241. Hoofdstuk 19. Over de Kerk.

Wat bij de mens de hemel maakt, dat maakt ook de kerk, want zoals de liefde en het geloof de hemel maken, aldus maken ook de liefde en het geloof de kerk. Alsus blijkt uit wat over de hemel eerder is gezegd, wat de kerk is.

159. That thou sufferest the woman Jezebel, signifies the delight of the love of self and of the world. This is evident from the signification of "the woman Jezebel," as being the church wholly perverted; for "woman" in the Word signifies the church (SeeArcana Coelestia 252, 253, 749, 770, 6014, 7337, 8994), here the church perverted. And as all perversion of the church springs from those two loves, namely, from the love of self and the love of the world, "Jezebel" signifies the delight of these loves. The church in which these loves reign is called "the woman Jezebel," because Jezebel the wife of Ahab represented in the Word the delight of these loves, and the perversion of the church thereby. For all things that are written in the Word, even in the historical portion, are representative of such things as are of the church (See The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 249-266).

Every perversion of the church springs from these two loves when they reign over the heavenly loves, because these two loves are altogether opposite to the two loves that constitute heaven and the church, which are love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor, and because from these two loves all evils and the falsities thence spring (See in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 59, 61, 65-82 and in the work on Heaven and Hell 252, 396, 399, 400, 486, 551-565, 566-575).

[2] That Jezebel the wife of Ahab represented what has been said will be seen presently; but something shall first be said about the delights of loves. Every man is such as his love is, and every delight of his life is from his love; for whatever favors his love he perceives as delightful, and whatever is adverse to his love he perceives as undelightful; consequently it is the same whether it be said that man is such as his love is, or such as his life's delight is. Those, therefore, who are loves of self and of the world, that is, they, with whom these loves reign, have no other life's delight or no other life than infernal life. For these loves, or the life's delights from them that are permanent, turn all their thoughts and intentions to self and the world; and so far as they turn them to self and to the world, they so far immerse them in man's proprium [what is his own], which he has by inheritance, thus at the same time in evils of every kind; and so far as man's thoughts and intentions are turned to his inherited proprium, which in itself is nothing but evil, so far are they turned away from heaven. For man's interiors, which are of his mind, that is, of his thought and intention, or of his understanding and will, are actually turned to his own loves, that is, downwards to self where the love of self and its delights reign, and outwards, that is, away from heaven towards the world, where the love of the world and its delights reign. It is otherwise when man loves God above all things, and his neighbor as himself; then the Lord turns the interiors which are of man's mind, or of his thought and intention, to Himself, thus turning them away from man's proprium [what is his own], and elevating them; and this without man's knowing anything about it. From this it is that man's spirit, which is the man himself, after its release from the body is actually turned to its own love, because that constitutes his life's delight, that is, his life. (That all spirits are actually turned to their own loves, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 17, 123, 142-145, 151, 153, 272, 510, 548, 552, 561; and above, n. 41)

[3] This may be illustrated somewhat by the fact that all the least parts of the body turn themselves to the common center of our earth, which is called the center of gravity; and from this it is that wheresoever men are, even those who are in directly opposite positions, and are called antipodes, all stand upon their feet. Yet this center of gravity is merely nature's center of gravity; but there is another center of gravity in the spiritual world, and this, with man, is determined by the love in which he is, downwards if his love is infernal, but upwards if his love is heavenly; and whichever way man's love is determined, in the same way his thoughts and intentions are determined; for these are in the spiritual world, and are impelled by the forces that are there.

[4] From this it can now be seen that the perversion of the church with men, which is signified by "the woman Jezebel," is solely from the loves of self and of the world, since these turn man's interiors, which are of his mind, downward, thus turning them away from heaven. It is said "the perversion of the church with men," because the church is in man, as heaven is in the angel; every church is constituted of those that are of the church, and not of any others, even though they may be born where the church is; as can be clearly seen from this, that love and faith constitute the church, and love and faith must be in man, consequently the church must be in him. (That heaven is in the angel, and the church in man, see in the work on Heaven and Hell, n. 33, 53, 54, 57, 454; and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 232, 233, 241, 245, 246.)

8994. 'She shall not go out as the male slaves do' means a state unlike truth devoid of affection. This is clear from the meaning of 'going out' - out of servitude - as a state after conflict or labour, dealt with above in 8980, 8984; and from the meaning of 'the male slaves' as those imbued with truths and not complementary good, dealt with in 8974, thus those imbued with truth devoid of affection. From all this it is evident that 'she shall not go out as the male slaves do' means a state unlike truth devoid of affection.

[2] The implications of this must be stated briefly. There are those who are imbued with truth and no affection for it, and there are those who are imbued with an affection. The former were represented by male slaves from the children of Israel, the latter by female slaves, also from the children of Israel. But 'female slaves' did not represent those with a genuine affection for truth, only those with an affection that is not genuine, as may be seen from what has been shown immediately above in 8993.

[3] The difference between those imbued with truth devoid of affection, who were represented by the male slaves, and those imbued with an affection for truth, who were represented by the female slaves, is akin to the difference between knowing truth and willing truth. Knowing truth belongs solely to the understanding part of the mind, whereas willing truth belongs to the will part; consequently the difference is akin to that between knowledge and affection. Those imbued with a knowledge of truth and good, meant by male slaves or the men in the representative sense, have no affection for truth and good, only for the knowledge of them; consequently they are delighted with truths for the sake of knowing them. But those imbued with an affection for truth and good, meant by female slaves or the women in the representative sense, have no affection for the knowledge of truth and good, only for truths and forms of good themselves, as they hear and perceive them from others. This kind of affection exists generally with good women, but the affection for knowledge of truth exists generally with men.

[4] So it is that those who are spiritually perceptive have a liking for women with an affection for truths, but not for women who concentrate on gaining knowledge. For it is in keeping with Divine order for men to know things and for women purely to have an affection for them, so the women do not love themselves because of their knowledge but love men; and from this springs the desire for marriage. This also is why those of old said that women must keep silent in the Church. All this being so, factual and religious knowledge are represented by men, but affections by women; at this point affection for truth that pours out of the delights belonging to natural kinds of love is represented by female slaves. And because people with this kind of affection are of an entirely different disposition from those with an affection for knowledge, the situation with female slaves is entirely different from that with male slaves. So this is what is meant by 'a female slave shall not go out as the male slaves do'. It should be recognized however that this is the situation among those who belong to the Lord's spiritual kingdom, whereas among those who belong to His celestial kingdom the reverse applies. There husbands are the ones with affection, and wives are the ones with knowledge of good and truth; and this is what the desire for marriage springs from among them.