the spiritual world, in which world gardens and paradises appear where dwell the angels who excel in intelligence and wisdom. The intelligence and wisdom which they receive from the Lord form themselves into such representations around them, and this takes place from correspondence; all things that exist in the spiritual world being correspondences. True Christian Religion 467.

Hence it is that man is so often compared to a "tree", and the church to a "garden", as in Isaiah 51:3; 58:11; Jeremiah 31:12. Coronis 27.

4. Attend unto Me, O My people; and give ear unto Me, O My nation: for the law shall proceed from Me, and My judgment will I cause to break forth for a light to the peoples.

5. My justice is near; My salvation is gone forth; and Mine arms shall judge the peoples: the islands shall hope in Me, and on Mine arm shall they trust.

Verses 4, 5. These things are also said concerning the Lord. "Attend unto Me, O My people, and give ear unto Me, O My nation", signifies all of the church who are in Truths and Goods; "people" those who are In Truths, and "nation" those who are in Goods; it is said "attend you" and "give ear" in the plural number, because all are understood. "The law shall proceed from Me, and My judgment will I cause to break forth for a light to the peoples, "signifies that from Him is Divine Good and Divine Truth, from which is illustration; "law" signifies the Divine Good of the Word, and "judgment" the Divine Truth of the Word; and "for a light to the peoples" denotes illustration. "My justice is near, My salvation is gone forth", signifies judgment, when they are saved who are in the Good of love, and who are in Truths thence derived; "justice" is predicated of the salvation of those who are in Good at the day of judgment, and "salvation" of the salvation of those who are in Truths. "Mine arms shall judge the peoples", signifies judgment upon those of the church who are in falsities; "peoples" here being taken in an opposite sense. "The islands shall hope in Me, and on Mine arm shall they trust" signifies the access of those to the church who are remote from the Truths of the church, and their trust in the Lord; "islands" denoting those who are remote from the Truths of the church, because they are in natural light, and not yet in spiritual light from the Word; and to "trust in His arm" signifying confidence in the Lord, who has all power, - "arm", when predicated of the Lord, denoting Omnipotence. Apocalypse Explained 406. See also Arcana Coelestia 9857.

6. Lift up unto the heavens your eyes, and look unto the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke; and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and its inhabitants shall die in like manner: but My salvation shall be for ever, and My justice shall not be broken.

Verse 6. The heavens shall vanish away like smoke, etc. - By "the heavens which shall vanish away, and the earth which shall wax old like a garment", is understood the church, which successively falls away, and at length is desolated, but not the visible heaven and the habitable earth; wherefore it is said, "and its inhabitants shall die in like manner", - to "die" signifying spiritually to die. Apocalypse Explained 304.

By "smoke" is signified what is false, by which those in the former heaven would perish; and by "a garment waxing old" is signified Truth destroyed by the falsities of evil. A comparison is made between "smoke vanishing away" and "a garment waxing old", because comparisons in the Word are also correspondences, and equally signify. Apocalypse Explained 539.

7. Hearken unto Me, you that know justice; the people in whose heart is My law: fear you not the reproach of men, neither be you dismayed by their revilings.

8. For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them up like wool: but My justice shall be for ever, and My salvation from generation to generation.

Verses 7, 8. Fear you not the reproach of men, neither be you dismayed by their revilings; for the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them up like wool, etc. - The "moth" stands for falsities in the extremes of man, and the "worm" for evils therein; for "a garment which the moth eats" signifies inferior or exterior Truths, which are of the sensual man; (see Arcana Coelestia 2576, 5248) and "the wool which the worm eats" signifies inferior or exterior Goods, which are of the sensual man, as is evident from many passages, and also from the signification of a "sheep", from which wool is derived, and which signifies the Good of charity, n. 4169. Arcana Coelestia 9331.

9. Awake, awake, clothe yourself with strength, O arm of Jehovah! awake, as in the days of antiquity, in the generations of old. Art you not the same that smote Rahab, that wounded the dragon?

Verses 9, 10. The "arm of Jehovah "is the Lord as to the Divine Human. The "days of antiquity" [or of eternity] signify the state of the most ancient church; "eternity" is predicated of that church, because it was in the Good of love to the Lord, of which Good, because immediately from the Lord, "eternity" is predicated; the "generations of old" [or eternities] signify Goods in the ancient church hence derived. "The waters of the great deep and the depths of the sea" is the hell, where those are who are in faith separate from charity, and in a life of evil; "the waters of the sea", under which they are, signify falsities; for falsities, in the other life, appear as dense and dark clouds, and as inundations of waters; "the redeemed, who pass over", are those who are liberated by the Lord. Arcana Coelestia 8099. See also 6239, 9789.

Verse 9. Art you not the same that smote Rahab, etc. - See above, as to "Rahab", Chapter 30:7, note; and as to the "dragon", see Chapter 27:1, the Exposition.

10. Art you not the same that dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep? that made the depths of the sea a path for the redeemed to pass over?

Verses 10, 15. By "the sons of Israel, before whom the Red Sea [Suph] was dried up, so that they passed through safe", are understood all who are in Truths from Good, whom the Lord, defends, lest the falsities of evil which ascend continually from the hells should injure them. This is what is understood by "drying up the sea, the waters of the great deep", and by "making the depths thereof into a path for the redeemed to pass over"; likewise by "leading them through the abysses or depths"; for the falsities exhaled from the hells continually cling to man, consequently the hells; for, whether we speak of falsities from the hells, or of the hells themselves, it is the same thing; but the Lord continually dissipates them with those who are in Truths originating in Good from Himself. This, then, is what is signified by "drying up the sea, and leading them through the abysses." They who are in Truths grounded in Good from the Lord; are understood by the "redeemed." Apocalypse Explained 538.

11. Thus shall the ransomed of Jehovah return, and come to Zion with singing; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: joy and gladness shall they obtain, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Verse 11. Joy and gladness shall they obtain, etc. - It is said "joy and gladness" on account of the marriage of what is Good and True; for "joy" is predicated of what is Good, because from love, as it is properly of the heart and of the will; and "gladness" is predicated of Truth, because of the love thereof, for it is properly of the mind [animi] and of its thoughts; wherefore it is said, "joy of heart and gladness of mind." There are everywhere in the Word two expressions, of which one relates to what is Good and the other to what is True and this because the conjunction of what is Good and True makes heaven and the church; hence both heaven and the church are compared to a "marriage", and the Lord is said to be "the Bridegroom and the Husband", and heaven and the church "the bride and wife"; Wherefore every one who is not in that marriage is not an angel of heaven or a man of the church. The reason is, because no Good can be given with anyone except it is formed by Truths, nor can Truth be given with anyone except it live from Good; for all Truth is the form of Good, and all Good is the esse of Truth; and because one cannot be given without the other, it follows that the marriage of what is Good and True must necessarily exist with the man of the church as with an angel of heaven. All intelligence and wisdom come from this marriage, for from it there constantly spring forth Goods and Truths from which the intellect and the will are formed. Apocalypse Explained 660.

12. I, even I, am He that comforts you: who art you, that you should fear man that shall die, and the son of man that shall become as the grass?

Verse 12. By these words is signified that all things are from the Lord, and nothing from self-derived intelligence and wisdom. "Man" signifies man as to wisdom, and the "son of man" the same as to intelligence; that this latter is only science is understood by "becoming as grass." Apocalypse Explained 507.

13. And forgets Jehovah your Maker, who stretched out the heavens, and founded the earth; and fears continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? but where is the fury of the oppressor?

Verse 13. Here by the "heavens" and the "earth" is signified the church as to its internal or spiritual things, and as to its external or natural things; and by "stretching out" and "laying at the foundation thereof", is signified to establish them. Apocalypse Explained 1057.

14. He that leads out shall hasten to open; and [the captive] shall not die in the pit, and his bread shall not fail.

Verse 14. Treating concerning the Lord. His advent is understood by "He that leads out shall hasten." Liberation from the falsities of ignorance is signified by "not dying in the pit"; wherefore the same is here understood by "pit", as by the "'pit" mentioned above, (Chapter 24:22) in which were the bound, Supply of spiritual instruction and nourishment is signified by "his bread not failing"; for by "bread", is understood all spiritual food, and by spiritual "food" is meant instruction in Truths and Goods, whence come intelligence and wisdom. Apocalypse Explained 537.

15. For I am Jehovah your God, who rebukes the sea, when the waves thereof roar: Jehovah of Hosts is His name,

Verse 15. Who rebukes the sea, etc. - To "rebuke the sea" is to dissipate falsities; the "waves roaring" are noisy ratiocinations from falsities against the Truths of the Word. Apocalypse Explained 304.

16. I have put My words in your mouth: and with the shadow of My hand have I covered you: to plant the heavens, and to found the earth; and to say unto Zion, You art My people.

Verses 16, 17. Here by "planting the heavens, and founding the earth", is manifestly meant to establish the church; for this is said unto the prophet" that "the Word should be put into his mouth, and that he should be covered with the shadow of the hand, to plant the heavens, and to found or to lay the foundation of the earth", whereas the foundation of the earth cannot be laid by a prophet, but that of the church may; wherefore also it is added, "to say unto Zion, You art My people"; likewise, "Awake, awake; arise, O Jerusalem" for by "Zion" and by "Jerusalem", in the Word, is understood the church. Apocalypse Explained 1057.

17. Arouse yourself, arouse yourself; arise, O Jerusalem! who have drunk from the hand of Jehovah the cup of His fury: the dregs of the cup of trembling have you drunk, you have sucked them out.

18. There is none to lead her, of all the sons she has brought forth; neither is there any to take her by the hand, of all the sons she has brought up.

Verses 17, 18. The restoration of the church which was fallen into mere falsities of evil, is signified by "Arouse, or stir up yourself; arise, O Jerusalem I who have drunk from the hand of Jehovah the cup of His fury: the dregs of the cup of trembling have you drunk, you have sucked them out." "Jerusalem" denotes the church as to doctrine; to "awake or stir up" and to "arise" denotes the restoration thereof; to "drink the cup of fury" denotes the false, and "the dregs of the cup" mere falsities, from which are evils; and to attract them is signified by "drinking and sucking them out." "There is none to lead her, of all the sons she has brought forth; neither is there any to take her by the hand, of all the sons she has brought up", signifies that no Truths of the Word which she has learned and imbibed withdraw her from falsities; "sons" here denoting Truths. Apocalypse Explained 724.

19. These two things have befallen you; who shall bemoan you? desolation, and destruction; the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort you ?

Verse 19. By "famine" is here understood the deprivation of the knowledges of Good, even until Good is no more; and by the "sword", the deprivation of the knowledges of Truth, until Truth is no more; therefore mention is also made of "devastation" and "breaking up" [confractio], the former having relation to Good being no more, and the latter to Truth being no more. Apocalypse Explained 386. See also A. O. 2799.

20. Your sons have fainted; they lie at the head of all the streets, like a wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of Jehovah, the rebuke of your God.

Verse 20. Speaking of "Jerusalem", that is, of the church, devastated as to doctrine. By "sons" are meant those who are in Truths of doctrine; to "faint" and to "lie at the head of all the streets", signifies to be deprived of all Truth; the "head" or beginning of the streets denoting the entrance to Truth, consequently. all Truth.Apocalypse Explained 652.

As to "streets", etc., see Chapter 24:10-12; 35:8, the Exposition.

Your sons have fainted, etc. - These words signify that Truths are dissipated by falsities of every kind. Inasmuch as "sons" denote Truths, by "fainting" is signified to be dissipated; and by" lying at the head of all the streets", is signified by falsities of every kind; for the "streets" of a city signify doctrinal Truths, but here doctrinal falsities. Apocalypse Explained 724.

Like a wild bull in a net. - [The antelope or some wild animal is meant, which, being caught in a net, struggles to emancipate itself, but is not able; in like manner Truths in bondage to the natural man struggle, as it were, to come forth and to make him spiritual and free, but, in the perverse state of the church and of the unregenerate mind here depicted, are not able. Swedenborg has quoted the sentence in Apocalypse Explained 652, but has not. explained it.]

21. Wherefore hear now this, O you afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:

22. Thus says your Lord, Jehovah, and your God, who pleads for His people, Behold, I will take from your hand the cup of trembling, the dregs of the cup of My fury; you shalt drink of it no more:

23. But I will put it into the hand of them that afflicted you; who have said to your soul, Bow down, that we may pass over: and you didst lay down your back, as the ground; and as the street, to them that passed over.

Verse 21. By "the drunken, but not with wine", are here understood those who are in falsities from ignorance of Truth. Apocalypse Explained 376 Apocalypse Explained 376[1-40].

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Isaiah Chapter 51.

1. HEARKEN unto Me, you that pursue justice, you that seek Jehovah: look unto the rock whence you were hewn, and to the excavation of the pit, whence you were digged.

2. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah who bare you: for I called him alone, and I blessed him, and I multiplied him.

3. For Jehovah will comfort Zion: He will comfort all her waste places; and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Jehovah; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of singing.

4. Attend unto Me, O My people; and give ear unto Me, O My nation: for the law shall proceed from Me, and My judgment will I cause to break forth for a light to the peoples.

5. My justice is near; My salvation is gone forth; and Mine arms shall judge the peoples: the islands shall hope in Me, and on Mine arm shall they trust.

6. Lift up unto the heavens your eyes, and look unto the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke; and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and its inhabitants shall die in like manner: but My salvation shall be for ever, and My justice shall not be broken.

7. Hearken unto Me, you that know justice; the people in whose heart is My law: fear you not the reproach of men, neither be you dismayed by their revilings.

8. For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them up like wool: but My justice shall be for ever, and My salvation from generation to generation.

9. Awake, awake, clothe yourself with strength, O arm of Jehovah! awake, as in the days of antiquity, in the generations of old. Art you not the same that smote Rahab, that wounded the dragon?

10. Art you not the same that dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep? that made the depths of the sea a path for the redeemed to pass over?

11. Thus shall the ransomed of Jehovah return, and come to Zion with singing; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: joy and gladness shall they obtain, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

12. I, even I, am He that comforts you: who art you, that you should fear man that shall die, and the son of man that shall become as the grass?

13. And forgets Jehovah your Maker, who stretched out the heavens, and founded the earth; and fears continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? but where is the fury of the oppressor?

14. He that leads out shall hasten to open; and [the captive] shall not die in the pit, and his bread shall not fail.

15. For I am Jehovah your God, who rebukes the sea, when the waves thereof roar: Jehovah of Hosts is His name,

16. I have put My words in your mouth: and with the shadow of My hand have I covered you: to plant the heavens, and to found the earth; and to say unto Zion, You art My people.

17. Arouse yourself, arouse yourself; arise, O Jerusalem! who have drunk from the hand of Jehovah the cup of His fury: the dregs of the cup of trembling have you drunk, you have sucked them out.

18. There is none to lead her, of all the sons she has brought forth; neither is there any to take her by the hand, of all the sons she has brought up.

19. These two things have befallen you; who shall bemoan you? desolation, and destruction; the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort you ?

20. Your sons have fainted; they lie at the head of all the streets, like a wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of Jehovah, the rebuke of your God.

21. Wherefore hear now this, O you afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:

22. Thus says your Lord, Jehovah, and your God, who pleads for His people, Behold, I will take from your hand the cup of trembling, the dregs of the cup of My fury; you shalt drink of it no more:

23. But I will put it into the hand of them that afflicted you; who have said to your soul, Bow down, that we may pass over: and you didst lay down your back, as the ground; and as the street, to them that passed over.

3147. 'And water to wash his feet' means purification there. This is clear from the meaning of 'water to wash' or 'washing with water' as purifying, dealt with below, and from the meaning of 'feet' as natural things, or what amounts to the same, those things that are in the natural man, dealt with in 2162. In the representative Church washing feet with water was a ceremonial act which meant washing away the filth of the natural man. The filth of the natural man is composed of all the things that belong to self-love and love of the world, and when such filth has been washed away goods and truths flow in, for that filth alone is what hinders the influx of good and truth from the Lord.

[2] For good is flowing in constantly from the Lord, but when by way of the internal or spiritual man it reaches the external or natural man it is either perverted there, or turned away, or stifled. But when indeed the things that belong to self-love and love of the world are removed, good is received there, and bears fruit there, since the person now performs the works of charity. This may become clear from many considerations, such as this: When the things that belong to the external or natural man are quiescent - as they are in times of ill-fortune, wretchedness, and sickness - a person instantly starts to become spiritually-minded and to will what is good, and also to perform acts of devotion insofar as he is able. But when that state alters, these things are altered too.

[3] In the Ancient Church 'washings' were signs meaning these things, and in the Jewish Church the same were representations. The reason why in the Ancient Church they were meaningful signs but in the Jewish Church representations was that members of the Ancient Church regarded that custom as some external act of worship. Nor did they believe that they were purified by that kind of washing but by a washing away of the filth of the natural man, which, as has been stated, is composed of the things that belong to self-love and love of the world. But the member of the Jewish Church did believe that he was purified by such washing, for he did not know, and did not wish to know, that the purifying of a person's interior self was meant.

[4] That 'washing' means the washing away of that filth is clear in Isaiah,

Wash yourselves; purify yourselves; remove the evil of your doings from before My eyes; cease to do evil. Isaiah 1:16.

Here it is evident that 'washing themselves' means purifying themselves and removing evils. In the same prophet,

When the Lord will have washed the excrement of the daughters of Zion and washed away the blood of Jerusalem from its midst in a spirit of judgement and in a spirit of purging. Isaiah 4:4.

Here 'washing the excrement of the daughters of Zion and washing away the blood of Jerusalem' stands for purifying from evils and falsities. In Jeremiah,

Wash your heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem, that you may be saved. How long will your iniquitous thoughts lodge within you? Jeremiah 4:14.

[5] In Ezekiel,

I washed you with water, and washed away the blood from upon you, and anointed you with oil. Ezekiel 16:9.

This refers to Jerusalem, which is used here to mean the Ancient Church. 'Washing with water' stands for purifying from falsities, 'washing away the blood' for purging from evils, 'anointing with oil' for filling with good at that time. In David,

Wash me from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. You will purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; You will wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Psalms 51:2, 7.

'Being washed' plainly stands for being purified from evils and derivative falsities.

[6] These were the things that were meant by 'washing' in the Representative Church. For the sake of the representation, when they had been made unclean and needed to be cleansed, people were commanded in that Church to wash the skin, hands, feet, and also their garments. All these meant things that belong to the natural man. Also for the sake of the representation, lavers made of bronze were placed outside the Temple - that is to say, 'the bronze sea and the ten bronze lavers' mentioned in 1 Kings 7:23-29; there was also the bronze laver from which Aaron and his sons were to wash themselves, placed between the Tent of Meeting and the Altar, and so outside the Tent of Meeting, Exodus 30:18-19, 21 - the meaning of which was that only external or natural things needed to be purified. And unless they have been purified, that is, unless things belonging to self-love and love of the world have been removed from them, internal things which belong to love to the Lord and towards the neighbour cannot possibly flow in, as stated above.

[7] To enable these matters to be understood more easily, that is to say, regarding the need for external things to be purified, let good works - or what amounts to the same, the goods of charity, which are at the present day called the fruits of faith, and which, since they are actions, are external - serve to exemplify and illustrate the point: Good works are bad works unless the things belonging to self-love and love of the world are removed. For until these have been removed works, when performed, are good to outward appearance but are inwardly bad. They are inwardly bad because they are done either for the sake of reputation, or for financial gain, or for improvement of one's position, or for reward. They are accordingly either merit-seeking or hypocritical, for the things that belong to self-love and love of the world cause those works to be such. But when indeed these evils are removed, works become good, and are the goods of charity. That is to say, they are done regardless of self, the world, reputation, or reward, and so are not merit-seeking or hypocritical, because in that case celestial love and spiritual love flow from the Lord into those works and cause them to be love and charity in action. And at the same time the Lord also purifies the natural or external man by means of those things and orders it so that that man receives correspondingly the celestial and spiritual things that flow in.

[8] This becomes quite clear from what the Lord taught when He washed the disciples' feet: In John,

He came to Simon Peter, who said to Him, Lord, do You wash my feet? Jesus answered and said to him, What I am doing you do not know now, but you will know afterwards. Peter said to Him, You will never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me. Simon Peter said to Him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and head! Jesus said to him, He who is washed has no need except that his feet be washed, but is clean all over. Now you are clean, but not all of you. John 13:4-17.

'He who is washed has no need except that his feet be washed' means that anyone who has been reformed needs to be cleansed only in regard to natural things, that is, to have evils and falsities removed from them. For when that happens all is ordered by the influx of spiritual things from the Lord. Furthermore 'feet-washing' was an act of charity, meaning that one ought not to dwell on the evils of another person. It was also an act of humility, meaning the cleansing of another from evils, like filth from the body, as also becomes clear from the Lord's words in verses 12-17 of that chapter in John, and also in Luke 7:37-38, 44, 46; John 11:2; 1 Samuel 25:41.

[9] Anyone may see that washing himself does not purify a person from evils and falsities, only from the filth that clings to him. Yet because it belonged among the religious observances commanded in the Church it follows that it embodies some special idea, namely spiritual washing, which is purification from the filth that clings to man inwardly. Members of that Church therefore who knew these things and thought of purification of the heart, that is, the removal of the evils of self-love and love of the world from the natural man, and tried to achieve it with utmost zeal, practiced ritual washing as an external act of worship, as commanded. But among those who did not know and did not wish to know those things but who supposed that the mere ritual act of washing garments, skin, hands, and feet would purify them, and who supposed that provided they performed such rituals they would be allowed to continue leading lives of avarice, hatred, revenge, mercilessness, and cruelty - all of which constitute spiritual filth - the performance of the ritual was idolatrous. Nevertheless by means of that ritual they were still able to represent, and by means of the representation to display, some vestige of a Church, by means of which heaven was in a way joined to mankind prior to the Lord's Coming. But that conjunction was such that heaven had little or no influence at all on the member of that Church.

[10] The Jews and Israelites were such that they did not think at all of the internal man, nor did they wish to know anything about the same. Thus they knew absolutely nothing about the celestial and spiritual things which belong to the life after death. Nevertheless to prevent the end of all communication with heaven and so with the Lord, they were bound to the performance of external observances by which internal things were meant. All their captivities and plagues were in general to the end that external observances might be duly carried out for the sake of the representation. It was for this reason that the following laws were given:

Moses was to wash Aaron and his sons with water at the tent door, to sanctify them. Exodus 29:4; 40:12; Leviticus 8:6.

Aaron and his sons were to wash their hands and feet before entering the Tent of Meeting and approaching the Altar to minister, lest they died. This was to them a statute for ever. Exodus 30:18-21; 40:30-31.

Before putting on his vestments Aaron was to wash his flesh. Leviticus 16:4, 24.

Levites were to be purified by sprinkling the water of expiation over them, passing a razor over their flesh, and washing their clothes - then they were pure. Numbers 8:6-7.

Anyone who ate the carcass of a clean animal, ¹ or that which had been torn to pieces, was to wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, and if he did not wash himself and bathe his flesh he would bear his iniquity. Leviticus 17:15-16.

Anyone who touched the bed of a person who had a discharge, or sat on a vessel on which that person had sat, and anyone who touched that person's flesh was to wash his clothes and to bathe himself with water, and be unclean until the evening. Leviticus 15:5-7, 10-12 and following verses.

The person who sent the goat away to Azazel was to wash his flesh. Leviticus 16:26.

When a leper was to be cleansed he was to wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, wash himself in water, and then he would be clean. Leviticus 14:8-9.

Even vessels themselves which had become unclean through contact with unclean persons were made to go through water and be unclean until the evening. Leviticus 11:32.

From all these laws it may be seen that nobody was made clean or pure internally through ritual washing, but that such a person merely represented him who was pure or spiritually clean, for the reason stated above. The Lord teaches the same quite explicitly in Matthew 15:1-20; Mark 7:1-23.

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