Heaven and Hell - Swedenborg Foundation

HEAVEN AND HELL 295
and longed to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich
man’s table, and who was carried by angels into heaven, means
the nations that have no knowledges of good and truth and yet
desired them (Luke 16:19–31). Also the rich that were called
to a great supper and excused themselves mean the Jewish
nation, and the poor brought in in their place mean the
nations outside of the church (Luke 14:16–24).
[3] By the rich man of whom the Lord says:
It is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for a
rich man to enter into the kingdom of God (Matt. 19:24);
the rich in both the natural sense and the spiritual sense are
meant. In the natural sense the rich are those that have an
abundance of riches and set their heart upon them; but in the
spiritual sense they are those that have an abundance of
knowledges and learning, which are spiritual riches, and who
desire by means of these to introduce themselves into the
things of heaven and the church from their own intelligence.
And because this is contrary to Divine order it is said to be
“easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye,” a “camel”
signifying in general in the spiritual sense the knowing faculty
and things known, and a “needle’s eye” signifying spiritual
truth. 240
That such is the meaning of a “camel” and a “needle’s
240. A “camel” signifies in the Word the knowing faculty and
knowledge in general (n. 3048, 3071, 3143, 3145).
What is meant by “needlework, working with a needle,” and therefore
by a “needle” (n. 9688). To enter from knowledge into the truths of faith is
contrary to Divine order (n. 10236). Those that do this become demented in
respect to the things of heaven and the church (n. 128–130, 232, 233, 6047).
And in the other life, when they think about spiritual things they become as
it were drunken (n. 1072). Further about such (n. 196).
Examples showing that when spiritual things are entered into through
knowledges they cannot be comprehended (n. 233, 2094, 2196, 2203,
2209).