7442. 'And the houses of the Egyptians will be full of the noxious flying insects, and also the land on which they are' means that malevolent falsities will take possession of everything in the natural mind. This is clear from the meaning of 'filling' as taking possession of; from the meaning of 'the houses of the Egyptians' as the interior parts of the natural mind, dealt with above in 7407; from the meaning of 'noxious flying insects' as malevolent falsities, dealt with immediately above in 7441; and from the meaning of 'the land of Egypt' as the natural mind in general, dealt with in 5276, 5178, 5180, 5288, 5301.

[2] A brief statement needs to be made about what is implied in the meaning here - by the idea that even the interior parts of the natural mind will be taken possession of by the falsities arising from evil which are present in the outermost parts of that mind. What a person has flowing into him from the Lord by way of heaven flows into the interior parts of him, and then spreads right down to the lowest or outermost levels, where he becomes conscious of it. Consequently it comes right down into the level of the senses, and through this into parts of the body. If the level of the senses is filled with mistaken ideas based on illusions and appearances, and especially if they are based on falsities, the truths that flow in are turned there into similar ideas, since they are received there in accordance with the form imposed on them, see 7743. Also to the extent that truths are turned into falsities the interior parts of the mind serving as channels for the passage of truths are closed. Eventually the opening is only just large enough for the smallest amount of influx that the person needs to engage in reasoning and to use falsities to justify evils.

[3] This being the situation with a person, it is necessary when he is being regenerated for his natural to be regenerated right down to the sensory level. For unless that level is regenerated no reception of truth and good takes place, because - as stated above - truth that is flowing in is perverted there and the interiors parts are in those circumstances closed. Consequently when the exterior parts have been regenerated the whole person has been regenerated. This was what the Lord meant by His words to Peter when He washed his feet, in John,

Simon Peter said, Lord, You are not to wash my feet only, but also my hands and head. Jesus said to him, He who has been washed has no need except to wash his feet, and the whole person is clean. John 13:9-10.

'Feet' means the parts forming the natural, 2162, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952; 'washing' means purifying, 3147, 5954 (end); 'hands' means the interior parts of the natural; and 'head' means the parts forming the spiritual. These meanings show what precisely one should understand by 'he who has been washed has no need except to wash his feet, and the whole person is clean' - that a person has been regenerated when even the exterior parts forming the natural have been regenerated. When therefore a person has had even his natural regenerated everything on that level is subordinated to more internal levels. And when the contents of the more internal levels enter they flow into images on that level which serve as the general vessels to contain them, and through those images the person is made conscious of them. When this is the situation with a person, he has conscious feelings of an affection for the truth of faith and of an affection for the good of charity.

[4] But it is difficult for the actual level of the senses, which is the lowest of the natural, to be regenerated, because it is completely filled with material ideas formed from earthly, bodily, and worldly things. For this reason a person who is being regenerated, especially at the present day, does not undergo regeneration at the sensory level, only at the natural level immediately above it, to which the Lord raises him from the level of the senses when he thinks about the truths and forms of the good of faith. The ability to be raised from the sensory level is what is imparted to the person who is being regenerated by the Lord. Regarding what the sensory level is like, and the raising of thought above it, see 5084, 5089, 5094, 5125, 5118, 5767, 6183, 6201, 6310, 6311, 6598, 6612, 6614, 6622, 6624, 6844, 6845, 6948.

776. '[Every] bird according to its kind' means all spiritual truth, 'flying things' means natural truth, and 'winged thing' sensory truth. This is clear from what has been stated and shown already about birds, as in 40. The most ancient people likened man's thoughts to birds, for in relation to things of the will, thoughts are like birds. Since bird, flying thing, and winged thing are mentioned here, and come consecutively in the way that intellectual concepts, rational concepts, and sensory impressions do in man, and to prevent anyone doubting that this is what they mean, let other places from the Word of a confirmatory nature be quoted, from which as well it will be evident that 'beasts' means such things as have been stated.

[2] In David,

You have given Him dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under His feet, flocks and all cattle, and also the beasts of the fields, the flying things of the air, ¹ and the fish of the sea. Psalms 8:6-8.

This refers to the Lord, whose dominion over man and over what belongs to man is described in this fashion. If this were not so, what would 'dominion over beasts and birds' really be? In the same author,

Fruit tree and all cedars, wild animal and every beast, creeping thing and flying thing - they shall glorify the name of Jehovah. Psalms 148:9-10, 13.

'Fruit tree' is the celestial man, 'cedar' the spiritual man, 'wild animal and beast and creeping thing' the goods of these kinds of man, as in the present context. 'Flying thing' is their truths from which they are able to glorify the name of Jehovah. This a wild animal, a beast, a creeping thing, or a flying thing can never do. In secular literature such statements can be used as hyperbole, but in the Word of the Lord they are never just hyperbole but meaningful signs and representatives.

[3] In Ezekiel,

They start to tremble before Me - the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, ² and the wild animals of the field, and every creeping thing creeping over the ground, and every man that is on the face ³ of the ground. Ezekiel 38:20.

The fact that 'beasts' and 'birds' here have such meanings is quite clear, for what would Jehovah's glory be if fish, birds, and beasts were to start to tremble? Could anyone think that such utterances are holy if they did not embody holy things within them? In Jeremiah,

I looked, and behold, there was no man; all the birds of the air ² had fled. Jeremiah 4:15.

This stands for all good and truth. Here 'man' stands as well for good that stems from love. In the same prophet,

They have been laid waste so that no man passes through, neither do men hear the voice of the herd. From the birds of the air ² down to beasts, they have scattered, they have gone away. Jeremiah 9:10.

This in a similar way stands for the departure of all truth and good.

[4] In the same prophet,

How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field wither? For the wickedness of those who dwell in it, the beasts and the birds have perished, for men said, He will not see our latter end. Jeremiah 11:4.

Here 'beasts' stands for goods, and 'birds' for truths, which perished. In Zephaniah,

I will consume man and beast, I will consume the birds of the air ² and the fish of the sea, and the stumbling-blocks with the wicked; and I will cut off mankind from the face ⁴ of the ground. Zephaniah 1:3.

Here 'man and beast' stands for the things which belong to love and good deriving from love, 'the birds of the air ² and the fish of the sea' for those which belong to the understanding and so to truth. These are called 'stumbling-blocks' because for wicked people it is goods and truths, not beasts and birds, that are stumbling-blocks. These are also plainly referred to as man's. In David,

The trees of Jehovah are watered abundantly, and the cedars of Lebanon which He planted. In them flying things build their nests. Psalms 104:16-17.

'The trees of Jehovah and the cedars of Lebanon' stands for spiritual man, 'flying things' for his rational or natural truths which are like 'nests'. What is more, 'the birds build nests in the branches' was a common saying by which people meant truths, as in Ezekiel,

[5] On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it, and it will bring forth a branch, and bear fruit, and it will become a noble cedar, and under it will dwell every flying thing of every sort, ⁵ in the shade of its branches they will dwell. Ezekiel 17:23.

This stands for the Church among gentiles which was spiritual and which is 'a noble cedar'. 'Birds of every sort' ⁵ stands for truths of every kind. In the same prophet,

In its branches all the birds of the air ² made their nests, and under its branches every wild animal of the field gave birth, and in its shadow dwelt all great nations. Ezekiel 31:6.

This refers to Asshur, which is the spiritual Church and is called 'a cedar'. 'Birds of the air' ² stands for its truths, 'beasts' for its goods.

[6] In Daniel,

Its branch was fair, and its fruit much, and food for all was on it. The beast of the field had shade under it, and in its branches dwelt the flying things of the air' ¹ Daniel 4:12, 11.

Here 'beast' stands for goods, and 'flying thing of the air' ¹ for truths. This may become clear to anyone, for what else would bird and beast dwelling there really be? The same applies to what the Lord said, The kingdom of God is like a grain of mustard seed, which someone took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a big tree so that the birds of the air ¹ dwelt in its branches. Luke 13:19; Matthew 13:32; Mark 4:32.

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