9336. By little and little I will drive him out from before thee. That this signifies a removal by degrees according to order, is evident from the signification of “by little and little,” as being by degrees, thus slowly; from the signification of “driving out,” when said of the falsities and evils which are signified by the nations of the land of Canaan, as being removal (of which just above, n. 9333). It is said “by degrees according to order,” because with the man who is being regenerated all things are disposed according to the order of heaven; for the regenerate man is a heaven in the least form, and therefore there is in him an order like that which is in heaven.

[2] When a man is born, in respect to hereditary evils he is a hell in the least form; and he also becomes a hell insofar as he takes the hereditary evils to himself, and adds to them things which are his own. Hence it is that both from birth and from actual life the order of his life is opposite to the order of heaven; for from his own a man loves himself more than the Lord, and the world more than heaven; when yet the life of heaven consists in loving the Lord above all things and the neighbor as oneself. From this it is evident that the former life, which is of hell, must be utterly destroyed (that is to say, the evils and falsities must be removed), in order that the new life, which is the life of heaven, may be implanted (see n. 4551, 4552, 4839, 6068). This cannot possibly be done hastily; for every evil that is rooted in with its falsities has a connection with all evils and their falsities; and such evils and falsities are innumerable, and their connection is so complex that it cannot be comprehended, not even by the angels, but only by the Lord. From this it is evident that the life of hell with a man cannot be destroyed suddenly; for if it were, he would straightway expire; and neither can the life of heaven be implanted suddenly, for if it were, he would also expire.

[3] There are thousands and thousands of arcana, of which scarcely a single one is known to man, whereby a man is led by the Lord out of the life of hell into the life of heaven. That this is so, has been given me to know from heaven, and it has likewise been confirmed by many things which have come to my notice. As man knows scarcely anything of these matters, many have fallen into errors about the liberation of man from evils and falsities (that is, the forgiveness of sins), believing that through mercy the life of hell in a man can be instantly turned into the life of heaven in him; when yet the whole act of regeneration is mercy, and none are regenerated except those who receive the mercy of the Lord in faith and life while in the world; according to the Lord’s words in John:

As many as received, to them gave He the power to be sons of God, even to them that believe in His name; who were born, not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:12-13);

what is meant by “bloods,” by “the will of the flesh,” and “the will of man,” also by being “born of God,” may be seen above (n. 5826).

[4] What is properly meant by removal from evils and falsities by degrees according to order, shall also be briefly stated. The Divine truth which proceeds from the Divine good of the Lord disposes all things into order in heaven; and therefore this Divine truth, in which there is good from the Lord, is order itself (n. 1728, 1919, 2258, 2447, 5703, 6338, 8700, 8988). According to this order all things in heaven come forth, and according to the same order they subsist; for to subsist is perpetually to come forth. In order therefore that heaven may come forth in a man it is necessary that he receive Divine truth in the good proceeding from the Lord. This can only be done by degrees according to an order similar to that by which the Lord sets heaven in order; for the case with a thing of the same nature is the same in what is small as in what is great. This successive setting in order is what is here meant by “order according to degrees.” From all this it is also evident that the case with the new creation of man-which is his regeneration-is the same as with the creation of heaven and earth. Wherefore also in the Word by “a new heaven and a new earth” is meant a new church (n. 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 3355, 4535); and also by the creation of heaven and earth in the first chapter of Genesis is meant the new creation of the celestial church, which is called “Man” (of which see in the explications there).

9333. I will not drive him out from before thee in one year. That this signifies no hasty flight or removal of them, namely, of the falsities and evils which are signified by the nations in the land of Canaan, is evident from the signification of “driving out,” as being flight, for in the other life those who are in evils and falsities are not driven out, but flee of themselves (that removal also is signified will be seen below); and from the signification of “in one year,” as being what is hasty; for the words follow, “by little and little I will drive him out from before thee,” by which is signified removal by degrees according to order.

[2] That when predicated of evils and falsities, “to drive out” denotes removal, is because falsities and evils are not driven out from a man, but are removed. He who does not know how the case is with man’s liberation from evils and falsities, or with the forgiveness of his sins, may believe that sins are wiped away when they are said to be forgiven. This belief comes from the literal sense of the Word, where such an expression is sometimes used, giving rise in the minds of many to the error that after they have received absolution they are righteous and pure. But these people know nothing whatever about the way in which sins are forgiven; namely, that a man is not purified from them; but is withheld from them by the Lord when he is of such a character that he can be kept in good and truth; and that he can be kept in good and truth when he has been regenerated; for he has then acquired a life of the good of charity and the truth of faith. For whatever a man, from his earliest infancy, thinks, wills, speaks, and does, is added to his life and makes it. These things cannot be exterminated, but only removed, and when they are removed, the man appears as if he were devoid of sins, because they have been removed (n. 8393, 8988, 9014). In accordance with the appearance that man thinks and does what is good and true from himself, when yet it is not from himself but from the Lord, it has been said in the Word that he is “clean” from sins, and also “righteous;” as in Isaiah:

Though your sins have been as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they have been red like crimson, they shall be as wool (Isaiah 1:18);

and in many other passages.

[3] That such is the case has been granted me to know from the state of souls in the other life. Everyone brings with him there from the world all things of his life, that is, whatsoever he has thought, wished, spoken, and done; and even whatever he has seen and heard from his infancy down to the end of his life in the world, insomuch that there is not even the smallest thing lacking (n. 2474). Those who in the world have lived a life of faith and charity, can then be withheld from evils and kept in good, and thus be raised into heaven. But those who in the world have not led a life of faith and charity, but a life of the love of self and of the love of the world, sink down into hell, because they cannot be withheld from evils and kept in good. From all this it is evident why, when “driving out” is said in relation to falsities and evils, it denotes removal. In this verse and the next this removal is treated of in the internal sense, and its arcana are there disclosed.