AE 624 - Old Men, Young Men, Prophets

 AE 624 [8, 13, 15]

. . . "old men" mean those who are in wisdom,
and "young men," those who are in intelligence.

By "prophets" here and elsewhere in the Word
are meant in the nearest sense
such prophets as those were in the Old Testament
through whom the Lord spoke;
but in the spiritual sense those prophets are not meant,
but all whom the Lord leads;
with these also the Lord flows in
and reveals to them the secrets of the Word,
whether they teach or not; such, therefore,
are signified by "prophets" in the spiritual sense.
But "the prophets that prophesy out of their own heart,
and go away after their own spirit,
and who behold vanity and divine falsehood,"
mean all who are not taught and led by the Lord
but by themselves,
consequently they have insanity in place of intelligence,
and folly in place of wisdom,
for they have the love of self
in place of the love to God,
and the love of the world
in place of the love to the neighbor,
and from these loves falsities continually pour forth.

. . . "prophets" mean all whom the Lord teaches,
thus all who are in the spiritual affection of truth,
that is, who love truth, because it is truth,
for the Lord teaches these,
and flows into their understanding and enlightens . . ..