9182. 'When a man persuades a virgin who is not betrothed' means good that has not been joined to truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'persuading', when said in reference to a man and a virgin, as his enticing her to be joined to him; from the meaning of 'a man' as truth, dealt with in 3134, 7716, 9007; from the meaning of 'a virgin' as the Church in respect of good, dealt with in 3081, 4638, thus the good which the Church is; and from the meaning of 'being betrothed' as being joined to. Something brief must be stated here about the law regarding a wrongful joining together, which is the subject at present - about where the cause and origin of that law lie. The cause of all the laws laid down for the children of Israel lies in heaven; and the laws of order there are the origin from which they spring. The laws of order in heaven all spring from Divine Truth and Goodness which emanate from the Lord, and therefore are laws concerning the good of love and the truth of faith. Goodness and truth joined together in heaven is called the heavenly marriage; and this marriage is represented in marriages on earth. It is also meant in the Word by marriages. From this one can see what is implied by wrongful joinings together, and also by cases of whoredom or adultery. The present two verses deal with a wrongful joining together which later on is either made rightful or else dissolved. A wrongful joining together which later on is made rightful is the subject in the present verse, and a wrongful joining together which later on is dissolved is the subject in the next.

[2] A wrongful joining together is one that takes place not as a result of a desire for marriage, but as a result of some other desire, such as an interest in good looks, monetary gain, or personal status, or else it is one that takes place as a result of sexual lust. Any such joining together is wrongful initially; it is wrongful because they are external attractions that draw the two people together and not at the same time internal ones. Nevertheless those external attractions may subsequently serve as the means towards a rightful joining together, which takes place when the two people are of one mind. They may also be the means of preventing a subsequent joining together from taking place if the two people are not of one mind. This is a matter commonly known in the world.

[3] A rightful joining together, which is a joining of minds, takes place when similar goodness and similar truth exist with both persons; for goodness and truth constitute a person's life, goodness and truth on the level of private and public behaviour constituting the life of the external man, and goodness and truth on a spiritual level constituting the life of the internal man. It should be recognized that a person's life springs from no other source than goodness and truth; for everything the person loves is called good, and everything the person believes is called truth. Or what amounts to the same thing, everything the person wills is called good, and everything the person understands is called truth. From this it is evident that a rightful joining together takes place when truth exists with one person in a marriage and the good which complements that truth exists in the other person. For when this is their relationship the heavenly marriage, which is a marriage of goodness and truth, is represented in the two of them. So it is that conjugial love descends from that marriage, see 2727-2759, 2803, 3132, 4434, 4835.

[4] From all this, mentioned by way of introduction, anyone may recognize the nature of the joinings together dealt with in the present verse and the one following. Betrothal before marriage has been a custom since ancient times; it represented a first joining together, which is that of the internal man without the external. The actual marriage following it represented a second joining together, which is that of the internal man together with the external. For when a person is being regenerated by forms of the good and the truths of faith, the internal man is regenerated first and the external man afterwards, since the external man is regenerated from the internal, 3286, 3321, 3493, 3882, 8746.

[5] This shows what is meant in the Word by 'betrothal' and 'being betrothed', and also what is meant by 'bridegroom' and 'bride'. It shows that 'betrothal' means the joining together of truth and good in the internal man, and that where the Lord and the Church are the subject 'bridegroom' means good and 'bride' truth, as in the following places: In Jeremiah,

I have remembered for you the mercy of your youth, the love of your betrothals, when you went out after Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. Jeremiah 2:2.

This refers to the Ancient Church and its establishment by the Lord. 'The love of betrothals' is the affection belonging to spiritual life that is received from the truths of faith and the good of love. A state of desire, when they were still without knowledge of those truths and lacked that good, is meant by 'going out after Me in the wilderness' and 'in a land not sown'.

[6] In Hosea,

I will make for them a covenant on that day with the wild animals of the field, and with the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the earth. And I will abolish ¹ the bow, and the sword, and war from the land. And I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in judgement, and in mercy and in compassion. ² Hosea 2:18-19.

This refers to the establishment of a new Church. 'Making a covenant with the wild animals of the field, with the birds, and with the creeping things of the earth' means a joining together which the Lord accomplishes by means of the goodness and truth, internal and external, present with a person.

'A covenant' is a joining together, 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021, 6804, 8767, 8778. 'The wild animals of the field' are the life derived from good, 841, 908. 'The birds' are the life of truth, 40, 745, 776, 991, 3219, 5149, 7441. 'The creeping things of the earth' are the forms of good and the truths among the sensory perceptions of the external man, 746, 909.

'Abolishing the bow, the sword, and war' means destroying the teachings and powers of falsity.

'The bow' is teachings that present falsity, 2686, 2709.

'The sword' is falsity engaged in conflict against truth, 2799, 4499, 6353,

7102.

'War' is the conflict itself, or spiritual conflict, 1664, 2686, 8273.

'Abolishing' these means destroying them.

[7] 'Betrothing in righteousness and in judgement' means being joined to the Lord in goodness and truth - 'betrothing' is joining to oneself, and 'righteousness' has reference to good, 'judgement' to truth, 2235. 'Betrothing in mercy and in compassion' means doing so out of love towards those governed by good, and in love towards those guided by truths - the Lord's 'mercy' has reference to His love towards those who lack good but nevertheless desire it, and His 'compassion' to His love towards those who have no knowledge of truth but nevertheless desire it. From all this it is evident that 'betrothal' means the joining together by the Lord of goodness and truth present with a person. Anyone can see that matters such as these are meant in those verses in Hosea, for when their contents are looked at in nothing brighter than natural light it is evident that Jehovah does not make a covenant with the wild animals of the field, the birds, and the creeping things of the earth, but with those possessing the goodness and truth of faith, thus with the goodness and truth present with a person, and therefore that such matters lie within this prophetic utterance.

[8] In Malachi,

Judah has acted faithlessly, for he has profaned the holiness of Jehovah, for he loved and betrothed to himself the daughter of a foreign god. Malachi 2:11.

'Betrothing the daughter of a foreign god' means being joined to the evil of falsity, 'a foreign god' being falsity, 4402 (end), 4544, 7873.

[9] As regards the meaning of 'bridegroom' as good, where the Lord and the Church are the subject, and of 'bride' as truth, this may be seen in Isaiah,

Jehovah has clothed me with the garments of salvation, with the robe of righteousness has He covered me, as a bridegroom puts on his priestly tiara, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. ³ Isaiah 61:10.

In John,

I saw the Holy City, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Revelation 21:1-2.

In the same book,

The angel said, Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife. Revelation 21:9; 22:17.

Here 'bride' stands for the Church.

[10] In Matthew,

Jesus said to John's disciples, Can the sons of the wedding mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. Matthew 9:15; Luke 5:34-35.

The expression 'the sons of the wedding' refers to those who adhere to the truths of the Church and receive good, good which comes from the Lord being 'the bridegroom'. 'The sons of the wedding do not mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them' implies that they are in a state of bliss and happiness, and so are with the Lord, when they adhere to the truths joined to their good. 'They will fast when the bridegroom is taken away from them' implies that they are in a state of unhappiness when good is no longer joined to the truths. The latter state is the final state of the Church, whereas the former is the first state.

[11] Something similar is meant in Matthew 25:1-12 by the bridegroom, whom the ten virgins went out to meet. For the virgins who had oil in their lamps are people who have good within their truths; but the virgins who did not have oil in their lamps are people who do not have good within their truths, see 4638, 'oil' being the good of love, 886, 3722, 4582.

[12] In John,

John said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before Him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears Him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. John 3:28-29.

'The bride' stands for the truth that composes the Church's faith, and 'the bridegroom' for the good that composes the Church's love, both of which come from the Lord, and so stand for a member of the Church with whom good has been joined to truths. 'The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears' stands for faith consisting of truth, and 'who rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice' stands for an affection for the truth composing faith. All this also shows what is meant in the internal sense by the joy and voice of the bridegroom and the bride in Isaiah 62:5; Jeremiah 7:34; 16:9; 25:10; 33:11; Revelation 18:23, namely heaven and the happiness that result from the joining together of goodness and truth present with man and angel.

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8273. 'Jehovah is a man of war' means that the Lord provides protection against all evils and falsities, which come from the hells. This is clear from the meaning of 'a man of war' as one who fights against falsities and evils, that is, against the hells, and overcomes them, at this point one who provides a person protection against them. For as shown already, the Lord alone fights on behalf of a person and protects him when he is under attack from the hells; He does so constantly, especially in temptations, which are spiritual conflicts. The Lord is called 'a man of war', primarily because when He was in the world He fought alone, that is, all by Himself, against the hells, which at that time were for the most part open. They were attacking and attempting to bring under their control all without exception who were entering the next life. The reason why the devil's crew, that is, the hells, were prowling around in that way then was that the Divine passing through heaven, which was the Divine Human before the Lord's Coming, was not powerful enough to oppose the evils and falsities which had increased so enormously. Therefore the Divine was pleased to take upon Himself a Human Form and make it Divine. At the same time - through the conflicts to which He allowed Himself to be subjected - He cast the devil's crew into the hells, shut them in there, and made them subject to the heavens; also at the same time He restored the heavens themselves to order. These conflicts are the primary reason for calling the Lord 'a man of war'. And after them, when He had thereby conquered the hells and made Himself righteousness, He has been called such because with Divine power He provides people protection, doing so constantly, and especially in the conflicts brought by temptations.

[2] The truth that the Lord alone, all by Himself, fought against the hells and overcame them is presented in the following way in Isaiah,

Judgement is cast away backwards, and justice stands afar off, for truth has stumbled in the street, and uprightness cannot come in; while truth has been removed, and he who retreats from evil is insane. Jehovah saw, and it was evil in His eyes that there was no judgement. And He saw that there was no man (vir), and wondered that there was no intercessor therefore His own arm brought salvation to Him, and His righteousness lifted Him up. Consequently He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon His head. Isaiah 59:14-17.

This describes conditions at that time in both worlds and declares that the Lord all by Himself, alone, re-established things that were in a state of collapse. The like is stated elsewhere in the same prophet,

Who is this who comes from Edom, with spattered clothes from Bozra, He that is glorious in His apparel, marching in the vast numbers of His strength? I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save. I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples not a man (vir) was with Me. Consequently their victory ¹ has been sprinkled on My clothes. For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and the year of My redeemed had come. I had looked around, but there was no helper, and I wondered, but there was no one to uphold; therefore My own arm brought salvation to Me. Isaiah 63:1-5.

These quotations make it clear that when in the world, the Lord fought alone against the hells and overcame them.

[3] So far as conflicts with and victories over the hells are concerned, the truth is that anyone who overcomes them once does so for evermore; for through victory he gains power over them, since in the same measure he consolidates within himself, and makes his own, the good of love and the truth of faith against which the hells afterwards do not dare to attempt anything. When He was in the world the Lord allowed Himself to endure conflicts brought by temptations from all the hells, and through those conflicts He made Divine the Human within Him and at the same time reduced the hells to a state of obedience for evermore, see 1663, 1668, 1690, 1692, 1737, 1813, 1820, 2776, 2786, 2795, 2803, 2814, 2816, 4287. So it is that the Lord alone has power over the hells for ever, and with Divine power fights on behalf of a person. This now explains why the Lord is called 'a man of war' and also 'a mighty man', as again in Isaiah,

Jehovah will go forth as a mighty man, as a man of wars He will arouse zeal; He will prevail over His enemies. Isaiah 42:13.

And in David,

Who is this King of glory? Jehovah strong and a mighty man, Jehovah a mighty man of war. Who is this King of glory? Jehovah Zebaoth (Jehovah of Hosts or Armies). Psalms 24:8, 10.

[4] Wherever 'war' is mentioned in the Word, spiritual war against falsities and evils - or what amounts to the same thing, against the devil, that is, the hells - is meant in the internal sense, 1664, 2686. The wars or battles which the Lord fought against the hells are the subject in the internal sense both in the historical sections of the Word and in its prophetical parts; and no less the subject are the Lord's wars or battles fought on behalf of man. With the Ancients, with whom the Lord's Church existed, there also existed a Word, having both a historical section and a prophetical part, which is not extant at the present day. Its historical section was called The Book of the Wars of Jehovah and its prophetical part The Utterances. That Word is referred to in Moses, Numbers 21:14, 27. The fact that the expression used in Numbers 21:27 means prophetical utterances is evident from the meaning the expression is given at Numbers 23:7, 18; 24:3, 15. The Wars of Jehovah in that Word meant the Lord's battles against and His victories over the hells when He was in the world. They also meant the battles fought after that, and the everlasting victories won by Him, on behalf of man, the Church, and His kingdom. The hells desire constantly to puff themselves up, for they yearn only to dominate; but they are kept in check by the Lord alone. Their attempts to exert themselves are seen as bubbles boiling up or as a person arching his back. But every time they attempt such a thing a large number of them are cast further down.

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