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Numbers Chapter 14

Summary of the Spiritual Sense

1. A continuation of the closing subject of the last chapter, describing more particularly the state of temptation and its effect with the wicked and with the good, vers. 1-10.
2. Revelation from the Lord that those who are merely natural will persist in their hatred of good, while the good will be delivered; including a description of the state of the good during the temptation, and of consolation given to them, notwithstanding that their temptation may continue, vers. 11-25.
3. Further, there is revelation giving a more particular description of the experiences of the wicked, of their vastation, and of the preservation of those who are established in good and truth, vers. 26-39.
4. Concerning the attempt of those who are in merely external worship without any genuine spiritual life to overcome evil by and from themselves, and the consequences thereof, vers. 40-45.

1.  All the congregation lifting up their voice and crying; and the people weeping that night, denotes that in the continuance of the strong temptation the man of the church is in a state of distress and grief on account of the obscurity which prevails with him, 7843, 375, 9202, 1259, 2689, 1712. In the first reference, we read "congregation is predicated of truth and assembly of good," in the passage commented upon; and the Hebrew word here translated "congregation," is there translated "assembly," and therefore denotes good, while "people" denotes truth, and thus the verse describes distress as to the will, and grief as to the understanding. Also in order to endure temptations successfully, a person must be potentially in good, as well as ostensibly in the truth, by means of which he carries on the combat.

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2.  All the children of Israel murmuring against Moses and against Aaron, denotes that there is opposition against Divine Truth and Divine Good, 8351; and the whole congregation, or rather assembly, saying to them, "Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!" denotes a state of despair arising from the merely natural loves, and from ignorance as to truths, 7843, 2001, 6119, 8567, 3322⁶, 5013, 2708.

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3.  The Lord bringing the Israelites into that land to fall by the sword, denotes the thought of the spiritual man in temptation that the life of religion seems to be threatened through falsities, 2001, 3705, 2799¹⁵; their wives and their little ones being a prey, denotes the danger of the destruction of the love of good and of innocence, 915, 430, 576³; and "were it not better for us to return into Egypt?" denotes a strong tendency to yield to the natural man by giving up the contest, 2454², 6661.

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4.  Saying one to another, "let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt," denotes the perception that the reasoning of the natural man, is a sufficient guide in life, and that natural delights alone, are to be desired, 9166⁷, 2454³, 6661.

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5.  Moses and Aaron falling on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of Israel, denotes a state of profound humiliation as to internals, apparently before prevailing externals, 7010, 9946, 1999, 7843. See ver. 1; and note that, according to the last reference, the words "assembly" and "congregation," ought to be reversed.

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6.  Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that spied out the land rending their clothes, denotes that the interior principles of truth from good and of good from truth, which have truly discerned the glory of the heavenly life, now mourn on account of apparently lost truth, 8595, 4112, 2150, chap 13:6, 8, 2714⁵, 3705, 4763.

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7.  Speaking to all the congregation of the children of Israel saying, denotes perception with the external man, 2951, 1822, 7843, ver. 1; and the land passed through and spied out being an exceedingly good land, denotes that the heavenly life, notwithstanding appearances, is the only genuine life, 3705, 3992, 2714⁵, 60.

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8.  "If the Lord delight in us," denotes the delight of good received from the. Lord, because it is man who changes and not the Lord, 2001, 997; bringing us into the land and giving it to us, denotes confidence of receiving the life of good and truth in externals, 3705, $899; and a land which flows with milk and honey, denotes the experience of the conjunction of good and truth and natural delight there, 5620⁹.

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9.  By not rebelling against the Lord, is denoted the submission, in this case, of the natural man, 1668; not fearing the people of the land, denotes not fearing that evil will prevail, 390, 391, chap 13:28, 29; their being bread for the spiritual man, denotes that by temptation, he becomes receptive of spiritual good, 276, 868²; their defence, or shadow, removed from over them, denotes that in evil there is no power, 8764⁸; the Lord being with the spiritual man, denotes when resisted from a principle of good, 2001; and not fearing them, denotes that a state of good destroys fear, 4180.

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10.  By the congregation bidding stone them with stones, is denoted that the merely natural man regards all these truths as falsities, 7843, 5156; by the glory of the Lord appearing in the tent of meeting, is denoted that, by the spiritual man, they are seen in the light of Divine Truth made manifest through all the heavens, 8427, 3540³; and by the glory appearing to all the children of Israel, is denoted during a state of worship in the Spiritual Church, 3654.

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11.  The Lord saying to Moses, denotes revelation from the Lord by Divine Truth, 2001, 7010; "How long will this people despise Me?" denotes that those who are merely natural will perish in their hatred of good, 1259, 59, 2001; "how long will they not believe in Me?" denotes that they will not have faith in Divine Truth, 36; and "for all the signs that I have worked among them," denotes, notwithstanding they may be compelled to obedience by miracles outwardly, 7273, 7290.

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12.  Smiting them with the pestilence, denotes that such persons must perish through the destruction of remains, 10219; disinheriting them, denotes that they will no longer abide in merely external worship, because the Israelites were not in any internal worship; and although the wicked whom they represented when, as in this case, they were disobedient, may be, in merely external worship in this life, yet, in the other life, they will cease to be so, 1799, 1802; and making of Moses a nation greater and mightier than they, denotes that those who are truly internal men by resistance to evil and victory over it, shall enjoy the realization of good from the Lord, and of truth thence even in their natural man, 7010, 1259, 7043, 2227, 6343.

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13.  By Moses saying, "then the Egyptians shall hear of it," is denoted that, in a state of temptation, the Spiritual also fear the uprisings of the merely natural man, 7010, 1822, 6661; and by the Lord bringing up the people from among them, is denoted the remembrance of His work of redemption, 8866; while by "in your might," is denoted the exercise of omnipotence in that work, 6343.

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14.  Telling it to the inhabitants of this land, denotes a dread of the incursions of falsity from the evil of the merely natural man, even in their state of prevailing good, 6661, 7291, 3066; the Egyptians hearing that the Lord is in the midst of this people, denotes that even their natural powers are under the influence of that good, 6661, 2641, 2001, 200, 1259; the Lord being seen face to face, or eye to eye, denotes to be in truths interiorly, 9306, 2148; the cloud standing over them denotes the Lord's presence with man in the literal sense of the Word, or exteriorly, 8106; and the Lord going before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, denotes that from the Word man has truths accommodated to his states of brightness and to his states of obscurity, 8106, 8108.

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15.  "If you shall kill this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of you will speak, saying," denotes that when, in temptation, men fear to be deprived of the heavenly life, and notwithstanding they have been in truths, they may be overwhelmed by the insinuation from their enemies, 7043, 10288, 2853, 48232, 9248, 2951, 1822. Observe here, that in the reference, 9248, the "fame," or "report" denotes what is false, while in this verse it denotes truths, according to the series; and that "speaking and saying," imply evil insinuations, as the following verse shows.

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16.  "Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which He swore to them, therefore He has slain them in the wilderness," denotes that because the realization of the heavenly life is an impossibility, therefore they must of necessity be given up to evil and its falsities, which is spiritual death, 2001, 8626, 3705, 2842, 7043, 10288, 2708².

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17.  "And now, I pray you, let the power of the Lord be great, according as you have spoken, saying," denotes that hence, those who are tempted, are earnest in their prayers to the Lord, and in their application to the Word, from which they have the perception, because Moses, in this case denotes those who are tempted, 7010, ver. 12; "I pray you," denotes earnest prayer, 2535; the power of the Lord being great, denotes the revelation of Divine Truth from Divine Good, thus revelation by application to the Word, 6343, 2227; and speaking and saying denotes influx and perception, 2951, 1822.

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18.  The Lord being slow to anger, and plentiful in mercy, denotes that He is, in reality, pure love, and abundant in mercy, 6997; forgiving iniquity and transgression, denotes that He will remove evil internally and externally, 868, 9156; by no means clearing the guilty, denotes the removal of evil only in the case of those who repent, 9075, 3400; and visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children upon the third and upon the fourth generation, denotes that only those who deliberately choose evil will remain in it, because evil which is increased and confirmed by falsity in a long series, is conjoined with that falsity, and becomes permanent, 8876, 8877, 8878.

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19.  "Pardon, I pray you, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your mercy, and according as you have forgiven this people from Egypt even until now," denotes that therefore the Spiritual know that their earnest desire for the removal of their evils, 7010, ver. 12, 2535, will be complied with according to the mercy of the Lord, 6997, even as is the case in every temptation in which man conquers by the power of the Lord, 868, 3400, 6661.

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20.  By the Lord saying, "I have pardoned according to your word," is denoted that therefore also they receive the assurance in themselves of complete deliverance according to Divine Truth, 2001, 1822, S68, 3400, 7010.

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21.  "But in very deed, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord," denotes that, nevertheless, as surely as the Lord is Life Itself; as surely as He made His Human Divine; and as surely as He regenerates man internally and externally, 1735. 1733, 984. 5922. 8427-

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22.  By all those men are clearly denoted the wicked generally, ver. 10; by seeing the Lord's glory and His signs which He worked in Egypt and in the wilderness, is denoted instruction in Divine Good and Divine Truth internally and externally, 2150, 8427, 7273, 7290, 5013, 2708; by their tempting the Lord these ten times, is denoted having the opportunity of being regenerated through temptations and remains in all fullness, 868², 576, 8468; and by their not hearken-iming to the Lord's voice, is denoted persistence in their own life of disobedience, 2542.

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23.  Their certainly not seeing the land which the Lord swore to their fathers, nor any of them that despised Him seeing it, denotes that they cannot enter into the heavenly state, which is from the Lord by irrevocable confirmation with the good; nor especially can they do so who have confirmed evil by falsity, 7738, 3705, 2001, 2842, 3703³, 9257.

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24.  By "my servant" is denoted he who acknowledges himself to be the servant of the Lord, 5161; by Caleb is denoted one receptive of the heavenly life, chap 13:6; by another spirit being in him, is denoted the life of love and charity internally, 5307; by his following the Lord fully, is denoted that he truly embodies that life in his actions, 9251; by bringing him into the land whereinto he went, is denoted that he finally realizes that life in fullness, 3705; and by his seed possessing it, is denoted that, with him, good and truth will abundantly increase, 1940, 1941, 2658.

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25.  The Amalekite and the Canaanite dwelling in the valley, denotes that, in the meantime, evils and falsities internal and external, will occupy the natural man, chap 13:29, 1723; and to-morrow turning and going into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea, denotes that therefore changes of state follow continually, and that other temptations are impending through influx from the hells in a state of obscurity, 3998, 6226, 1457, 2708, 4867, 8099.

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26.  This is evident, because by Jehovah is denoted the Divine Being as to His love, 2001; by speaking is denoted influx, 2951; by Moses is represented Divine Truth, or the Word, 7010; by Aaron, in subordination to Moses, is represented doctrine, 7089; and by saying is denoted perception, 1822.

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27.  By "How long shall I bear with this evil congregation," or rather assembly, "which murmur against me?" is denoted that temptations must needs continue with the man of the Spiritual Church, who is not yet wholly confirmed in good, 2001, 9937, 7843, 8351; and by "I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel which they murmur against me," is denoted that as long as evil is active, and at the same time there is perception of Divine Truths, 8351, 2691, 2692.

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28.  "Say to them," denotes perception, 1822; "as I live, says the Lord," denotes since the Lord is Life Itself, 1735, 2001; and "surely as you have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you," denotes that the communication of that life to man, is altogether according to the state of the man, 4292⁴, 3869, 2618.

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29.  By "your carcases shall fall in this wilderness," is denoted that the wicked, who are in external worship and yet without spiritual life, are vastated of all spiritual truth, and are thus in spiritual darkness, ver. 10, 7843, 5156, 3900¹⁰, 7102, 6000⁹, on Ps 91:5, 6, 2708²; by "all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number," is denoted notwithstanding that, outwardly, they formed a portion of the Spiritual Church, chap 2:32; and by "from twenty years old and upward which have murmured against me," is denoted that they were then in intelligence as to truths, some perception of charity, and endured temptations, 2280, 10225, 1664, chap 1:3,

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30.  By "surely you shall not come into the land concerning which I lifted up my hand that I would make you dwell therein," is denoted that neither can they enjoy the life of heaven, which the Lord from His Divine Omnipotence is both willing and able to impart to man, 1853, 3705, 5327, 7545, 4480; and by "save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun," is denoted that they who are in good from Divine Truths, and in truths derived from good, alone do this, ver. 6.

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31.  "Your little ones," denotes those who are in innocence and yet in apparent danger through ignorance, 47972; "which you said should be a prey," denotes, not only danger through ignorance, but also from hereditary defilements, 576³, 8876; "them will I bring in," denotes that they are capable of receiving good, and do receive it from the Lord, 2001, 9500, 3705; "and they shall know the. land," denotes that they can be instructed in good and truth, 2230, 3705; and "which you have rejected," denotes which the wicked reject and despise, 9257.

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32.  "As for you, your carcases shall fall in this wilderness," denotes that therefore the wicked must necessarily perish through vastation as to good and truth, and through the adoption of the evil and falsity which they have confirmed in themselves, ver. 29.

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33.  "And your children shall be wanderers," or shepherds, "in the wilderness forty years," denotes that those who are capable of regeneration by the reception of innocence, are instructed in their obscurity, and endure a full course of spiritual temptations, 4797², 6044, 2708, 730; "and shall bear your whoredoms until your carcases be consumed in the wilderness," denotes that they shall be subject to the fluctuations caused by the falsification of truth through evil until they themselves are vastated of all evil and falsity, 9937, 6348, ver. 29.

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34.  "After the number of the days in which you spied out the land, even forty days," denotes that the tendencies to evil from hell with man, are equally balanced by tendencies to good with him from the Lord, because by numbering is denoted quality as to evil or good, 10217, and forty days denotes a full course of temptation, in which man forms his character for good or for evil in freedom, 730⁴, 1937⁵, Deut 8:2, 3, 16; "for every day a year," denotes that all general states involve those which are particular, 487, 488; and "shall you bear your iniquities, even forty years, and you shall know my alienation," or the "revoking of my promise," denotes the necessity that every one should endure temptations, and should freely choose his own eternal life, because by bearing iniquities, is denoted the removal of evil, by man, as from himself, but in reality from the Lord, 9937; by forty years is denoted during a full course of temptation, 730⁴, 1937, Deut 8:2, 3, 16; and by knowing the Lord's alienation, or "the revoking of His promise," or His "aversion," is denoted the knowledge that evil is opposed to good from the Lord, and thus that man is bound to make his choice between evil on the one hand and good on the other, 3994¹, 5798.

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35.  By " I the Lord have spoken," is denoted the unchangeable character of Divine Good and Divine Truth, 2001, 7304, 10602; by "surely this will I do to all this evil congregation," or rather assembly, "that are gathered together against me," is denoted that evil is the opposite of good, and falsity the opposite of truth, 10602, 7843, 679, 6112; and by "in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die," is denoted that the wicked are consumed by their own falsities, and are overwhelmed by their own evils, 2708, 10431, 2908.

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36.  The men whom Moses sent out to spy the land, denote those who have the opportunity of choosing good and truth, chap 13:2; and their returning and making all the congregation, or rather assembly, murmur against him by bringing up an evil report against the land, denote those who turn away from good and truth and intensify the state of temptation with the man of the church because they are unwilling to engage in the conflict with evil, 2454, 7843, 8351, 7010, 4674, 3705.

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37.  By those men dying by the plague before the Lord, is denoted that they could confirm their evil by falsity, destroy in themselves all remains, and thus render their salvation impossible, 10219.

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38.  By Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remaining alive of those men who went to spy out the land, is denoted that those who are in truth derived from good, and in good derived from truth, and who do not confirm their evils by falsities, are in the enjoyment of the life of good, because they have confirmed that life by truths, ver. 6, 6119, ver. 2.

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39.  Moses telling the Lord's words to all the children of Israel, and the people mourning greatly, denotes that also Divine Truth is revealed to the man of the church when corrupted; and the first effect thereof is mourning on account of their sin and weakness, 3209, 3654, 2910.

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40.  Rising up early in the morning denotes a state of illustration, 2540; getting up to the top of the mountain, denotes, in this case, the excitement of selfish fear, 1691; and by their saying, "Lo, we be here, we will go up to the place which the Lord has promised: for we have sinned," is denoted that there is willingness to be obedient and outwardly, at least, to adopt the heavenly life, and forsake their sin, 3335, 3705, 2001, 5076.

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41.  Moses saying, "Wherefore do you transgress the commandment of the Lord, seeing it shall not prosper? " denotes that Divine Truth perceives the state of externalism, and therefore of disobedience, and affirms that man cannot overcome evil by and from himself, 7010, 1822, 3400, 9156, 8560, 2150, 4972.

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42.  "Go not up, for the Lord is not among you; that you be not smitten down before your enemies," denotes that outward resistance to evil only, does not give conjunction with the Lord; nor can it overcome the evils of the selfish life, 1543, 2001, 200, 10510, 2851.

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43.  "For there the Amalekite and the Canaanite are before you," denotes that with such persons interior and exterior evils prevail, 8593, 1063; "you shall fall by the sword," denotes that falsities from those evils are destructive of spiritual life, 2799"; "because you are turned back from following the Lord," denotes that they avert themselves from the Supreme Life, 2454, 2001; and "therefore the Lord is not with you," denotes that therefore they cannot receive it, 2001.

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44.  Their presuming to go up to the top of the mountain, denotes that the man in this external state is presumptuous, and elevates himself as if secure of victory, 1543, 1691; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord, nevertheless, not departing out of the camp, denotes that such persons have no interior conjunction with the Lord, and with Divine Truth; nor are they prepared for a real conflict, 9396¹, 9396⁵, 7010, 4236.

    45.The Amalekite coming down and the Canaanite from the mountain, and smiting them, and beating them down even to Hormah, denotes that evils interior and exterior break forth from within them; and that evil, then, both as to the will and the understanding, impels them to their ultimate destruction, 8593, 1063, 1691, 10510, 9081, 8165. The last reference is intended to illustrate the signification of Hormah, which means destruction, or utter devastation, and therefore denotes this.

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Discussion

It is evident from this whole chapter that many particulars concerning temptations, are contained in its internal sense, and that it will be profitable to consider them. First, therefore, be it observed that spiritual temptation is a conflict in the mind of the man of the church between opposing principles of evil and good, the former being represented by the Israelites who murmured, and the latter by Caleb and Joshua. And it must be remembered here, that it is the tempted man himself who must decide, from the state of reason and liberty in the exercise of which the Lord preserves him. And yet this does not appear to him who is enduring the temptation, because he is in that condition, which is represented appropriately by night. And when it is said that the whole of the people cried and wept in that night, it is to be understood, again, that the tempted man himself, who is required to decide, experiences that state of temporary darkness and distress. And not only so; but it is, thirdly, the man himself who for the time being, opposes the Divine Truth and Divine Good represented by, Moses and Aaron.

For if is a fact that when we are tempted, we appear to ourselves to be the very evil by which we are tempted, and to desire in our despair, the extinction of our lives from the lack of natural delights, and from scarcity as to truths, which are respectively signified by Egypt, and the wilderness. But, of course, nobody's life can ever be extinguished, the wicked indeed only desiring the cessation in themselves of the heavenly life, and the good in their extremity only fearing lest they should lose it.

And then look at the next experience, which is an intensification of the state of despair. For with regard to the wicked who will fail, they look upon the Lord as their enemy, who will destroy them, when yet their own falsities take away their true spiritual life, and their own evil affections matured and incipient, deprive them of the love of what is good, and of all innocence; while on the other hand, the good fear greatly the loss of their truths by apparently prevailing falsities, and the loss also of their cherished heavenly affections. And now, therefore, the state of despair culminates with the good, and they have a strong impulse to give themselves up to what is merely natural by which they are tempted; and the wicked actually do this by confirming themselves in their evils through falsities.

But now follows another aspect of the temptation, and upon this we may briefly reflect. The good do not resist evil from themselves, as the wicked oppose good; on the contrary, they come into a state of profound humiliation, inmostly acknowledging that, of themselves, they are nothing but evil, while, in a lower degree, they mourn for the apparent loss of good and truth as described in the correspondential language of vers. 5-6. And now, therefore, as a consequence of this, they have consolation and hope, and confidence from the Lord that the heavenly state, after which they are striving, is exceedingly desirable, that internally it is one of felicity, and that externally it is filled with natural delights, which are so often in the Word called milk and honey; and they no longer fear, but are certain, from their love of good, that they shall realize it, that their temptations are a means, and that in evil there is no power. But, lastly, how different is the result of a state of trial with the evil and with the good; for the former reject good, and therefore regard the truth as falsity, while the latter are greatly enlightened by it, not only internally but also externally.

And, then, who cannot see in preparing to study the second section, how wonderfully revelation was adapted to the state of the Israelites, although it was so framed that at the same time it might contain the internal sense, which should afterwards be revealed? For here we find that even the Lord Himself is described as acting like a mere man, who is subject to fits of anger, and who is capable of being diverted from his desire to destroy, or remove those who oppose him by selfish considerations and fears. But we know that the Lord does not so act; and therefore we may the more easily discern that the literal sense of the Word contains accommodated truths, or appearances, which are only the coverings for those which are genuine, and that for these we ought to look. Let us, then, do this, and be thereby spiritually instructed.

The merely natural man all over the world, here represented by the Israelites in their state of opposition to the Lord, despises what is really good, and will not believe what is really true, and miracles performed before him would not convince him. He even destroys in himself those remains of such good and truth which, from his childhood, have been communicated to him, from the Divine Spirit; and instead of becoming an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven, he turns away from it; while, the spiritual-natural man, here signified by Moses, becomes truly receptive of the Divine life. But, in a state of temptation, even this man is in fear, lest his merely natural loves should triumph, and yet he is consoled by the thought that he is a free man because the Lord has redeemed him. But still his temptation continues, and he dreads, not only his own perverted external natural feelings, but also the various interior falsities, and the pride of selfish love, which are denoted by the inhabitants of the land to be conquered, and especially by the sons of Anak, and he dreads that spiritual death in the wilderness, from which none but the Lord can save him. Now is not this a true picture? But consider the next, which extends to ver. 20 inclusive. The Lord is love itself and mercy itself, and is always ready to forgive; but pardon for sin is not unconditional, as it is here so powerfully shown; and, moreover, it depends in every case upon the state of the man; and hence we read elsewhere, "If you be willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it" (Isaiah 1:19-20). We need not wonder, therefore, at what is said in the remainder of this section. But here we would call particular attention to the statement of ver. 22, which declares that the Israelites had tempted the Lord ten times, and means, spiritually, "having the opportunity of being regenerated through temptations and remains in all fullness." That is to say, no one is ever condemned to the infernal life, without having had the opportunity of choosing the heavenly life. Of course, it is clear that the Lord is not tempted by any one, as the literal sense states; and neither does He tempt any one, although it is said that He did tempt Abraham; for it is impossible that the unchangeable, the pure, and the holy Lord can thus be affected or thus act. But man is tempted through the evils that appertain to him, and which he has indulged; and even in this way there is no spiritual temptation, through the incitement to do evil only, but there must be principles of goodness and truth with man as well from the Lord, and these are called remains, and are signified by the number ten, the same number also signifying what is full, or complete. For remains are stored up with man by the Lord, throughout his whole life; nor is any man ever led or permitted by the Lord to enter into temptations, who has not been supplied with truths adequate to the conflict. And, indeed, it may easily be seen, by those who reflect, that an impulse to do evil from some selfish passion, and a resistance to that impulse from some other selfish motive, is not a conflict between good and evil, or between truth and falsity in which spiritual temptation really consists. And hence now we may see how very much spiritual instruction is involved in the statement that the Israelites had tempted the Lord ten times. And thus we might comment on every sentence in the section, had we space. But let us add only a few words. We are taught to pray: "Lead us not into temptation," first, because no one should desire to have his evils excited; secondly, because the Lord leads man continually, and especially during temptations; and, thirdly, because the Lord by means of temptations delivers us from evil.

As the next section describes the experiences of the wicked and their vastation, and the final deliverance of the good; as vastation is a term applied both to the wicked and the good; and as the subject is not clearly understood in some respects, the following remarks upon it are first given as a general illustration of the contents of the section. To vastate, or devastate, is to lay waste, and therefore specifically it signifies to deprive the wicked during the process of their judgement of the truths they have acquired in their earthly life, and which might have been the means of their salvation, had they been properly used by choosing the heavenly life in preference to the selfish life, which constitutes the ruling love of the infernals. But it may be thought that, surely, the Lord does not deprive any one of truths, since it must be a good thing to retain them. The Lord, however, does not thus vastate evil spirits; it is their own evils which reject truths, because evils and truths cannot agree together. It therefore follows, that to the wicked in the other life are given the falsities which agree with their evils, while to the good are given the truths which agree with their good, according to the Lord's words in speaking of the Judgement, where it is written, "For to every one that has shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that has not, even that which he has shall be taken away" (Matt 25:29). That is, to him who has goodness shall truths in agreement therewith be given, while from him that has not goodness, shall the truths be taken away which he has. This taking away of truths, therefore, from the evils, or their rejection by the evil, is vastation in the proper sense; but at the same time the term is also applied to the good in order to describe the removal from them, in the process of their judgement, of the falsities and other imperfections that they have contracted, and which do not agree with their ruling love, or essential heavenly delight. And it may be here remarked, that much suffering is sometimes endured by the good in this vastation, and that this suffering is called punishment, even us is the suffering of the infernals themselves, which naturally follows as the consequence of indulgence in their evils. But, nevertheless, all punishments, whether they occur for the purification of the good, or for the restraining of the wicked, are beneficial (AC 696).

And from what has now been said, it may be clearly seen, generally, that the punishment denounced upon the children of Israel, and upon the ten spies who encouraged them in their opposition to Caleb and Joshua, denotes the vastation of the wicked, and hence that the particulars recorded relate to that vastation. And thus it is evident that, by their carcases falling in the wilderness, is signified, that the wicked are deprived of all true spiritual life; that by their not coming into the promised land is spiritually meant, that the wicked cannot enter into the heavenly life; that by Caleb and Joshua and the children of that generation entering, is denoted that the good do come into heaven; that by their wandering in the wilderness forty years, is denoted the temptations of the good; and that by knowing the Lord's alienation is denoted that the wicked will know that evil is opposed to good from the Lord, and cannot be reconciled with it. And, further, it may thus be known that, by being consumed and dying, is signified that the wicked are consumed by their own falsities, and are overwhelmed by their own evils; that by the spies who died by the plague, are represented the wicked who perish by the destruction of remains in themselves; and that by Joshua and Caleb alone remaining alive, is denoted that those alone who are obedient, and do not confirm their evils by falsities, are in the enjoyment of the life of good, which really constitutes the heavenly life.

But the last section is by no means the least important of our chapter. For, in a degenerate age and state of the church, nothing is more prevalent than a selfish desire for salvation, which is not attended by a knowledge of what salvation is; and which causes men to imagine that merely outward resistance to evil is sure of victory over it. But the particulars before us show the contrary. Men are always instructed from the Word concerning Divine things; and in its literal sense are plainly set forth the consequences of an evil life, just as it is said that Moses told all the people the words of the Lord. And the merely natural man, who outwardly acknowledges the Word is frequently alarmed at its threatenings against the wicked, so that a state of fear and of mourning for sin is produced, which is well represented by the mourning of the Israelites on this occasion. But let us note carefully, how Divine Truth clearly discerns the real condition of a man internally, and warns him against seeking salvation from the fear of punishment only. "Go not up," it says, "for the Lord is not among you." How true, then, is this picture to human experience! And also, in spite of being warned, how many are there who presume to "go up into the mountain," that is, to put on the appearance of being in genuine love, not aware that inward evils beset them; that external worship without internal is of no use; and that if their inmost love is not in harmony with the life of the celestial angels, or with that Divine Law, which they so clearly perceive, represented here by the ark, there is no real victory for them! No wonder, therefore, that such persons do not overcome their spiritual enemies; that they are driven back in their vain attempt; and that, at length, they are indeed entirely devastated. Above all things, therefore, let the man of the church be genuine; let him know that real truth alone is competent to overcome evil; and that real goodness from the Lord is that alone which entitles him to enjoy the hidden manna, and the white stone, and the new name, which no man knows but he that receives it (Rev 2:17). For these are the love of good, the pure truth, and the new quality of the fully regenerated external man.