632. And the holy city shall they trample down, signifies that they will destroy all the doctrine of good and truth from the Word. This is evident from the signification of "the holy city," as being the doctrine of truth and good from the Word; in the sense of the letter "the holy city" means Jerusalem, which in the Word here and there is called "the holy city;" but "Jerusalem" means the church, and a "city" the doctrine of the church; that a "city" [civitas or urbs] signifies doctrine, see above n. 223; therefore "the holy city" signifies the doctrine of Divine truth, for Divine truth is what is called "holy" in the Word n. 204. This is evident also from the signification of "trampling down," as being to destroy altogether, in particular by means of things sensual and natural, consequently by means of fallacies, which are called the fallacies of the senses, from which when not explained mere falsities spring; such things are signified by "trampling down," because trampling is done by the soles of the feet, and "the soles of the feet" signify the external sensual things of man, and "feet" his natural things. That this signification of "soles" and of "feet" is from correspondence, see above (n. 65, 606; and in the work on Heaven and Hell 96).

[2] It is said that "the nations shall trample down the holy city," because this follows after the words, "The court which is without the temple cast out, for it is given to the nations," and the "court" signifies the external of the Word, of the church, and of worship, and the external of the Word is what is perverted, and thus adulterated and falsified, by the nations, that is, by those who are in evils and falsities. For, as was said in the preceding article, the external of the Word, which is called the sense of its letter, is for children and the simple-minded, and is therefore written according to appearances, thus for those who are sensual and natural; for infants are first sensual, afterwards natural, and when they advance in age they become spiritual. But when a man does not become spiritual, as is the case with all who live in evil, he does not understand the Word spiritually, but only naturally and sensually, and he who so understands the Word perverts it, and explains it according to the falsities of his religion and according to the evils of his life. This is why it is said that "they shall trample it down." Moreover, those who deny and despise the truths of heaven and the church appear in the spiritual world to trample them under the soles of the feet, and this, as was said above, because the external sensual of man corresponds to the soles of the feet, which are what trample down. It is said that the external sensual of man does this, but it is the sensual of those only who are merely sensual, who are such as deny the truths of heaven and the church, and who also believe nothing except what they can see with their eyes and touch with their hands.

[3] "To trample down" is predicated of such in the following passages also. In Luke:

They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem shall finally be trampled down by the nations, until the times of the nations shall be fulfilled (Luke 21:24).

This has a similar signification as the passage in Revelation here explained, that "the court is given to the nations, and the holy city shall they trample down forty-two months;" for "they shall fall by the edge of the sword" signifies that they shall perish by falsities; "they shall be led captive among all nations" signifies that evils will make a prey of the goods and truths of the church; "Jerusalem shall be trampled down" signifies the destruction of the church in respect to doctrine; for "Jerusalem" signifies the church in respect to doctrine; "its being trampled down by the nations" signifies the total destruction of the church by evils of life and falsities of doctrine; "until the time of the nations shall be fulfilled" signifies until evil is consummated (See above, n. 624); this consummation is also signified by the "forty-two months." This, too, like what is said in Revelation, was said by the Lord respecting the time just preceding the Last Judgment.

[4] In Ezekiel:

Is this a small thing to you? Ye feed upon the good pasture, and trample down with your feet the remainder of your pastures; ye drink the sediment of the waters, ye stir up the remainder with your feet; and thus my flock feeds upon what ye have trampled down with your feet, and drink that which is stirred up by your feet (Ezekiel 34:18, 19).

"Good pasture" signifies all that which spiritually nourishes, especially the Word and the knowledges of truth and good therefrom; "to feed upon it and to trample down the remainder with the feet" signifies to so do away with it that it does not appear, and to so destroy it that it is not, and this is done by reasonings from the corporeal-sensual, and from the natural man separated from the spiritual. This therefore is what is meant by "trampling down with the feet;" "the sediment of the waters" signify truths defiled by falsities, for "waters" mean truths, and "to drink thereof" signifies to learn and to receive; "to stir up the remainder of the waters with the feet" signifies to bring nevertheless into confusion by reasonings from the natural man the truths that are not defiled by falsities, "feet" signifying the natural things in man. From this what is signified by "my flock shall drink what is trampled down by the feet, and what is stirred up by the feet," can be seen.

[5] In Daniel:

The he-goat cast the ram to the earth and trampled him down, nor was there anyone to deliver the ram out of his hand; afterwards one horn waxed great from a little one; even to the host of the heavens, and some of the host and of the stars it cast down to the earth and trampled them down (Daniel 8:7, 9, 10).

The "he-goat" here signifies faith separated from charity, and the "ram" signifies faith conjoined to charity, thus charity, the same as the "he-goats and sheep" in Matthew 25:31-46; "the one horn that waxed great from a little one" signifies justification by faith alone; "the host of the heavens" signifies all truths and goods of heaven and the church, and the "stars" signify the knowledges of good and truth; therefore "to trample down the ram" and also "the host of the heavens" signifies to destroy charity utterly, and with it all the truths and goods of heaven and the church, and this by the corporeal-sensual; for they who are in faith separated from charity, that is, who believe that they are saved by faith alone whatever their life may be, become corporeal-sensual, and are consequently in falsities in respect to all things of the Word and of the church; for they have no perception of the Word otherwise than according to the ultimate sense of its letter, seeing nothing interiorly in it; and even if they speak truths from the Word they nevertheless perceive them falsely; therefore this is what is signified by "the he-goat cast down to the earth some of the host of the heavens and some of the stars, and trampled them down." That charity towards the neighbor, that is, the good of life, is in like manner destroyed, is meant by "the he-goat cast the ram to the earth and trampled him down;" for they who are in faith separated from charity, who are meant by the "he-goat," make faith the essential and charity the nonessential, therefore they live for the body and the world, and are solicitous about themselves only, and not at all about the neighbor; and those who do this cast charity (which is meant by the "ram, ") to the earth and trample it down.

[6] In Luke:

Some seed fell upon the way and was trampled down, or the fowls of heaven devoured it (Luke 8:5).

"Seed" signifies Divine truth, or the truth of the Word; "to fall upon the way and be trampled down" signifies to be received only by the corporeal-sensual, and not interiorly; for that which is received in the spirit and in the heart is meant by "the seed that fell into the good earth." "The fowls of heaven that devoured it" signify falsities, for all evils and falsities therefrom have their seat in the corporeal-sensual, consequently unless a man becomes spiritual, and thinks from what is spiritual, he thinks nothing but falsities from evil. (What the corporeal-sensual is, and what sensual men are, see in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 50, also above, (n. 342, 543, 550, 552, 554, 556, 559, 563, 569, 570, 580)

[7] In Isaiah:

I will make known to you what I will do to My vineyard; in taking away its hedge that it may be eaten up, and in breaking down its wall that it may be trampled down (Isaiah 5:5).

"Vineyard" here signifies the Lord's church, which is called a spiritual church; "to take away its hedge, and break down its wall," signifies to falsify and thus destroy the truths that defend the church; "the hedge and the wall about the vineyard" have a similar signification as "the wall and the bulwarks about Jerusalem;" "to eat up and trample down the vineyard" signifies to lay waste the church, so that no truth and good can spring up, and thus to destroy it.

[8] In Jeremiah:

Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard, they have trampled down My field, they have made the field of desire a wilderness of solitude (Jeremiah 12:10).

Here, too, the "vineyard," like "field," signifies the Lord's church; "to destroy," "to trample down," and "to make a wilderness of solitude" signifies to so destroy that nothing of the good and truth of the church remains. In Isaiah:

Our enemies have trampled down our ¹ sanctuary (Isaiah 63:18).

"Enemies" signify the evils of life; "to trample down the sanctuary" signifies to destroy the truths of doctrine from the Word, and this also by means of the corporeal-sensual, for all who are in evils of life are corporeal-sensual.

[9] In David:

The enemy pursueth my soul and overtaketh it, and trampleth down my life to the earth, and maketh my glory to dwell in the dust (Psalms 7:5).

Here, too, "enemy" signifies evil, in general the devil, that is, hell, from which evil comes; and "to trample down the life to the earth and make glory to dwell in the dust" signifies to destroy by means of the corporeal-sensual all truths of heaven and the church; for these constitute spiritual life, and are signified by "glory;" "dust," too, is predicated of the corporeal-sensual, and this is also meant by "walking upon the belly and eating dust," as is here and there said of the serpent.

[10] "To trample down" has a similar signification in the following passages. In Isaiah:

I will make the hypocritical nation to be trampled down like the clay of the streets (Isaiah 10:6).

In Micah:

The enemy of Jehovah shall be for a trampling down like the mire of the streets (Mic. Micah 7:10).

In Zechariah:

They shall be as the mighty ones trampling down the mire of the streets in the war, and they shall fight because Jehovah is with them, and they shall make ashamed them that ride upon horses (Zechariah 10:5).

In Malachi:

Then thou shalt ² trample down the wicked, and they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet, in the day that I am making (Malachi 4:3).

In Isaiah:

The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, they shall be trampled down under the feet (Isaiah 28:3).

In the same:

I have trampled down the peoples in My anger, and made them drunk in My wrath, and I have made their victory to descend to the earth (Isaiah 63:6).

In David:

Through Thee will we push down our adversaries; in Thy name will we trample them down that rise up against us (Psalms 44:5).

In the same:

God will trample down our adversaries (Psalms 60:12; 108:13).

"To trample down" in these passages also signifies to destroy, which is done by those who are corporeal-sensual, for those who are such "trample down" all things of heaven and the church, for they are in what is lowest, and their thoughts cannot be elevated by the Lord, for they themselves let them down to the earth, and there they lick the dust. Such are all those that deny the Divine. For all the evils that a man has from birth have their seat in his natural and in his corporeal-sensual; consequently unless he suffers himself to be elevated out of them by the Lord, which is effected by Divine means, which are the truths and goods of faith and love, or by the truths and goods of doctrine and life, he remains in his evils, which are implanted in his natural and in his corporeal-sensual, and then he tramples down the celestial and spiritual things belonging to heaven and the church.

[11] "To tread upon the lion, the adder, serpents, and scorpions," means not only to destroy the evils and falsities that are signified by these, but also not to be hurt by them; this is meant in David:

Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder, the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample down (Psalms 91:13).

In Luke:

Behold I give you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, that nothing may by any means hurt you (Luke 10:19).

This is so said in the Word because those who are in the hells appear before the eyes of good spirits and angels sometimes in the forms of various beasts and serpents, according to the kind of evil and of falsity therefrom in which they are; their thoughts themselves, when they go forth from the intention of their will, present such appearances. Exhalations from their evils and falsities continually breathe forth through the lands that are over these hells, or by which these hells are covered; so that to walk upon such places is dangerous to those who are only natural, and still more to those who are corporeal-sensual; for an exhalation arises therefrom, and a contagion affects those who walk there. But those who are led by the Lord may safely tread upon that earth without infection or infestation, because the interiors that are of their mind, or of their thought and affection, are elevated by the Lord above their corporeal-sensual, which corresponds to the soles of the feet. This makes clear what is meant, in a strict sense, by "treading upon the lion, the adder, the serpents, and the scorpions without being hurt by them," also why it is so said in the Word. But what is signified by a "lion" and by "serpents and scorpions" has been told and shown elsewhere.

Примітки:

2180. 'And took a young bull, tender and good' means a celestial-natural which the rational took to itself in order that it might join itself to perception from the Divine. This is clear from the meaning of 'a young bull' or 'a son of an ox' in the Word as natural good. And because the subject is the Lord's Rational, it is called 'tender' from the celestial-spiritual, which is truth grounded in good, and 'good' from the celestial itself, which is good itself. Within the genuine rational there is both the affection for truth and the affection for good, but that which is first and foremost there is the affection for truth, as shown already in 2072. This explains why 'tender' is mentioned before 'good'; but even so, as is quite usual in the Word, both are mentioned on account of the marriage of truth and good which is referred to above in 2173.

[2] That 'a young bull' or 'a son of an ox' means the celestial-natural, or what amounts to the same, natural good, becomes especially clear from the sacrifices, which were the principal representatives in the worship of the Hebrew Church and after this of the Jewish Church. Their sacrifices were made either from the herd or from the flock, thus from animals of various kinds that were clean, such as oxen, young bulls, he-goats, sheep, rams, she-goats, kids, and lambs, besides doves and fledgling pigeons. All of these creatures meant the internal features of worship, that is, celestial and spiritual things, 2165, 2177, those from the herd meaning celestial-natural, those from the flock celestial-rational. Because both of these - natural things and rational things - are more and more interior and are various, so many genera and so many species of these creatures were therefore employed in sacrifices. This fact becomes clear also from its being laid down as to which creatures were to be offered in burnt offerings and also which in every kind of sacrifice - the daily sacrifices; those offered on sabbaths and at festivals; those made as free-will, eucharistic, or votive offerings; and those offered in purifications, cleansings, and also in inaugurations. Which creatures were to be used, and how many, in each kind of sacrifice is mentioned explicitly. This would never have been done unless each one had had some specific meaning, as is quite evident from those places where the sacrifices are the subject, as in Chapter 29 of Exodus; Chapters 1, 3, 4, 9, 16, and 23 of Leviticus; and Chapters 7, 8, 15, and 29 of Numbers. But this is not the place to explain what each one meant. The situation is similar in the Prophets where those animals are mentioned, from which it may become clear that young bulls meant celestial-natural things.

[3] That none but heavenly things were meant becomes clear also from the cherubim seen by Ezekiel and from the living creatures before the throne which were seen by John. Regarding the cherubim the prophet says,

The likeness of their faces was the face of a man (homo); and they four had the face of a lion on the right side; and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; and they four had the face of an eagle. Ezekiel 1:10.

Regarding the four living creatures before the throne John says,

Around the throne were four living creatures - the first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a young bull, the third living creature had a face like a man (homo), the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle - saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come. Revelation 4:7-8.

Anyone may see that holy things were represented by the cherubim and these living creatures, thus also by the oxen and young bulls in the sacrifices. The same applies in the prophecy of Moses concerning Joseph,

Let it come upon the head of Joseph and upon the crown of the head of the Nazirite among his brothers. The firstborn of his ox has honour, and his horns are the horns of a unicorn; with these he will thrust the peoples together, to the ends of the earth. Deuteronomy 33:16-17.

These words are not intelligible to anyone unless he knows what ox, unicorn, horns, and many other things mean in the internal sense.

[4] As for sacrifices in general they were indeed commanded to the Israelites through Moses. But the Most Ancient Church which existed before the Flood never knew anything at all about sacrifices, nor did it ever enter their minds to worship the Lord by the slaughtering of animals. The Ancient Church which existed after the Flood knew nothing about it either. Representatives did indeed exist there, but not sacrifices. These were first introduced in the subsequent Church called the Hebrew Church, and from there they spread to the gentile nations, and even to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and so to Jacob's descendants. The fact that the gentile nations had sacrificial worship has been shown in 1343, and the fact that Jacob's descendants also had such worship before they left Egypt, thus before sacrifices were commanded through Moses on Mount Sinai, becomes clear from Exodus 5:3; 10:25, 27; 18:12; 24:4-5.

[5] This is especially clear from their idolatrous worship in front of the golden calf, regarding which the following is said in Moses,

Aaron built an altar in front of the calf, and Aaron made a proclamation and said, Tomorrow there will be a feast to Jehovah. And they rose up early the next morning and presented burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Exodus 32:5-6.

This happened while Moses was on Mount Sinai, and so before the command came to them regarding the altar and the sacrifices. That command came to them for the reason that sacrificial worship among them had been turned, as it had among the gentiles, into idolatrous worship, from which they could not be drawn away because they looked upon it as-the chief holy thing. Once something has been implanted in people from their earliest years as being holy, the more so if received from their fathers, and thus is inrooted, the Lord in no way breaks it - provided it is not contrary to order itself - but bends it. This was the reason for its being laid down that the sacrificial system should be established, such as one reads in the books of Moses.

[6] The fact that sacrifices were by no means acceptable to Jehovah, and so were merely permitted and tolerated for the reason just stated, is quite evident in the Prophets. Concerning them the following is said in Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah Zebaoth, the God of Israel, Add your burnt offerings on to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. I did not speak with your fathers and I did not command them on the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt on the matters of burnt offering and sacrifice. But this matter I commanded them, saying, Obey My voice, and I will be your God. Jeremiah 7:21-23.

In David,

O Jehovah, sacrifice and offering You have not desired; burnt offering and sin-sacrifices You have not sought. I have delighted to do Your will, O my God. Psalms 40:6, 8.

In the same author,

You do not delight in sacrifice that I should give it; burnt offering You do not accept. The sacrifices of God are a contrite spirit. Psalms 51:16-17.

In the same author,

I will not take any young bull from your house, nor he-goats from your folds. Sacrifice to God confession. Psalms 50:9, 14; 107:21-22; 116:17; Deuteronomy 23:18.

In Hosea,

I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. Hosea 6:6.

Samuel said to Saul,

Has Jehovah great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices? Behold, to be submissive is better than sacrifice, to be obedient than the fat of rams. - 1 Samuel 15:22.

In Micah,

With what shall I come before Jehovah and bow myself to God on high? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams, with tens of thousands of rivers of oil? He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does Jehovah require of you but to carry out judgement, and to love mercy, and to humble yourself by walking with your God? Micah 6:6-8.

[7] From these quotations it is now evident that sacrifices were not commanded but permitted, and also that in sacrifices nothing else was regarded except that which was internal, and that it was that which was internal that was pleasing, not that which was external. For this reason also the Lord abolished them, as was also foretold through Daniel in the following words when he was speaking about the Lord's Coming,

In the middle of the week He will cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease. Daniel 9:27.

See what has been stated about sacrifices in Volume One, in 922, 923, 1128, 1823. As for 'the young bull' which Abraham made ready or prepared for the three men, the meaning is similar to that of the same animals when used in sacrifices. That it had a similar meaning becomes clear also from the fact that he told Sarah to take three measures of fine flour. Regarding the fine flour that went with the offering of a young bull the following is said in Moses - referring to when they were to come into the land,

When you make ready a young bull for a burnt offering or a sacrifice in the declaring of a vow, or for peace offerings to Jehovah, you shall bring with the young bull a minchah of three tenths of fine flour mixed with oil. Numbers 15:8-9.

Here similarly the number 'three' appears, though three 'tenths' here but three 'measures' in Abraham's instruction to Sarah. But only two tenths went with the offering of a ram, one tenth with that of a lamb, Numbers 15:4-6.