140. Because thou hast there them, that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the sons of Israel. That this signifies those whose understanding is enlightened, and who teach truths, but still love to destroy by guile those who belong to the church is evident from the historical parts of the Word which treat of Balaam and Balak, understood according to the spiritual sense, which shall therefore here be first treated of.

[2] Balaam was a soothsayer from Pethor of Mesopotamia, and was therefore called by Balak, king of Moab, to curse the people of Israel; but Jehovah prevented this, and caused him to speak prophetically; notwithstanding, he afterwards consulted with Balak how he might destroy that people by guile, by withdrawing them from the worship of Jehovah to the worship of Baal-peor. By Balaam, therefore, are meant those whose understanding is enlightened and who teach truths, but still love to destroy by guile those who belong to the church.

That Balaam was a soothsayer is evident from these words in Moses:

"The elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand, and they came unto Balaam" (Numbers 22:7).

"When Balaam saw that it was good in the eyes of Jehovah to bless Israel, he went not as at other times to seek for divinations" (Numbers 24:1).

And in Joshua:

"Balaam the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the sons of Israel slay with the sword upon their slain" (13:22).

That he was called by Balak, king of Moab, to curse the people of Israel, may be seen, Numbers 22:5, 6, 16, 17; Deuteronomy 23:3, 4; but that Jehovah prevented this, and caused him to speak prophetically, Numbers 22:9, 10, 12, 20; 23:5, 16. The prophecies which he uttered may be seen Numbers 23:7-10, 18-24; 24:5-9, 15-19, 20-24; all of which things are truths, because it is said, that:

"Jehovah put a word into his mouth" (Numbers 23:5, 12, 16).

That afterwards he consulted with Balak how he might destroy the people of Israel by guile, by withdrawing them from the worship of Jehovah to the worship of Baal-peor, is clear from these words in Moses:

"In Shittim the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods; and the people did eat and bowed down to their gods. And especially did he join himself unto Baal-peor. Therefore twenty and four thousand were slain of Israel" (Numbers 25:1-3, 9).

They slew Balaam amongst the Midianites: and the sons of Israel led captive all the women of the Midianites, which thing was "agreeable to the counsel of Balaam to deliver them to iniquity against Jehovah, in the matter of Peor" (Numbers 31:8, 16).

That by Balaam are meant those whose understanding is enlightened and who teach truths follows from what is said in the above passages; for he spoke truth prophetically concerning Israel, and also concerning the Lord; that he spoke also concerning the Lord may be seen in his prophecy (Numbers 24:17). To speak prophetically concerning Israel, is not to speak concerning the people of Israel, but concerning the Lord's church, which is signified by Israel. The enlightenment of his understanding he himself also describes in these words:

"The saying of Balaam, the son of Beor, of the man whose eyes are opened, who heareth the words of God, falls prostrate, and has his eyes uncovered" (Numbers 24:3, 4, 15, 16).

To have the eyes opened, or to have them uncovered, is to have the understanding enlightened; for eyes in the Word signify the understanding (as may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 2701, 4410-4421, 4523-4534, 9051, 10569).

[3] That by Balaam are also meant those who love to destroy by guile those who belong to the church is also evident from what has been shown above; and moreover, that when he rode upon the ass, he continually meditated the use of divinations, to destroy the sons of Israel. When he could not accomplish this by curses, he consulted with Balak to destroy them by calling them to the sacrifices of his gods, and to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab; by the sons of Israel whom he wished to destroy, is signified the church, because the church was instituted amongst them (see Arcana Coelestia 6426, 8805, 9340).

[4] The arcanum concerning the ass upon which Balaam rode, which turned three times out of the way on seeing an angel with a sword drawn, and the fact of its speaking to Balaam, shall be here briefly explained. Balaam, when he rode upon the ass, continually meditated divinations against the sons of Israel; the gain with which he should be honoured was in his mind, as is clear from these words concerning him,

"He went not as at other times to seek for divinations" (Numbers 24:1).

He was also a soothsayer in heart, therefore he thought of nothing else, when he thought in himself. By the ass upon which he rode is signified, in the spiritual sense of the Word, an enlightened Intellectual; therefore to ride upon an ass or mule was amongst the distinctions of a chief judge and of king (as may be seen above, n. 31; and in Arcana Coelestia 2781, 5741, 9212). The angel with the sword drawn signifies Divine truth enlightening and fighting against falsity (as may be seen above, n. 131); hence, the ass turning three times out of the way signifies that the enlightened understanding did not agree with the thought of the soothsayer, which also is meant by what the angel said to Balaam:

"Behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is evil before me" (Numbers 22:32).

By way, in the spiritual sense of the Word, is signified that which a man thinks from intention (as may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 479, 534, 590, and in the small work, The Last Judgment 48). That he was withheld from the thought and intention of using divinations by the fear of death, is clear from what the angel said to him:

"Unless the ass had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee" (Numbers 22:33).

[5] It sounded in the ears of Balaam as if the ass spoke to him, although she did not speak, but the speech was heard as if proceeding from her. That this is the case, has often been shown me by actual experience. It has been granted me to hear horses, as it were, speaking, although the speech was not from them, but as it were from them. This was actually the case with Balaam, to the intent that this history might be described in the Word for the sake of the internal sense in detail. In the internal sense is described how the Lord defends those who are in truths and goods, lest they should be hurt by those who speak as from enlightenment, and yet have the disposition and intention to lead astray. He who believes that Balaam could do injury to the sons of Israel by divinations is much deceived; for these could avail nothing against them; this Balaam also confessed when he said:

"Divination avails not against Jacob, nor soothsayings against Israel" (Numbers 23:23).

The reason why Balaam could lead that people astray by guile was because they were such in heart that they worshipped Jehovah with the mouth only, but Baal-peor with the heart; and because they were of such a nature, this was permitted.

[6] Moreover it is to be noted that man's understanding can be enlightened, although his will is in evil; for the intellectual faculty is separated from the voluntary faculty in the case of all those who are not regenerated; but these two faculties act as one only in those who are regenerated; for it is the office of the understanding to know, to think, and to speak truths, but that of the will, to will the things that are understood, and from the will or love to do them. The disagreement between these faculties is quite manifest with evil spirits; for when such are turned towards good spirits they even understand truths, and also acknowledge them, almost as if they were enlightened; but as soon as they turn themselves from them, they return to the love of their will, and see nothing of truth; indeed, they even deny the things that they had heard (as may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 153, 424, 455).

[7] The possibility of having his understanding enlightened has been granted to man for the sake of reformation. For in man's will dwells every kind of evil, both that into which he is born, and that into which he comes of himself; and the will cannot be amended unless man knows, and by the understanding acknowledges, truths and goods, and also evils and falsities, otherwise he cannot turn away from the latter and love the former. (More may be seen concerning the will and the understanding in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 28-35.)

1458. 'Towards the south' means into goods and truths, thus into a state that is bright as regards interior things. This is clear from the meaning of 'the south'. That 'the south' means a state that is bright arises from the fact that the four quarters, as with periods of time, do not actually exist in the next life, only the states meant by the four quarters and periods of time. The successive states of ideas in the understanding are like the states that belong to the times of the day and to the seasons of the year, and also to those of the four quarters. The successive states of a day are evening, night, morning, and midday; the states of the year are autumn, winter, spring, and summer; and the states of the four quarters are those of the sun in relation to west, north, east, and south. Similar to these are the successive states of ideas in the understanding. And what is remarkable, in heaven those whose state is one of wisdom and intelligence are in light. The intensity of that light is in exact proportion to their state, with those in the greatest light whose state is one of highest wisdom and intelligence; but the wisdom there is that which goes with love and charity, and the intelligence that which goes with faith in the Lord. That there is light in the next life to which the light of the world scarcely stands comparison is to me evident from much experience, and this will in the Lord's Divine mercy be presented later on. And because there exists in heaven such a correspondence between light and things of the understanding, nothing else is meant in the internal sense here and elsewhere in the Word by 'the south'. Here 'the south' means intelligence acquired through cognitions. Cognitions are celestial and spiritual truths, which are just so many radiations of light in heaven and which present themselves visibly by means of the light, as has been stated. Because the Lord was now to be endowed with cognitions so that He might become the Light itself of heaven as regards His Human Essence as well, it is here said that 'he travelled, going on and travelling, towards the south'.

[2] That 'the south' means those things becomes clear from similar examples in the Word, as in Isaiah,

I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Do not withhold. Bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the end of the earth. Isaiah 43:6.

'The north' stands for those without knowledge, 'the south' for those who possess cognitions, 'sons' stands for truths, and 'daughters' for goods. In the same prophet,

If you bring food out of store for the hungry ¹ and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your thick darkness will be as the noonday. ² Isaiah 58:10.

'Bringing food out of store for the hungry and satisfying the afflicted soul' stands for good deeds of charity in general. 'Your light will rise in the darkness' stands for the fact that truth has made them intelligent, and 'your thick darkness will be as the noonday' ² that good has made them wise. 'The south' means good by virtue of its warmth, and truth by virtue of its light.

[3] In Ezekiel,

In the visions of God He brought me into the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain, on which there was so to speak the structure of a city on the south. Ezekiel 40:2.

This refers to the new Jerusalem or the Lord's kingdom, which because it is bathed in the light of wisdom and intelligence is 'on the south'. In David,

Jehovah will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your judgement as the noonday. ² Psalms 37:6.

In the same author,

You will not be afraid of the terror of the night, of the arrow that flies by day, of the pestilence that walks in thick darkness, of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. ² Psalms 91:5-6

'Not being afraid of the destruction that lays waste at noonday' ² stands for not fearing the condemnation which comes upon those who possess cognitions but pervert them. In Ezekiel,

Son of man, set your face ³ towards the south and drop [your words] to the south and prophesy towards the forest of the field in the south; and you shall say to the forest of the south, All faces in it from south to north will be scorched in it. Ezekiel 20:46-47

'The forest of the south' stands for those who possess the light of truths but extinguish it, and so stands for those within the Church who are such as these.

[4] In Daniel,

Out of one of them there came forth a little horn, and it grew much towards the south, and towards the east, and towards the glorious [land]. And it grew even towards the host of heaven. Daniel 8:9-10.

This stands for people who assail goods and truths. In Jeremiah,

Give glory to Jehovah your God before He causes darkness and before your feet stumble on the twilight mountains, and you look for light and He turns it into the shadow of death and places it in thick darkness. The cities of the south will be shut up, with none opening them. Jeremiah 13:16, 19.

'Cities of the south' stands for cognitions of truth and good. In Obadiah,

Those carried away from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will inherit the cities of the south. Obad. verse 20.

Here similarly 'the cities of the south' stands for truths and goods, and so for the truths and goods themselves to which they are heirs. The subject here is the Lord's kingdom.

[5] As regards 'Abram travelled, going on and travelling, towards the south' meaning, as has been stated, the Lord's advance into goods and truths, thus into a state that is bright as regards interiors, cognitions are what open up the path to seeing celestial and spiritual things. By means of cognitions a path is opened up from the internal man to the external man in which recipient vessels reside, as many as there are cognitions of good and truth. It is into the latter as their own particular vessels that celestial things flow.

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