38. 1801. Not any evil whatsoever has yet been injected by demons that was not turned by God the Messiah to good. This is clear from so many proofs that there could never be any doubt about it. For it has always happened with me, and so often that I cannot number the occasions, that whatever evil was injected by them was turned to good, and whatever falsity, to truth; likewise whatever sadness, into cheer.* From this, one may easily enough deduce that with the corrupt, both spirits and men, as regards their state after death, the opposite occurs - as with individuals, so with a community, therefore with the greatest community.* mThis is said from experience of many months, now nine, and day by day, so often that I am unable to number the instances. It occurred so frequently and in such a remarkable way that they have never yet, not even once, been able to succeed in their attempts.n [Good; Evil] [See what precedes from WE 1835, treating in general of Gen. 37:1-11, but especially 1845-46, treating of Gen. 3:15.] 1847. But as to how the devil can "bruise the heel" of the Messiah, this happens only through human beings, and was actually done through the sons of Jacob at the city of Shechem, as well as when they sold Joseph [Gen. 27:12-28], and their own descendants did it likewise. For the devil and his gang lead human beings in the same way as they lead themselves, and they do not know that they are not those people, just as all spirits who are attached to people, even upright spirits and those of the Messiah Himself. They also, at such times, when guiding a spiritual person, are scarcely aware that they themselves are not people on earth. This is known to me from actual experience; for the spirits themselves, * In the original, this paragraph is emphasized by the marginal notation, "These words must be well noted."