935. Yielding its fruit every month, signifies that the Lord produces good with man according to every state of truth with him. By "a month" is signified the state of man's life as to truth, as will be shown presently. By "yielding fruit" is signified to produce goods; that "fruits" are the goods of love and charity was shown just above (n. 934); and because the Lord produces them with man essentially, though the man does them as of himself, and thus apparently, as was said above (n. 934), it is evident that it is signified that the Lord produces them from the inmost, when He is there. But it shall be told how it is to be understood, that the Lord produces the goods of charity with a man according to the state of truth with Him. He who believes that a man does good that is acceptable to the Lord, which is called spiritual good, unless there are truths from the Word in Him, is much deceived. Goods without truths are not goods, and truths without goods are not truths with man, although in themselves they may be truths; for good without truth is like the voluntary of man without the understanding, which voluntary is not human, but is like a beast's, or like that of a carved image which an artificer causes to operate. But the voluntary together with the intellectual becomes human according to the state of the understanding by which it exists. For the state of life of every man is such that his will cannot do anything except through the understanding, nor can the understanding think anything except from the will. It is similar with good and truth, since good is of the will, and truth is of the understanding. [2] It is manifest from this, that the good which the Lord produces with man is according to the state of the truth with him from which is his understanding. That this is signified by "the tree of life yielding its fruit every month," is because the state of truth with man is signified by month. That states of life are signified by all times, which are hours, days, weeks, months, years, ages, may be seen (n. 476, 562). That states of life as to truths, are signified by "months," is because the times determined by the moon are meant by "months," and truth of the understanding and of faith is signified by "the moon" (n. 332, 413, 414, 919). Similar things are meant by months in these passages:
Blessed of Jehovah is the land of Joseph for the precious things of the produce of the sun, and for the precious things of the produce of the months (Deut. 33:13-14). It shall come to pass that from month to month, and from sabbath to sabbath, all flesh shall come to bow themselves down before Jehovah (Isa. 66:23). On account of the signification of "month," which is that of the moon:
They made sacrifices at the beginning of every month or of the new moon (Num. 29:1-6; Isa. 1:14). And then also they sounded with the trumpets (Num. 10:10; Ps. 81:3). And it was commanded that they should observe the month Abib, in which they celebrated the Passover (Exod. 12:2; Deut. 16:1). States of truth are signified by "months," and in the opposite sense states of falsity with man, in Revelation above (also chap. 9:5, 10, 15; 11:2; 13:5). The same is signified by month (Ezek. 47:12).
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