9230. 'And you shall not eat flesh torn in the field' means that falsified good of faith must not be joined [to oneself]. This is clear from the meaning of 'flesh' as good, dealt with in 7850, 9127; from the meaning of 'the field' as the Church in respect of good, thus the Church's good, dealt with in 2971, 3766, 7502, 7571, 9139, 9141; from the meaning of 'torn' as something destroyed by falsities, thus also something falsified, dealt with in 5828; and from the meaning of 'eating' as making one's own and joining [to oneself], dealt with in 2187, 3168, 3513 (end), 3596, 4745, 5643, 8001. From these meanings it is evident that 'you shall not eat flesh torn in the field' means that the Church's good, or the good of faith, if it has been falsified, is not to be made one's own or joined [to oneself].

[2] A brief statement must be made here about what the good of faith is and what the truth of faith is. The good of faith is a term that denotes everything of the Church that has to do with life and service inspired by teachings of the Church that compose its faith, in short, everything that has to do with willing those things and doing them in a spirit of obedience; for the Church's truths of faith become, through people's willing them and doing them, forms of good. But the truth of faith is a term that denotes everything which does not as yet have useful service as its end in view or does not exist for the sake of its use in life. Consequently it is something a person comes to know and retain in the memory, then grasps with his understanding, and goes on to teach. As long as the Church's truths go no further than the understanding they are merely items of knowledge and known facts, and in contrast to forms of good stand outside the person himself. For the human memory and understanding are like the hall outside a room, and the will is so to speak the actual room, the will being the person himself. This shows what the truth of faith is and what the good of faith is. But the good that a person does in the first state, while he is being regenerated, is called the good of faith, whereas the good that he does in the second state, which is when he has been regenerated, is called the good of charity. When therefore a person doing good is governed by the good of faith, he does good in a spirit of obedience; but when someone doing good is governed by the good of charity, he does good out of affection. Regarding those two states with a person who is being regenerated, see 7923, 7992, 8505, 8506, 8510, 8512, 8516, 8643, 8648, 8658, 8685, 8690, 8701, 9224, 9227.

9141. 'And causing devastation in another's field' means consuming interconnected forms of good. This is clear from the meaning of 'devastating' as a stripping away, thus a consuming, by evil desires, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'in another's field' as interconnected forms of good. 'Field' means the Church, and the crop in the field means forms of good, 9139, so that the crop 'in another's field' means forms of good which are adjacent and interconnected with one another. For the forms of good present with a person are like generations on earth, and therefore stand at different distances from one another and vary in their interconnections, 9079. Those that are not in the same household or together in the same family, but are nevertheless related, are what 'being in another's field' is used to mean.

[2] The reason why 'devastating' means a stripping away, and so a consuming, by evil desires is that the proper meaning of the actual word used in the original language to denote 'devastating' is setting alight and burning, and so also feeding on and consuming. And since this is what the word is derived from, 'causing devastation' here means consuming, which is done by evil desires; for evil desires in a person are consuming fires. There is present in everyone the fire of life and the light of life; the fire of life is his love, and the light of life is his belief. The love of good, that is, love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour, compose the fire of life in a good person and in an angel of heaven, and the love of truth and belief in truth compose the light of life in them. But the love of evil, that is, self-love and love of the world, compose the fire of life in a bad person and in a spirit in hell, and the love of falsity and belief in falsity compose the inferior light of life in them. In the Word however the love of evil is called a burning fire, because it burns up and consumes those things that are forms of the love of good and truth. For this meaning of a burning fire, see 1297, 1861, 5215, 9055.

[3] The fact that a consuming by evil desires is meant by the actual word used in the original language is evident from the following places: In Isaiah,

Jehovah will enter into judgement with the elders of His people and with their princes. You have consumed (set alight) the vineyard. Isaiah 3:14.

In the same prophet,

The breath of Jehovah like a river of brimstone consumes it (sets it on fire). Isaiah 30:33.

'A river of brimstone' means falsities streaming from the evils of self-love and love of the world, 2446.

[4] In Ezekiel,

The inhabitants of the cities of Israel will go out, and they will set alight and burn the weapons, both shield and buckler, together with bow and arrows, and hand-staff, and spear; they will set fire to them for seven years, that they may not bring wood from the field nor cut down any from the forests. Ezekiel 39:9-10.

This serves to describe the consumption and devastation of good and truth by evil desires. But is anyone going to recognize this unless he knows what is meant by the inhabitants of the cities of Israel, also what is meant by weapons, shield, buckler, bow and arrows, by hand-staff and spear, by seven years, and by wood from the field and from the forests? 'The inhabitants' are forms of good, see 2268, 2451, 2712; 'the cities' are truths, and therefore matters of doctrine drawn from the Word, 2268, 2449, 2943, 3216, 4492; and 'Israel' is the Church, 4286, 6426, 6637. Therefore 'the inhabitants of the cities of Israel' are forms of good that belong to matters of doctrine taught by the Church, and in the contrary sense these things when they have been turned into evils and falsities. 'Shield', 'buckler', and 'the bow's arrows' are truths belonging to religious teachings drawn from the Word, which serve to protect against falsities arising from evil, 2686, 2709, 6422. 'Hand-staff' is the power of truth derived from good, 4876, 7026; ¹ and 'spear' in like manner means power, though that which is more internal. 'Seven years' is a complete state, thus to completeness, 6508, 8976, so that 'setting fire to for seven years' is a complete consumption by evil desires. 'Wood from the field' is the Church's more internal forms of good, 3720, 8354, 'the field' being the Church, 2971, 3766, 7502, 7571; and 'wood from the forests' is more external forms of good, 3220, 9011 (end). When aware of all this a person can then know that these words spoken by the prophet describe the consuming of all things of the Church by evil desires, until none at all of the internal or of the external Church's good or truth is left, meant by 'they will set fire to them for seven years, that they may not bring wood from the field nor cut down any from the forests'.

[5] A further use of the same word to describe the consumption of the Church's good and truth occurs in Malachi,

Behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, in which all who are sinning insolently, and everyone who performs wickedness, will be stubble; and the day that is coming will consume (set fire to) them, said Jehovah Zebaoth, who will leave them neither root nor branch. Malachi 4:1.

'The day that is coming' is the final period of the Church, when self-love and love of the world are going to reign and to consume all the Church's truths and forms of good, until none at all is left in a person inwardly or outwardly. These things are meant by the statement that 'He will leave them neither root nor branch'; 'the root' of good and truth exists in a person inwardly, and 'the branch' in him outwardly. From all this it is now evident that 'devastating' means a consuming by evil desires, in the same way as it does elsewhere in the Word.

脚注: