631. For it is given to the nations, signifies since it has been perverted by evils of life and falsities of doctrine. This is evident from the signification of "the nations," as being those who are in evils in respect to life and thence in falsities in respect to doctrine, and in the abstract sense evils of life and falsities of doctrine. (That evils and falsities are signified by "nations" see above, n. 175, 331, 625.) The external of the Word and thence of the church and of worship is perverted by evils of life and falsities of doctrine, because the external of the Word, which is called the sense of its letter, is written according to appearances in the world, because it is for children and the simple-minded, who have no perception of anything contrary to appearances, therefore as these advance in age they are introduced by the sense of the letter, in which are appearances of truth, into interior truths, and thus appearances are put off by degrees, and in their place interior truths are implanted. This may be illustrated by numberless examples; as that we should pray to God not to lead us into temptations; this is said because it appears as if God so leads, and yet God leads no one into temptations; again, it is said that God is angry, punishes, casts into hell, brings evil upon the wicked, and many other like things, and yet God is never angry, never punishes or casts into hell, nor does He at all do evil to anyone, but the wrongdoer himself does this to himself by his evils, for in evils themselves are the evils of punishment. These things are nevertheless said in many passages in the Word, because it so appears. As another example, it is said that:

No one should call his father, Father; nor his master, Master (Matthew 23:8-10).

Yet they ought to be so called; but this is said because the "Father" means the Lord, who creates and begets us anew, and because He alone teaches and instructs; so when man is in a spiritual idea he will think of the Lord alone as the Father and Master; but it is otherwise when man is in a natural idea. Moreover, in the spiritual world or in heaven, no one knows any other father, teacher, or master than the Lord, because from Him is spiritual life. So in other instances.

[2] From this it can be seen that the external of the Word, and thence the external of the church and of worship, consists of apparent truths, therefore those who are in evils in respect to life apply it to favor their own loves and the principles conceived therefrom. This is why it is said that the "court," which signifies the external of the Word, "is given to the nations," and afterwards that "they shall trample down the holy city." This comes to pass in the end of the church, when men are so far worldly, natural, and corporeal that they are wholly unable to see interior truths, which are called spiritual truths; and from this it follows that they then wholly pervert the external of the Word, which is the sense of its letter. Such perversion of the sense of the letter of the Word took place also with the Jews at the end of the church with them, which is meant in the spiritual sense by:

The soldiers dividing the garments of the Lord, but not the tunic (John 19:23, 24),

which signifies that those who were of the church perverted all things of the Word in respect to the sense of its letter, but not the Word in respect to the spiritual sense, because this they did not know. (That this is what these things mean in the spiritual sense may be seen above, n. 64.) It is similar in the church at this day, because this is its end; for at this day the Word is not explained according to spiritual truths, but according to the appearances of the sense of the letter, which are applied to confirm both evils of life and falsities of doctrine; and because interior truths, which are spiritual truths, are unknown and are not received, it follows that the sense of the letter of the Word is perverted by evils of the will and falsities of thought therefrom. This, therefore, is what is meant by "the court is given to the nations."

9741. 'And you shall make the court of the dwelling-place' means the lowest heaven. This is clear from the meaning of 'the court of the dwelling-place' as the external part of heaven, thus the lowest heaven; for there are three heavens, the inmost, the middle, and the lowest. The inmost was represented by the inmost part of the dwelling-place, where the ark of the Testimony was; the middle one by the dwelling-place outside the veil; and the lowest by the court, which is the subject now. This heaven is called the court because they who are there are those who are governed by the good of faith and not as yet by the good of charity towards the neighbour - they who are governed by the good of charity being those who are in the middle heaven. Those in the lowest heaven, which is called the court, are called angelic spirits; those in the middle heaven are called spiritual angels; but those in the inmost heaven are called celestial angels.

[2] The good of faith itself too, which is the good of the lowest heaven, is meant by 'the court', because it is through this good that a person is led on into the good of charity towards the neighbour, which is the good of the middle heaven. It should be remembered that the good present with a person constitutes his heaven and that the kind of heaven that is his is determined by the kind of good that is his. There are three kinds of good that follow one another in order - the good of faith, the good of charity towards the neighbour, and the good of love to the Lord. The good of faith constitutes the lowest or first heaven, as stated above; the good of charity towards the neighbour constitutes the middle or second heaven; and the good of love to the Lord constitutes the inmost or third heaven.

[3] A little more needs to be said to give people an even better knowledge of the arrangement of the heavens. The heavens are divided into two kingdoms, the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom; and in each kingdom there is an internal part and an external. The internal part of the celestial kingdom is inhabited by those who are governed by the good of love to the Lord, and the external part of it by those who are governed by the good of mutual love; but the internal part of the spiritual kingdom is inhabited by those who are governed by the good of charity towards the neighbour, and the external part of it by those who are governed by the good of faith, see 9680. The external part of each kingdom ¹ is what is called the lowest or first heaven and was represented by the court. This explains why there were two courts around the temple, an outer and an inner, the outer court standing for those who inhabit the external parts of the spiritual kingdom and the inner court for those inhabiting the external parts of the celestial kingdom.

[4] Regarding these two courts of the temple in Jerusalem, see 1 Kings 6:3, 36; 2 Kings 21:5. Regarding the outer court of the new temple in Ezekiel, see Ezekiel 40:17, 31, 34; Ezekiel 42:1-end; and regarding the inner court there, Ezekiel 40:23, 28, 32, 44; 42:3; 43:5. From all this it is evident that the lowest heaven which was represented by the outer court of the temple is composed of the good of faith, and the lowest heaven which was represented by the inner court is composed of the good of mutual love. Those governed by the good of mutual love are governed by an affection for good for goodness' sake, whereas those governed by the good of faith are governed by an affection for truth for truth's sake. For good has dominion in the celestial kingdom, whereas truth has it in the spiritual kingdom.

[5] The fact that the lowest heaven is meant by 'the courts' is evident from places in the Word where they are mentioned, as in Ezekiel,

The glory of Jehovah rose ² from above the cherub over the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud; and the cloud filled the inner court. ³ And the court was full of the brightness of the glory of Jehovah, and the sound of the wings of the cherubs was heard as far as the outer court. Ezekiel 10:3-5.

The court was representative of the lowest heaven, and that was why it was filled, as was the house itself, with the cloud and the brightness of the glory of Jehovah, for 'the cloud' and 'the glory' mean Divine Truth. As regards 'the cloud', that it has this meaning, see 5922, 6343 (end), 6752, 8106, 8443, and also 'the glory', 8267, 8427, 9429. 'The sound of the wings' means the truth of faith derived from good, 8764, 9514.

[6]In the same prophet,

The spirit lifted me up and led me into the inner court of the temple; and behold, the glory of Jehovah filled the house. And I heard Him speaking to me from the house, saying, Son of man, [this is] the place of My throne, and the place of the soles of My feet, where I shall dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. Ezekiel 43:4-7.

Here the temple and the court are called 'the place of Jehovah's throne, and the place of the soles of His feet' because the temple and the court represented heaven, 'Jehovah's throne' being the spiritual heaven, 5313, 8625, 'the place of the soles of His feet' the lowest heaven.

[7] The lowest heaven is also meant by 'court' and 'courts' in the following places: In David,

Blessed is [anyone] whom You choose and cause to come near; he will dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, with the holiness of Your temple. Psalms 65:4.

'Dwelling in those courts', as is self-evident, means dwelling in heaven. In the same author,

A day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I have chosen to stand at the door in the house of My God rather than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. Psalms 84:10.

In the same author,

Planted in the house of Jehovah, they will flourish in the courts of our God. Psalms 92:13.

In the same author,

Give to Jehovah the glory of His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts. Psalms 96:8.

In the same author,

Praise the name of Jehovah, praise [Him], O servants of Jehovah who are standing in the house of Jehovah, in the courts of the house of our God. Psalms 135:1-2.

In Isaiah,

They will collect the grain and new wine, they will eat [it] and praise Jehovah; and those who will have gathered it together will drink [it] in the courts of My holiness. Isaiah 62:9.

In these places 'courts' stands for the lowest heavens; for the more internal heavens are called Jehovah's house and His temple, 3720.

[8] In John,

The angel said, Rise and measure the temple and the altar, and those who worship in it. But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations, ⁴ who will trample the holy city for forty-two months. Revelation 11:1-2.

'The temple and the altar, and those who worship in it' are the Church and its worship. 'The court outside the temple' is the good of mutual love, as stated above. 'The nations to whom the holy city has been given to trample' are the evils of self-love and love of the world, which destroy the Church, 6306. 'Forty-two months' is similar in meaning to six weeks, and 'six weeks' is similar in meaning to six days of a week; for six multiplied by seven makes forty-two. A week means a whole period, long or short, 2044, 3845; the six days which come before the seventh or sabbath mean a former Church through to its end, and the establishment of a new Church. For 'the sabbath' means goodness and truth joined together, and so means the Church, 8495, 8510, 8890, 8893, 9274.

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