17
até que lhes falte o pão e a água, e se espantem uns com os outros, e se definhem na sua iniqüidade.
Ezequiel 4:17
Arcana Coelestia #10037
10037. 'And its dung' means all other unclean things. This is clear from the meaning of 'dung' as that which is unclean. 'Dung' means that which is unclean, and therefore means evil and falsity since these in the spiritual sense are the unclean things, because all food that has no use or has served its purpose passes away into dung, and food in the spiritual sense is the truth and good of faith and love, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5576, 5915, 8562, 9003. Therefore also dung and excrement correspond to evils that exist in hell, which in the Word is also called a latrine. Regarding this correspondence, see 954, 2755, 4948, 5394, 5395, 7161.
[2] Consequently such things in the Word mean those which are hellish, as may be recognized from the following places: In Isaiah,
He who remains in Zion, and he who is left in Jerusalem, will be called holy, everyone who has been written for life in Jerusalem, when the Lord will have washed the excrement of the daughters of Zion and washed away the blood 1 of Jerusalem. Isaiah 4:3-4.
'Zion' and 'Jerusalem' mean the Church, 'Zion' the Church among those who are governed by the good of love, and 'Jerusalem' the Church among those who are guided by truths springing from that good. 'Washing the excrement of the daughters of Zion' means purifying from evils those in the Church who are governed by the good of love, while 'washing the blood of Jerusalem' means purifying from falsities of evil those there who are guided by truths.
[3] In Jeremiah,
They will bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and they will spread them out before the sun and the moon, and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served. They will not be gathered nor buried; they will be as dung on the face of the earth. Jeremiah 8:1-2.
These words describe the condition of those who rendered the Church's forms of good and its truths unholy. Their condition at that time was represented by the bringing of the bones out of their tombs. 'The bones of the kings' and 'of the princes' brought out of their tombs mean truths rendered unholy; 'the bones of the priests' and 'of the prophets' mean forms of good rendered unholy. 'Being spread out before the sun and the moon, and all the host of heaven' means being removed from all goodness and truth; 'not being gathered and buried' means not being raised up to life; and 'being dung on the face of the earth' means being nothing but that which is hellish. In the same prophet,
They will die by the deaths of grievous illnesses, so that they are not mourned nor buried; they will become dung on the face of the earth. Jeremiah 16:4; 25:33.
'Becoming dung on the face of the earth' has the same meaning as the words used in the previous quotation.
[4] In Lamentations,
Those who ate delicacies are desolate 2 in the streets; those brought up in purple have embraced dunghills. Lamentations 4:5.
'Those who ate delicacies' means those who have the Word and consequently have cognitions or knowledge of truth; 'those brought up in purple' means those with cognitions of good; and 'embracing dunghills' means learning and choosing falsities instead of those things. In Malachi,
If you will not hear, and if you will not take it to heart, I will send a curse on you, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your feasts. Malachi 2:2-3.
'Spreading dung on their faces' means defiling the more internal things of life with the falsities of evil; '[spreading] the dung of feasts' means defiling the holy things of worship.
[5] In Ezekiel,
The prophet was commanded, Make a barley cake with human dung, for thus will the children of Israel eat their bread unclean. But he said, Ah Lord Jehovih! my soul has not been polluted; abominable flesh has not come into my mouth. Then He answered, I give you excrement of the ox instead of dung of the human being, that you may make your bread with it. For I will cause them to be in want of bread and water, and they will be dismayed with one another 3 , and waste away on account of their iniquity. Ezekiel 4:9-17.
These things represented the character of goodness and truth in the Church of the Jewish nation. 'A barley cake with dung of the human being' means the Church's interior good defiled with the evils of self-love; 'a cake with excrement of the ox' means the Church's external good defiled with the evils of that love. Since those things are meant by 'cake' it says that they would be in want of bread and water and would be dismayed. 'Bread and water' means goodness and truth; 'being in want of them' and 'being dismayed' means being deprived of [them].
[6] Since such things were meant by dung and excrement it is evident what the following words in Moses mean,
There shall be a space outside the camp, where you may go out, and you shall have a spade 4 with which you shall cover your excrement. For Jehovah God will be walking in the midst of your camp, so that your camp may be holy, and so that He may see no indecent thing among you and turn away from you 5 . Deuteronomy 23:12-14.
This command was given because uncleanness was represented by dung. For the camp where the children of Israel were living represented heaven and the Church, in which the Lord is present through faith and love. The place outside the camp therefore represented a place where heaven and the Church did not exist, thus where the Lord was not present through faith and love. This is why it says, 'Jehovah will be walking in the midst of the camp, so that the camp may be holy, and so that He may see no indecent thing and turn away'. 'Indecent thing' means uncleanness that results from evils and falsities. The fact that 'the camp' there meant heaven and the Church, in which the Lord is present, will be seen in what comes next.
Fotnoter:
1. literally, bloods
2. literally, have been laid waste
3. literally, will be desolated by a man and his brother
4. literally, peg or nail
5. literally, may not see in you the nakedness of any thing and turn back from after you
Ezekiel 3
1
Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.
2
So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.
3
And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.
4
And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.
5
For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel;
6
Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee.
7
But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted.
8
Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.
9
As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.
10
Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears.
11
And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.
12
Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place.
13
I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing.
14
So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.
15
Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel-abib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.
16
And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
17
Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
18
When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
19
Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
20
Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
21
Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.
22
And the hand of the LORD was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee.
23
Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell on my face.
24
Then the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house.
25
But thou, O son of man, behold, they shall put bands upon thee, and shall bind thee with them, and thou shalt not go out among them:
26
And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover: for they are a rebellious house.
27
But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.
