81. DE INNERLIJKE ZIN.

In dit hoofdstuk wordt over de hemelse mens gehandeld, in het voorgaande is gesproken over de geestelijke mens, die uit de dode mens gemaakt is; omdat echter heden ten dage niemand weet wat een hemels mens is, en nauwelijks wat een geestelijk mens is, evenmin wat een dood mens is, mag ik, opdat men zal weten wat het verschil is, in het kort uiteenzetten, hoe de een is en hoe de andere. Ten eerste: de dode mens erkent geen andere waarheid en goedheid, dan hetgeen tot het lichaam en de wereld behoort, en dit aanbidt hij ook. De geestelijke mens erkent het geestelijke en het hemelse ware en goede, maar dit vanuit het geloof waaruit hij ook handelt, maar niet zozeer uit liefde. De hemelse mens gelooft en voelt het geestelijke en hemelse ware en goede en hij erkent geen ander geloof dan hetgeen uit de liefde is, waaruit hij ook handelt. Ten tweede: de doeleinden van de dode mens beogen alleen het lichamelijke en wereldse leven, en hij weet niet wat het eeuwige leven is en wat de Heer, en als hij het weet, gelooft hij het niet. De doeleinden van de geestelijke mens beogen het eeuwige leven, en dus de Heer. De doeleinden van de hemelse mens zijn gericht op de Heer, en zo op Zijn koninkrijk en op het eeuwige leven. Ten derde: wanneer de dode mens in strijd is, bezwijkt hij bijna altijd; wanneer hij niet in strijd is, heersen bij hem het kwade en het valse en hij is een slaaf. Zijn banden zijn uiterlijke, zoals vrees voor de wet, voor het verlies van het leven, van rijkdommen, weelde en goede naam. De geestelijke mens is in strijd, maar overwint altijd; de banden die over hem heersen, zijn innerlijke en worden banden van het geweten genoemd. De hemelse mens is niet in strijd; als het kwade en het valse hem belagen, veracht hij ze, waarom hij ook overwinnaar wordt genoemd; hij heeft geen waarneembare banden, waardoor hij in toom gehouden wordt, maar hij is vrij. Zijn banden, die zich niet vertonen, zijn de innerlijke gewaarwordingen van het goede en ware.

2669. 'Also, the son of the servant-girl I will make into a nation' means the spiritual Church which was to receive the good of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'the son of the servant-girl' and also of 'a nation'. 'The son of the servant-girl' or Ishmael, while he was in Abraham's house, that is, while he was with Abraham, represented the Lord's first rational, as shown in 2652, 2653, 2657, 2658. But now he has been separated he takes on another representation, namely that of the spiritual Church, 2666. A similar change of representation occurred previously with Lot who while with Abraham represented the Lord's external man, 1428, 1429, 1434, 1547, 1597, 1598, 1698, but once he had been separated from Abraham he represented the external Church and many states of that Church, 2324, 2371, 2399, 2422, 2459, and in the whole of Chapter 19. As regards 'nation' meaning good, see 1159, 1258-1260, 1416, 1849. Here the good of faith is meant since it has reference to the spiritual Church. Hence the words used here, 'Also, the son of the servant-girl I will make into a nation', mean the spiritual Church which was to receive the good of faith, which is charity.

[2] The Lord's kingdom in heaven and on earth is celestial and spiritual, and therefore angels are distinguished into those who are celestial and those who are spiritual, see 202, 337. To celestial angels the Lord appears as the Sun, to spiritual as the Moon, 1053, 1521, 1529-1531. Men in a similar way are distinguished into those who are celestial and those who are spiritual. Those who belonged to the Most Ancient Church which existed before the Flood were celestial, dealt with in 607, 608, 784, 895, 920, 1114-1125, while those who belonged to the Ancient Church which existed after the Flood were spiritual, dealt with in 609, 640, 641, 765. For what the difference was between those two Churches, see 567, 607, and for what the difference is between what is celestial and what is spiritual, 81, 1155, 1577, 1824, 2048, 2069, 2088, 2227, 2507. The celestial are referred to by the Lord in the following,

He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. And when He has led out His own sheep He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice.

The spiritual however are referred to in these words,

And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd. John 10:3-4, 16.

The good of love is that which constitutes the celestial Church, but the good of faith that which constitutes the spiritual Church. The truth of faith does not constitute the Church but leads into it.

1258. That 'from these the nations on the earth were spread abroad' means that in these all the forms of that Church's worship took rise, all forms that entailed goods and those that entailed evils, and that these goods or evils are meant by 'the nations', is clear from the meaning of 'nations'. As stated already, nation is used to mean a number of families grouped together, for a number of families that recognized the same father made up one nation in the Most Ancient and Ancient Churches. But with regard to 'nations' in the internal sense meaning forms of the Church's worship, and in particular as to the goods or the evils entering into that worship, the situation is that when angels contemplate families and nations they never envisage a nation, but only the worship existing with it. For they contemplate all from the point of view of essential character, that is, what kind of people they are. The essential character or quality of a person from which heaven contemplates him is charity and faith. This any person may easily grasp if he considers that when he contemplates any individual, or any family, or any nation, he is thinking mainly of their character, each person doing so from that which rules in him at the time. A mental image of their character instantly comes to mind, and it is from this image that he considers them. This applies even more to the Lord, and from Him to the angels, who are incapable of contemplating a person, family, or nation except from the point of view of their character as regards charity and faith. This is why in the internal sense 'nations' means nothing other than the Church's worship, and indeed as regards the essential character of that worship, which is good stemming from charity and the truth of faith from this. When the expression 'nations' occurs in the Word, angels never dwell on the idea of a nation in accordance with the historical sense of the letter, but on the idea of the good and truth present with the nation that is mentioned.