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The bitumen and pitch covering the ark
6724. And daubed it with bitumen and with pitch. That this signifies good mixed with evils and falsities, is evident from the signification of “bitumen,” as being good mixed with evils; and from the signification of “pitch,” as being good mixed with falsities. Bitumen and pitch have these significations from their being of a fiery nature, and in the Word by what is fiery is signified good, and in the opposite sense evil; but as they are sulphurous, and also black, they signify evil and falsity; as in Isaiah:
The day of the vengeance of Jehovah; the torrents thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into sulphur, and the land thereof into burning pitch (Isaiah 34:8-9);
“pitch” and “sulphur” denote falsities and evils. Hence then it is that by “she daubed it with bitumen and pitch,” is signified good mixed with evils and falsities.
[2] As regards the thing itself-that encompassing the truth Divine there was good mixed with evils and falsities, no one can understand this unless he knows how the case is with the reformation of man. When a man is being reformed, he is kept by the Lord as to his internal in good and truth, but as to his external he is let into his evils and falsities, consequently among infernal spirits who are in these evils and falsities. These hover round him, and endeavor by every method to destroy him. But the good and truth which flow in through the internal render him so safe that the infernal spirits cannot do him the least harm; for that which acts inwardly prevails immeasurably over that which acts outwardly; because what is interior, in consequence of being purer, acts upon each and every individual particular of the exterior, and thus disposes the external to its will. But in this case there must be good and truth in the external, wherein the influx from the internal can be fixed; and in this way good can be among evils and falsities, and yet be in safety. Everyone who is being reformed is let into this state, and in this way the evils and falsities in which he is, are removed, and goods and truths are inserted in their place.
[3] Unless this secret is known, it cannot possibly be known why around the Divine truth in a man there are goods mixed with evils and falsities, signified by the bitumen and pitch wherewith the little ark was daubed in which the infant was laid. Be it known further that good can be mixed with evils and falsities, but that nevertheless they are not on this account conjoined, for each shuns the other, and by a law of order each separates itself from the other. For good is of heaven, and evil and falsity are of hell; therefore, as heaven and hell are separate, so also each and all things from them separate themselves.
The Lord is received according to the state of the finite mind that is receiving Him
Heaven and Hell 55. Since all receive the heaven which is around them according to the quality of the heaven which is within them, therefore they receive the Lord in the same manner because the Divine of the Lord makes heaven. Hence, when the Lord manifests Himself in any society, He appears there according to the quality of the good in which the society is, and thus not the same in one society as in another. Not that this dissimilitude is in the Lord, but in those who see from their own good, thus according to it.
True Christian Religion 25(3) … the Divine Esse, which is in itself God, is the Same; not the Same simply, but infinitely, that is, the Same from eternity to eternity; the Same every where and the Same with everyone and in everyone; and that all variableness and change are in the recipient, caused by the state of the recipient.
Arcana Coelestia 4206 . That such various things of the Lord are represented, is not because various things are in the Lord, but because His Divine is variously received by men. This is like the life in man, which flows in and acts upon the various sensory and motive organs of the body, and upon the various members and viscera, and everywhere presents variety. For the eye sees in one way, the ear hears in another, the tongue perceives in another; so the arms and hands move in one way, and the loins and the feet in a different way; the lungs act in one way and the heart in another; the liver in one way and the stomach in another, and so on; but nevertheless it is one life which actuates them all so variously, not because the life itself acts in different ways, but because it is differently received; for the form of each organ is that according to which the action is determined.
True Christian Religion 366. (3) What flows in from the Lord is received by man according to his form. Form means here man’s state in respect both to his love and to his wisdom, consequently in respect both to his affections for the goods of charity and to his perceptions of the truths of faith. That God is one, indivisible, and the same, from eternity to eternity, not the same simply but infinitely the same, and that all variableness is in the subject in which He dwells… That the recipient form or state induces variations, can be seen from the life of infants, children, youths, adults, and aged persons; in each there is the same life, because the same soul, from infancy to old age; but as one’s state is varied according to age and what is suitable thereto, in like manner is life perceived.
Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.
