10286. 'The man who makes an ointment like it' means imitations of Divine things produced by [human] cunning. This is clear from the meaning of 'making that which is like it' as imitating it; and from the meaning of 'ointment' as Divine Truths which are the Lord's alone and come from the Lord alone, dealt with above in 10264. The reason why imitations produced by [human] cunning is meant is that all imitation of Divine things by a person is a product of that cunning. The nature of all this may be recognized from what has been stated and shown above in 10284; but further light may be shed on it by certain things that go on among spirits. Those of them who attribute everything to fortune and their own prudence and nothing to the Divine, as they did in the world, know how to employ various methods to imitate Divine things. They can produce palaces almost like those in the heavens; they can produce views containing plantations of trees and open countryside very similar to those the Lord provides for good spirits; they can adorn themselves with brilliant garments, indeed sirens can make themselves appear in almost angelic beauty. But all this is the product of a cunning that involves the use of delusions. Yet all those things which they can do, however much they may seem to outward appearance to be similar, are inwardly foul. This is also revealed instantly by the Lord to good spirits, for unless it were revealed they would be led astray. The outward appearance is taken away, and when this has been taken away the devilish interior is exposed. It is taken away by the shedding of light from heaven, which disperses the feeble light that accompanies delusions and that those spirits rely on to produce such imitations. From all this one may recognize what the imitation of Divine things that is a product of [human] cunning is like. But things done in reliance on the Lord are inwardly heavenly; and the more interior they are, the more heavenly they are; for Divine things increase in perfection the more and more internal they are, so much so that finally they possess perfection and beauty that are beyond description.

[2] The situation is similar with the imitation of what is good and true by those who lead an evil life. Those of them who know how to make a pretence of good affections and of some form of charity towards the neighbour and love to God, and together with those affections talk about and proclaim the truths of faith seemingly from the heart, dwell in a similar feeble and delusive light. When therefore the outward appearance which makes a pretence of those inner things is taken away, the hellish nature lying within, which is nothing but evil and the falsity of evil, is revealed. And at the same time the fact that such evil constitutes their love, and the falsity of that evil their faith, is in like manner presented to view. From all this it is again evident what imitating Divine things by means of human endeavour is, dealt with above in 10284.

1888. To illustrate that the sense of the letter of the Word is representative of Divine arcana and is the receptacle of, and thus the storehouse containing, celestial and spiritual things which are the Lord's, let two examples be taken, which will consequently reveal the position with all else The first example shows that David is not used to mean David but the Lord, the second that names mean nothing other than real things. Of David the following is said in Ezekiel,

My servant David will be King over them, and they will all have one Shepherd. They will dwell in the land, they, and their sons, and their sons' sons even for ever. And David my servant will be their Prince for ever. Ezekiel 37:24-25.

And in Hosea,

The children of Israel will return and seek Jehovah their God, and David their king. Hosea 3:5.

These promises were written by prophets who lived later than David, yet it is explicitly stated by them that he 'will be' their king and prince. From this it may become clear to anyone that in the internal sense David means the Lord. The same applies in all other places, including the historical descriptions, where David is referred to by name.

[2] As regards the names of kingdoms, regions, cities, and men meaning real things, this becomes quite clear in the Prophets. Take this single example in Isaiah,

Thus said the Lord, Jehovih Zebaoth, Do not be afraid - O My people, inhabitant of Zion - of Asshur; he will smite you with a rod, and he will lift up the staff over you in the way of Egypt. Jehovah Zebaoth will lift up the scourge over him, as when Midian was smitten in the rock of Horeb, and his rod will be over the sea, and he will lift it up in the way of Egypt. He will come against Aiath; he will pass over into Migron; he will command his arms towards Michmash. They will cross the Mabarah. Geba will be a lodging-place for us. Hormah ¹ will tremble. Gibeah of Saul will flee. Make a noise with your voice, O daughter of Gallim. Hearken, O Laish. Wail, O Anathoth. Madmenah will wander about. The inhabitants of Gebim will gather themselves together. This very day he is in Nob to stay. The mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem, will shake her fist. He will cut down the entangled boughs of the wood with an axe, and Lebanon will fall by a majestic one. Isaiah 10:24, 26-34.

[3] These verses include little more than mere names, which would not make any sense at all if, without exception, those names did not mean real things; and if the mind remained fixed on those names, no acknowledgement that it was the Word of the Lord would ever be made. But who is going to believe that all those names in the internal sense contain arcana of heaven? Or that through them the state of people is described who endeavour by means of reasonings based on facts to penetrate the mysteries of faith? Or that by means of each name some particular aspect of that state is described? Or that those reasonings are dispersed by the Lord by means of the celestial things of love and the spiritual things of faith? That 'Asshur' means reasoning, which is the subject in these verses from Isaiah, becomes quite clear from what has been shown regarding 'Asshur' in 119, 1186; and that 'Egypt' means factual knowledge, from what has been shown in 1164, 1165, 1462. See these paragraphs and consider whether or not this is true. It is the same with all other names, and with individual expressions.

脚注: