the situation of any young women before they marry; or to the situation of
any female servants before they become heads of households. This is gen-
erally the situation of apprentices before they go into business for them-
selves, of soldiers before they become ranking officers, and of male servants
before they become heads of households. The first state in every case is a
kind of slavery while the second state belongs to our own will and intellect.
These two states are also represented by various things in the animal
kingdom. The first state is represented by animals and birds as long as they
are still with their mothers and fathers, when they follow them around
constantly and are fed and raised by them. The second state is represented
when they leave their parents and take care of themselves.
Caterpillars are another example. They represent the first state when
they inch along and eat leaves; the second, when they shed their old form
and become butterflies.
These two states are also represented by members of the plant king-
dom. The first state is represented when a plant grows from a seed and is
decked out with branches, boughs, and leaves; the second is represented
when the plant produces fruit and generates new seeds. This sequence is
equivalent to the way truth and goodness join together, in that all parts
of a tree correspond to kinds of truth, and pieces of fruit correspond to
good things [that result].
If we stay in the first state and do not go on to the second we are like
a tree that produces only leaves but no fruit. It says in the Word that this
type of tree has to be uprooted and thrown into the fire (Matthew [ 7 : 19 ];
21 : 19 ; Luke 3 : 9 ; 13 : 6 – 9 ; John 15 : 5 , 6 ). This is also like a slave who does not
want to be free. There used to be a law that slaves like this had to be
taken to a door or a post and have their ears pierced with an awl (Exodus
21 : 6 ). “Slaves” are people who have no partnership with the Lord. “The
free” are people who have such a partnership; for the Lord says, “If the
Son makes you free, you are truly free” (John 8 : 36 ).
9. From now on, no Christians will go to heaven unless they believe in 107
the Lord God the Savior and turn to him alone.We read in Isaiah, “Behold,
I am creating a new heaven and a new earth, and the earlier heaven and
earth will not be remembered or overwhelm the heart. Behold, I am
going to make Jerusalem a rejoicing and its people a joy” (Isaiah 65 : 17 ).
In the Book of Revelation we read, “I saw a new heaven and a new earth,
and I saw the holy Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, pre-
pared like a bride for her husband. And the One sitting on the throne
§107 the lord the redeemer & redemption 141