[2] Anyone unacquainted with the true nature of the heavenly state inevitably supposes that those things as they are mentioned in the Word are no more than metaphorical ways of speaking and comparisons; yet they are true correspondences. For when angels talk about the Lord's regeneration of a person by means of the truths of faith and forms of the good of charity, there appear at the same time in the world of spirits below them fields, crops, fallow land, and also harvests. The reason for their appearance is their correspondence. Anyone acquainted with this is also able to see that such things have been created in the world in accordance with correspondences; for the whole natural order - that is, all the sky together with the sun, moon, and stars, and the earth together with every object in its three kingdoms - corresponds to such things as exist in the spiritual world, 2993, 5116, 5377, so that the natural order is a theatre which is representative of the Lord's kingdom, 3483, from which all things in the natural world derive their existence, 2987, 2989-2991, 3002, 8211. All this shows how it comes about that what belongs to the field - that is, what is sown in the field and what is harvested from the field - means things of the Church in general and in particular. Even comparisons made in the Word involve the use of things that are correspondential, see 3579, 8989.

[3] The fact that 'sowing the land (or the field)' means teaching and learning about the truths and forms of the good of faith which belong to the Church, and the fact that 'the produce' means resulting forms of the good of truth may be seen from many places in the Word, as in Isaiah,

Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation, therefore you will plant pleasant plants;^a but you will plant out the land^b with the vine-sprig of the foreigner. In the day you will cause your plant to grow, and in the morning your seed to flourish. The harvest will be a heap on the day of possession; but the grief will be desperate. Isa 17:10, 11.

Here such things as grow on earth are mentioned, but holy things of the Church are plainly meant by them. That is to say, 'planting pleasant plants' means such things as delight the affections, and 'planting out the land with the vine-sprig of the foreigner' teaching unauthentic truths.

[4] In Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah to the man of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to Jehovah, and remove the foreskins of your heart. Jer 4:3, 4.

'Sowing among thorns' means teaching and learning truths which however are choked and rendered unfruitful by 'the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and cravings', as the Lord teaches in Mark 4:7, 18, 19. This is why it says that they were 'to circumcise themselves to Jehovah and to remove the foreskins of their heart', that is, to purify themselves from the kinds of things that choke the truths and forms of the good of faith and render them unfruitful. For this meaning of 'circumcising', see 2039, 2056, 2632, 3412, 3413, 4462, 7045. Sowing wheat and reaping thorns in Jeremiah 12:13 has a similar meaning.

[5] In Micah,

I am tired of striking you, of laying you waste because of your sins. You will sow but not reap; you will tread olives but not anoint yourself with oil, and tread the new wine but not drink wine. Micah 6:13, 15.

'Sowing and not reaping' stands for receiving instruction in the truths of faith but to no further effect. 'Treading olives but not anointing themselves with oil' stands for receiving instruction in goodness of life but still failing to lead a good life. 'Treading the new wine but not drinking wine' stands for receiving instruction in truths flowing from good but still not making them their own. That such aspects of the Church or of heaven are meant by these words is evident from those that come before them, namely the words stating that they were laid waste in that way because of their sins. For one who is wicked and a sinner receives instruction but he does no more than store it away among items of knowledge in his memory which he draws on in his quest for reputation, position, and riches, thus which he uses to serve an evil end and purpose. As a consequence the truths and forms of good which the person has learned about forfeit the life of heaven, becoming dead and eventually lethal.

[6] In Isaiah,

Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, who send forth the foot of the ox and the ass. Isa 32:20.

'Sowing beside all waters' stands for receiving instruction in any truths whatever that can be put to useful service, 'sending forth the foot of the ox and the ass' for receiving instruction in external kinds of goodness and truth. In the same prophet,

Those who are to come Jacob will cause to take root. Israel will blossom and flower, so that the face of the earth may be filled with produce. Your teachers will not be compelled to flee away any more; and your eyes will be looking at your teachers, and your ears will hear the word behind you, saying, This is the way, go in it. Then Jehovah will give rain for your seed with which you will sow the land, and bread of the produce of the earth; and there will be fatness and wealthiness. On that day they will feed your livestock in a broad grassland. And oxen and asses tilling the land will eat pure fodder. The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, on the day when Jehovah will bind up the hurt^c of His people, and will heal the wound of their stroke. Isa 27:6; 30:20-26.

[7] When it says that Jehovah would give rain for the seed with which [the people] would sow the land, and bread of the produce of the earth, that they would feed their livestock in a broad grassland, that oxen and asses tilling the land would eat pure fodder, that the light of the moon would be as the light of the sun, and that the latter would be sevenfold, such things as have to do with the Church are meant. This is plainly evident to anyone who gives thought to the matter, as is the fact that receiving instruction in the truths and forms of the good of faith is meant. For it says, 'Your eyes will be looking at your teachers, and your ears will hear the word, saying, This is the way, go in it', and 'teachers' are those who give instruction, while 'the way' in which they were to go is the truth that doctrine teaches and the good in which life consists. But the specific meaning of each individual statement is evident from the meaning of 'rain', 'seed', 'produce', 'the land', 'livestock', 'a broad grassland', 'oxen and asses tilling the land', and 'the fodder they were to eat', as well as from the meaning of 'the light of the moon and of the sun', and also of 'sevenfold' and 'seven days'. And since such things as have to do with the Church are meant by them, that is, matters of doctrine and of life, it follows that this will take place 'on the day when Jehovah will bind up the hurt of His people, and will heal the wound of their stroke' - 'the hurt of the people' being falsity in doctrine that gradually creeps in owing to the dishonesty of teachers, to evil cravings, and to other causes, and 'the wound of their stroke' being consequent evil in life.

[8] Since everything among the Israelite and Jewish people was representative of heavenly and Divine realities, so too were fields and their produce, also vineyards, olive groves, and all cultivated areas, as well as herds and oxen, and in addition mountains, hills, valleys, rivers, and all else that met their eye. In this also lay the reason why, whenever they kept and carried out statutes and judgements, they were made rich in those earthly things, according to the promises made in various places in the Word, for example in Moses,

If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments and do them, I will give you rain in its season, and the land will give its produce, and the tree of the field will give its fruit. Lev. 26:3, 4.

And in Zechariah,

The vine will give its fruit, and the land will give its produce, and the heavens will give their dew. Consequently it will happen, that just as you were a curse among the nations, you will be a blessing. Zech 8:12, 13.

[9] But the opposite happened to them when they worshipped other gods, for then they no longer represented heavenly and Divine realities but hellish and devilish ones; and for this reason the land was no longer fertile or productive, but was consumed and laid waste, in accordance with the following in Moses,

If you serve other gods Jehovah's anger will be aroused against you; He will close heaven so that there is no rain and the land does not give its produce. Deut 11:16, 17.

And in the same author,

When Jeshurun became fat he kicked, and forsook God. They sacrifice to demons, to gods they have not known. Therefore a fire has flared up in My anger, and will burn right down to the lowest hell, and will consume the land and its produce. Deut 32:15, 17, 22.

[10] All this shows what it is that 'sowing the land' and 'its produce' means, and also where they derive that meaning from, as well as showing what it is they mean in the following places: In David,

Jehovah turns a wilderness into a pool of water, and parched land into streams of water. He makes the hungry dwell there, that they may sow fields and plant vineyards, and yield a fruitful harvest.^d Ps 107:35-37.

In the same author,

All the peoples will acclaim You. The land will give its produce; God will bless us. Ps 67:5-7.

In Moses,

Jehovah causes His people to ride on the heights of the land, and He feeds [them] with the produce of the fields; He causes them to suck honey out of the stony crag and oil out of the stony rock. Deut 32:13.

Notes