1159. And all fat and splendid things are departed from thee, signifies that all things good and true and satisfying and grand, which they were persuaded they would secure through that religious persuasion, are turned into opposites. This is evident from the signification of "fat things," as being what is good and thus satisfying (of which presently); also from the signification of "splendid things," as being what is true and thus grand. This is the signification of "splendid things," because splendor is from light, and the light of heaven is the Divine truth or the Divine wisdom, from which all things in the heavens shine with a splendor such as does not exist in the world; it may be compared with the splendor of a diamond turned to the sun, although the splendor seen in heaven exceeds this beyond measure, as the light of heaven exceeds the light of the world, with a difference so great that while it may be illustrated by comparisons it cannot be described. From that light all things magnificent in the heavens exist, which consist principally of forms corresponding to wisdom, which are such as can in no way be pictured in the world, and consequently cannot be described, for in them art itself is in its art, and knowledge in its wisdom, consequently they are of ineffable beauty. From all this it is clear why "splendid things" signify what is true and thus grand. [2] "Fat things" signify what is good and thus satisfying, because the fat is the best part of flesh and because it resembles oil, which signifies the good of love. That "fatness" signifies good and things pertaining to good, thus satisfactions and joys, can be seen from the following passages in the Word. In Isaiah:
In hearkening hearken unto Me, and eat ye that which is good, that your soul may be delighted in fatness (Isa. 55:2). "To eat that which is good" signifies to appropriate good to oneself; therefore "to be delighted in fatness" signifies to be in a state of satisfaction and blessedness. In Jeremiah:
I will fill the soul of the priests with fatness, and My people shall be satisfied with good (Jer. 31:14). Here, too, "fatness" signifies satisfaction and blessedness from the good of love. In David:
With fat and fatness my soul shall be satisfied, and my mouth will praise Thee with lips of songs (Ps. 63:5). "To have the soul satisfied with fat and fatness" signifies to be filled with the good of love and consequent joy; "to praise with lips of songs" signifies to worship by truths that gladden the mind. In the same:
They shall be filled with the fatness of Thy house, and Thou shalt make them drink of the river of Thy pleasures (Ps. 36:8). The "fatness" with which the house shall be filled signifies the good of love and consequent satisfaction, "house" being the things of the mind; "the river of pleasures" that he will make them to drink of signifies intelligence and consequent happiness. [3] In Isaiah:
In this mountain shall Jehovah of Hosts make to all peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of lees, of fat things of marrows, and of lees well refined (Isa. 25:6). This is said of the state of those who will acknowledge and worship the Lord. That "mountain" signifies a new church from these, "a feast of fat things, of fat things of marrows," signifies both natural and spiritual good with joy of heart, and "lees, and lees well refined" signify truths from that good with happiness from them. In the same:
Jehovah shall give the rain of thy seed with which thou shalt sow the land, and bread of the produce of the land, and it shall be fat and plenteous (Isa. 30:23). "Rain of seed" signifies the multiplication of truth, and "bread of produce" signifies fructification of good; "fat and plenteous" signifies good and truth with all satisfaction and happiness. In David:
They shall still have increase in old age, they shall be fat and green, to proclaim that Jehovah is upright (Ps. 92:14-15). "To be fat and green" signifies to be in the goods and truths of doctrine. In the same:
Jehovah shall remember all thy offerings and shall make fat thy burnt-offering (Ps. 20:3). "Offerings and burnt-offering" signify worship, and to "make fat" signifies worship from the good of love. "Fatness" has the same signification in Ezek. 34:3; Gen. 27:39; and elsewhere. As "fat and fatness" signified the good of love, and all worship which is truly worship must be from the good of love, therefore:
It was appointed that all the fat and fatness in the sacrifices should be burnt on the altar (Exod. 29:13, 22; Lev. 1:8; 3:3-16; 4:8-35; 7:3-4, 30-31; 17:6; Num. 18:17-18). For "sacrifices and burnt-offerings" signified worship. [4] As the Jewish and Israelitish nation was only in external worship, and not also in internal worship, and in consequence was in no good of love and in no good of charity and faith:
It was forbidden them to eat the fat and blood, and it was declared that they would be cut off if they should eat them (Lev. 3:17; 7:23, 25). But to those who are in internal worship and from that in external worship, such as those must be who will be of the Lord's New Church, it is said:
That they shall eat fat till they be full, and drink blood till they be drunken (Ezek. 39:19);
"fat" here signifying all the good of heaven and of the church, and "blood" all their truth. In the contrary sense those who are "fat" signify those who are nauseated at good, or who at least despise and reject it (Deut. 32:15; Jer. 5:28; 50:11; Ps. 17:10; 20:4; 68:31; 119:70; and elsewhere).
(Continuation)
[5] But such is not the lot of those who are permanently evil. All who are permanently evil are in hell according to the loves of their life; and there they think and speak from thought, although they speak falsities, and they will and from will do, although they do evils. Moreover, to one another they appear like men, although in the light of heaven they have monstrous forms. From this it can be seen why it is according to a law of order relating to reformation, which is called a law of Divine providence, that man is not let into the truths of faith and the goods of love except so far as he can be withheld from evils and held in goods even to the end of life, and that it is better for a man to be permanently evil than that he be good and afterwards evil, for thus he becomes profane. It is for this reason that the Lord, who provides all things and foresees all things, hides the operations of His providence, even to the extent that man scarcely knows whether there be any providence whatever, and man is permitted to attribute what he does to prudence, and what happens to him to fortune, and even to ascribe many things to nature, rather than that he should, through conspicuous and clear indications of the Divine providence and presence, plunge unseasonably into sanctities in which he will not continue. The Lord also permits like things by other laws of His providence, namely, by these, that man should have freedom, and that he should do whatever he does according to reason, thus wholly as if of himself, for it is better for a man to ascribe the workings of the Divine providence to prudence and fortune than to acknowledge them and still live as a devil. From this it is clear that the laws of permission, which are many, proceed from the laws of providence.
This page is part of 
© 2000-2001 The Academy of the New Church