8941. 'You shall not build it with hewn ones' means that it must not be a product of self-intelligence. This is clear from the meaning of 'hewn stones' as the kinds of things which are products of self-intelligence, for 'stones' are truths, 8940, and chiselling or shaping them means producing or fashioning truths, or rather notions made to look like truths, out of the self, that is, out of self-intelligence. For the life in anything produced or fashioned by the self or self-intelligence is derived from the person; and such life is not life at all since the human self or proprium is nothing but evil, 210, 215, 694, 874-876, 987, 1047, 5660, 5786, 8480, whereas what is not derived from the self but from God does have life within it, since God is the source of all life. The subject here is worship of the Lord that springs from truth, for that kind of worship is meant by 'an altar of stones', 8940. .

[2] Truths that inspire worship of the Lord should be derived from nowhere other than the Word; for in every single part the Word has life from God. When truths are derived from the self they have as their end in view rank and prominence over everyone in the world, and also earthly possessions and wealth above everyone. Consequently they hold within them self-love and love of the world, thus all evils in their entirety, 7488, 8318. But truths derived from the Word have eternal life as their end in view; they hold within them love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour, thus all forms of good in their entirety. When truths are produced out of the self or self-intelligence they are the masters over the truths which come from God; for they employ the latter to add strength to themselves. But it ought to be the other way round, that is to say, the truths from God ought to be the masters, and those that are products of self-intelligence to be the servants. Products of the self or self-intelligence are called truths, but they are not really truths; they look like truths solely to outward appearances. For the literal sense of the Word is employed, and reasonings are brought in, to make them look like truths; but inwardly they are falsities. What these things are exactly, and what they are like, see above in 8932.

[3] In the world there are two semblances of religion that exist as a result of self-intelligence. One is that in which self-love and love of the world is everything; in the Word this semblance of religion is called Babel. Inwardly it is profane on account of self-love and love of the world, while outwardly it is holy on account of the Word, which people have employed to add strength to their own ideas. The other semblance of religion is that in which the inferior light of the natural order is everything. Those with this kind of religion acknowledge nothing to be true which they do not apprehend. Some belonging to this seeming religion acknowledge the Word, yet they employ it to add strength to their own ideas; thus they treat it as their servant. Others however do not acknowledge the Word; instead they identify the Divine with the natural order. For the light in which they see, being the inferior light of the natural order, shines only within the natural order and cannot be made brighter by the superior light of heaven, because they cast aside the Word, the source of all enlightenment. Those belonging to both the latter and the former semblances of religion are in hell, because they are devoid of heavenly life, which they cannot receive because they have cast the Word aside. And those of them who have employed the Word to add strength to their own ideas have set no value at all on it in their hearts; yet because it has had power and authority among the common people they have used it to serve them in this way, in order that false notions fashioned by their own intelligence might thereby be validated. From all this one may see what is meant in the spiritual sense by the command that no altar of hewn stones was to be built.

[4] 'Hewn stone' means that which is a product of self-intelligence in the following places as well: In Isaiah,

In order that [all] the people may know, Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, on account of pride and arrogance of heart, saying, The bricks have fallen and we will build from hewn stone. Isaiah 9:9-10.

In Jeremiah,

Even if I cry and shout, He has shut out my prayers. He has fenced round my ways with hewn stone, He has overturned my paths. Lamentations 3:8-9.

In Amos,

Because you tread down the crushed, and seize from him the burden of grain, you will build houses of hewn stone, yet you will not dwell in them. Amos 5:11.

'Hewn stone' here stands for the kinds of things that self-intelligence produces in matters of faith.

[5] Since those things were meant by 'hewn stone', the altar first built in the land of Canaan by the children of Israel after they crossed the Jordan was built of unhewn stones; for crossing over Jordan represented introduction into the Lord's kingdom, which is accomplished by means of the truths of faith. That altar is spoken of as follows in Joshua,

Joshua built an altar to Jehovah God of Israel on Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of Jehovah had commanded the children of Israel, An altar of whole stones over which no one has wielded any iron tool. ¹ Joshua 8:30-31; Deuteronomy 27:1-8.

[6] The temple in Jerusalem likewise was built of whole, not hewn, stones. This is referred to in the first Book of Kings as follows,

As regards the house itself, when it was being built it was built of whole stone, as it had been brought [there]; for not a hammer or axe, [nor] any tool of iron, was heard in the house while it was being built. 1 Kings 6:7.

For by 'the temple of the Lord' was represented the Lord in respect of Divine Truth. The Lord Himself teaches that He was represented by the temple, in John 2:19, 21-22; and the reason why He was represented in respect of Divine Truth was that Divine Truth was taught there. This also was why it was built of stones; for 'stones' meant Divine Truth, 8940. And it also explains why the Lord was called 'the Stone of Israel', 6426.

[7] From all this one may now see what was meant by the stone of the altar, and also what was meant by the stone of the temple, as well as what was meant by the requirement that they were to be whole stones, and not hewn, namely this: Religion should be composed of truths derived from the Lord, thus from the Word, and not from self-intelligence. Products of self-intelligence are also described in the following way in Isaiah,

The craftsman casts a graven image, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts silver chains for it. He seeks a skilled ² craftsman to make ready a graven image. Isaiah 40:19-20.

'A graven image' stands for some religious fabrication that is a product of the proprium or self, put forward to be venerated as what is Divine, 8869. 'The craftsman' stands for those who from self produce and fashion things. Their attempt to make these things look like truths is described by '[a goldsmith! overlays it with gold, and casts chains made of silver' and 'he seeks a skilled craftsman'.

[8] In the same prophet,

Makers of the graven image, all are vanity. All his companions will be ashamed; and the workmen themselves ... He fashions the iron with tongs, and works it with the coals, and forms it with sharp hammers; so he makes it with his strong arm. ³ He fashions pieces of wood, stretches out a cord, and marks it off with a ruler. He makes it into its angles, and marks it out with a ring, so that he may make it in the form of a man (vir), according to the beauty of a human being, to dwell in the house. Isaiah 44:9, 11-13.

This too describes a religious fabrication that is a product of self-intelligence. Something similar occurs in Jeremiah,

The customs ⁴ of the nations are vanity. Since indeed one cuts out wood from the forest, the work of the hands of the workman using an axe, he decorates it with silver and gold; and they make it firm ⁵ with pegs and hammers. Jeremiah 10:3-4.

And also in Hosea,

Nonetheless they now sin more and more, and make for themselves a molten image from silver, idols by their own intelligence, completely the work of craftsmen. Hosea 13:2

A religious fabrication, produced out of self-intelligence and not derived from the Word, is meant in the internal sense by 'idols' and 'strange gods', by 'molten images' and 'graven images'. Products of the self are nothing else; for in themselves they are dead, even though venerated as living.

脚注:

4314. In the internal historical sense 'he was limping on his thigh' means that with those descendants goods and truths had been destroyed completely. This is clear from the representation of Jacob, to whom 'he' refers here, as his descendants, dealt with in 4281, and from the meaning of 'limping on the thigh' as those who are without any good or consequently any truth, dealt with in 4302. Here therefore 'he was limping on his thigh' means that with those descendants goods and truths had been destroyed completely.

[2] The nature of that nation is made very plain by many things which the Lord Himself spoke in parables and which in the internal historical sense were said of that nation, as in the following,

In the parable about a certain king who was settling the account with the servant who showed no mercy towards another. Matthew 18:23-end.

In the parable about the householder who let his vineyard out to vine-dressers and went abroad; and the vine-dressers seized the servants he sent, beating one with rods, killing another, and stoning another. At length he sent his son whom they cast out of the vineyard and killed. When the scribes and Pharisees heard this parable they realized that He was speaking about themselves. Matthew 21:33-45; Mark 12:1-9; Luke 20:9 and following verses.

In the parable about the man who gave talents to his servants and how the servant who received one talent went and hid it in the ground. Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 19:12-27.

In the parable about those who came upon the man who had been wounded by the robbers. Luke 10:30-37.

In the parable about those who were invited to the great supper and all of whom made excuses, and of whom the master said, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my supper. Luke 14:16-24.

In the parable about the rich man and Lazarus. Luke 16:19-end.

In the parable about those who despised others compared with themselves. Luke 18:10-14

In the parable about the two sons, one of whom said, I will go off into the vineyard, but did not go, and in which Jesus said, Truly I say to you, Tax collectors and prostitutes will go into the kingdom of heaven before you. Matthew 21:28-32.

[3] The Lord states plainly what that nation was like in Matthew 23:13 onwards, towards the end of which passage He says,

You witness against yourselves that you are the sons of those who slew the prophets; and you are filling up the measure of your fathers. Matthew 23:31-33.

In Mark,

Jesus said to them, Rightly did Isaiah prophesy concerning you, This people honours Me with their lips, but their heart is very far away from Me. In vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men, forsaking the commandment of God. Mark 7:6-13.

In John,

The Jews answered Jesus that they were the seed of Abraham. But Jesus said to them, You are from your father the devil, and the desires of your father you will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and did not take a stand on the truth because the truth is not in him. When he speaks a lie he speaks from the things that are his own, for he is the teller of a lie and the father of it. John 8:33, 44.

Because their nature was such they are also called 'a wicked and adulterous generation', Matthew 12:39, as well as 'a brood of vipers', Matthew 3:7; 23:33; Luke 3:7; and in Matthew,

O brood of vipers, how can you speak good things when you are evil? Matthew 12:34.

[4] The fact that with that nation not even any natural good was left is meant by the fig tree referred to in Matthew,

Jesus seeing a fig tree by the wayside went to it but found nothing on it but leaves only, therefore He said to it, Let no fruit from now on ever be born from you! Therefore the fig tree withered at once. Matthew 21:19.

'A fig tree' means natural good, see 217. From all these places it may be seen that with that nation goods and truths had been destroyed completely.

[5] Goods and truths are said to have been destroyed when none exist interiorly. Goods and truths which are visible externally derive their being and their life from those that are internal. The nature of internal goods and truths therefore determines that of external ones, however these present themselves to human eyes. There are some people whom I knew during their lifetime and who during that period were to outward appearance zealous for the Lord, for the Church, for their country and the common good, and for what was right and fair; and yet in the next life these same people are among those in hell. Indeed I have been astonished to find them among the most evil ones there. The reason why they were there was that interiorly they had been filthy and profane, and that they had pretended to be zealous for the sake of reputation, so as to gain important positions and also to acquire wealth. Thus they had been zealous for selfish reasons and not for the things which they professed with their lips. Consequently when those external things are laid aside, as happens when people die, internals are laid bare and one sees what those people have been like inwardly; for during their lifetime they had concealed their internals from the eyes of the world. These are the considerations that are meant by the statement that goods and truths have been destroyed completely.