9320. For destroying thou shalt destroy them. That this signifies that evils must be wholly removed, is evident from the signification of “destroying,” when said of the evils and falsities which are signified by the nations of the land of Canaan and by their gods, as being to remove. That “to destroy” denotes to remove, is because those who are in good and truth never destroy those who are in evil and falsity, but only remove them; for the reason that they act from good, and not from evil; and good is from the Lord, who never destroys anyone. But those who are in evil and from it in falsity endeavor to destroy, and as far as they are able do destroy, those who are in good, for the reason that they act from evil. But because they then run counter to the good which is from the Lord, thus counter to the Divine, they destroy themselves, that is, they cast themselves headlong into damnation and into hell. Such is the law of order, as may be seen above (n. 4299, 7643, 7679, 7710, 7926, 7989, 8137, 8146, 8265, 8945, 8946).

[2] That the Israelites and the Jews destroyed the nations of the land of Canaan, was because the former represented spiritual and heavenly things, and the nations infernal and diabolical things, which cannot possibly be together; for they are opposites. The reason why the Israelites were permitted to destroy the nations, was that there was no church among the Israelites, but only the representative of a church, and consequently the Lord was not present with them except representatively (n. 4307); for they were in external things without anything internal; that is, they were in a worship representative of good and truth, but not in good and truth. Such people are permitted to destroy, to kill, to exterminate, and to devote to destruction; but this is not permitted to those who are in external things and at the same time in internal things, because these people must act from good, and good is from the Lord.

[3] That the Jews and Israelites were of such a character is openly declared by Moses:

Speak not thou in thine heart, after that Jehovah thy God hath thrust the nations out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness Jehovah hath brought me in to possess this land. Not for thy righteousness, and for the uprightness of thine heart; for thou art a stiffnecked people (Deuteronomy 9:4-6).

They are a nation ruined in counsels, neither is there any understanding in them. Their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of gall; their clusters of bitterness; their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel gall of asps. Is not this hidden away with Me, sealed up in My treasuries (Deuteronomy 32:28, 32-34);

in the internal sense “a vine” signifies the church (n. 1069, 5113, 6375, 6376, 9277); “grapes,” and “clusters,” signify the internal and external goods of that church (n. 1071, 5117, 6378); and “wine” signifies the internal truth of that church (n. 1071, 1798, 6377). From this it is plain what is signified by “their vine being of the vine of Sodom and of the fields of Gomorrah,” “their grapes, grapes of gall, and their clusters of bitterness,” and “their wine the poison of dragons and the cruel gall of asps.” That these things are known to Jehovah, that is, to the Lord, is signified by its being “hidden away with Him, and sealed up in His treasuries.”

[4] In John:

Jesus said to the Jews, Ye are of your father the devil, and the desire of your father ye will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44).

Consequently they are called “a depraved and adulterous generation” (Matthew 12:39); and also “an offspring of vipers” (Matthew 3:7; 12:34; 23:33; Luke 3:7). That such was their nature was also described by the Lord in parables (Matthew 21:33-45; Mark 12:1-9; Luke 14:16-24; 20:9-19). (That that nation was the worst of all; that when in worship they were in external things without any internal; that there was no church among them, but only the representative of a church; and that nevertheless they could represent the internal things of the church, see n. 3398, 3479, 3480, 3732, 3881, 4208, 4281, 4288-4290, 4293, 4307, 4314, 4316, 4317, 4429, 4433, 4444, 4500, 4503, 4680, 4815, 4818, 4820, 4825, 4832, 4837, 4844, 4847, 4865, 4868, 4874, 4899, 4903, 4911-4913, 5057, 5998, 6304, 6832, 6877, 7048, 7051, 7248, 7401, 7439, 8301, 8588, 8788, 8806, 8814, 8819, 8871, 8882, 9284)

4299. For I have seen God faces to faces, and my soul is delivered. That this signifies that He endured the most grievous temptations as if they were from the Divine, is evident from the signification of “seeing God,” as being an approach to Him through things interior, namely, goods and truths, hence denoting presence (see n. 4198); and from the signification of “faces,” as being things interior (n. 1999, 2434, 3527, 3573, 4066), consequently the thoughts and affections, for thoughts and affections are interior things, because they are of the animus and of the mind, and manifest themselves in the face; and from the signification of “my soul is delivered,” as being to endure, namely, the Divine presence. That by all these things is signified that He endured the most grievous temptations as if they were from the Divine, cannot appear except from the causes of temptations both proximate and remote. The proximate causes are the evils and falsities in the man, which lead him into temptations, consequently the evil spirits and genii who pour them in (n. 4249). Nevertheless no one can be tempted (that is, undergo any spiritual temptation) except him who has conscience; for spiritual temptation is nothing else than torment of conscience; and consequently none can be tempted except those who are in celestial and spiritual good, for these have conscience, and all others have not, and do not even know what conscience is.

[2] Conscience is a new will and a new understanding from the Lord; thus it is the Lord’s presence in a man; and this the nearer, in proportion as the man is in the affection of good or of truth. If the Lord’s presence is nearer than in proportion as the man is in the affection of good or of truth, the man comes into temptation. The reason is that the evils and falsities which are in the man, tempered by the goods and truths that are in him, cannot endure a nearer presence. This may be seen from the things that take place in the other life: that evil spirits cannot possibly approach any heavenly society without beginning to feel anguish and torment; also that evil spirits cannot endure to have angels look upon them, for they are instantly tortured and fall into a swoon; and also from the fact that hell is remote from heaven, for the reason that it cannot endure heaven, that is, the Lord’s presence which is in heaven. This is the reason why it is said of such in the Word:

Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall upon us; and to the hills, Hide us (Luke 23:30).

And elsewhere:

They shall say to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall down upon us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth upon the throne (Revelation 6:16).

Moreover the foggy and pitch-dark sphere which exhales from the evils and falsities of those who are in hell appears like a mountain or rock, under which they are hidden (see n. 1265, 1267, 1270).

[3] From all this it can now be known that the words, “I have seen God faces to faces, and my soul is delivered,” signify the most grievous temptations as if they were from the Divine. Temptations and torments appear as if from the Divine, because, as before said, they come forth through the Lord’s Divine presence; but still they are not from the Divine, or from the Lord, but from the evils and falsities which are in him who is being tempted or tormented. For from the Lord nothing proceeds but the Holy which is good and true and merciful. This Holy, which is good and true and merciful, is what those who are in evils and falsities cannot endure, because they are opposites or contraries. Evils, falsities, and unmercifulness are continually intent upon doing violence to these holy things; and insofar as they assault them, so far they are tormented; and when they assault them, and are consequently tormented, they suppose that it is the Divine which torments them. These things are what are meant by the words “as if they were from the Divine.”

[4] That no one can see Jehovah face to face, and live, was known to the ancients, and this knowledge was handed down from them to the posterity of Jacob; for which reason they rejoiced so greatly when they saw an angel and yet lived. As in the book of Judges:

Gideon saw that he was the angel of Jehovah; and therefore Gideon said, Lord Jehovih! Forasmuch as I have seen the angel of Jehovah face to face. And Jehovah said unto him, Peace be unto thee, fear not, thou shalt not die (Judg. 6:22-23).

In the same book:

Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God (Judg. 13:22).

And in Moses:

Jehovah said unto Moses, Thou canst not see My faces, for man shall not see Me, and live (Exodus 33:20).

[5] When it is said of Moses that he spoke with Jehovah face to face (Exodus 33:11), and that Jehovah knew him face to face (Deuteronomy 34:10), the meaning is that Jehovah appeared to him in a human form adapted to his reception, which was external, namely, as an old man with a beard, sitting with him—as I have been instructed by the angels. It was from this also that the Jews had no other idea of Jehovah than as of a very old man, with a long and snowy beard, who could do greater miracles than other gods. Not that they accounted Him the most holy, for what holiness was they did not know; still less that they could by any possibility see the Holy that proceeds from Him, because they were in bodily and earthly love, without any holy internal (n. 4289, 4293).