Some things that belong to permission and yet are in accord with the laws of Divine providence, by which a merely natural man confirms himself in favor of nature against God, and in favor of human prudence against Divine providence.
The wisest of mankind, Adam and his wife, suffered themselves to be seduced by a serpent, and God did not avert this by His Divine providence. This is so, inasmuch as by Adam and his wife, the first of all mankind that were created on this earth, are not meant, but the men of the Most Ancient Church; and their new creation or their regeneration is thus described. Their new creation itself, that is, their regeneration, is described in the first chapter of Genesis by the creation of heaven and earth; their wisdom and intelligence by the garden of Eden; and the end of that church by their eating from the tree of knowledge. For the Word in its bosom is spiritual, containing arcana of Divine wisdom; and that it may contain these it is written throughout wholly by correspondences and representatives. This makes clear that the men of that church, who were in the beginning the wisest of men, but in the end, from the conceit of their own intelligence, became the worst, were not seduced by any serpent, but by the love of self; and it is this that is meant by "the serpent's head" that the Seed of the woman, that is, the Lord, should bruise.
Who is not able to see from reason that other things are meant than those that are there related historically in the letter? For who can comprehend how the world could have been created in the way there described? Therefore the learned strenuously try to explain the contents of that first chapter, and at length confess that they do not understand it. And the same is true of what follows, that two trees, a tree of life and a tree of knowledge, were placed in their garden or paradise, the latter as a cause of stumbling; also, that from the mere eating of this tree they so far transgressed that not only they but the whole human race, their posterity, became subject to damnation; furthermore, that they could have been seduced by a serpent; besides other things there stated; as that the wife was created from the rib of the husband; that after their fall they acknowledged their nakedness and covered it with fig-leaves, and that coats of skin were given them for bodily coverings; and that cherubim were placed with a flaming sword to guard the way to the tree of life.
All these things are representatives, depicting the establishment of the Most Ancient Church, its condition, its change, and finally its destruction. The arcana involved in all these things, which are contained in the spiritual sense that is in every particular of the story, may be found explained in the Arcana Coelestia on Genesis and Exodus, published at London; and it can there be seen that "the tree of life" means the Lord in respect to His Divine providence; and "the tree of knowledge" means man in respect to his own prudence.
Their first son Cain killed his brother Abel, and God did not withhold him at the time by speaking with him, but only after the deed, by cursing him. As Adam and his wife, as has been said above, mean the Most Ancient Church, so Cain and Abel, their first sons, mean the two essentials of the church, which are love and wisdom, or charity and faith, "Abel" meaning love and charity, and "Cain" wisdom or faith; strictly, wisdom separated from love, or faith separated from charity; and wisdom as well as faith when so separated is such that it not only rejects love and charity, but even annihilates them; and thus it kills its brother. That faith separate from charity does this is well known in the Christian world, as may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, concerning Faith.
The cursing of Cain involves the spiritual state into which those come after death who separate faith from charity or wisdom from love. And yet, that wisdom or faith might not perish in consequence, a mark was put upon Cain to prevent his being slain; for love cannot exist apart from wisdom, or charity apart from faith. These things have nearly the same representation as the eating from the tree of knowledge; and this is why it properly follows the description of Adam and his wife. Moreover, those who are in faith separated from charity are in their own intelligence; while those who are in charity and in faith therefrom are in intelligence from the Lord, thus in the Divine providence.
The Israelitish nation worshiped a golden calf in the wilderness and acknowledged it as the God who led them out of the land of Egypt; and yet Jehovah saw this from Mount Sinai near by, and did not seek to prevent it. This took place in the desert of Sinai near the mountain. Jehovah's not withholding them from that abominable worship is in accordance with all the laws of the Divine providence heretofore set forth, as well as with those that follow. This evil was permitted them lest they should all perish. For the sons of Israel were led out of Egypt that they might represent the Lord's church; and this they could not represent unless Egyptian idolatry had first been rooted out of their hearts; and this could not have been done without its having been left for them to act in accord with what was in their hearts, that this might thereby be removed by means of severe punishment. What is further signified by that worship, and by the threat that they should be wholly rejected and that a new nation should be raised up by Moses, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia on the thirty-second chapter of Exodus, where these things are treated of.
David numbered the people, and in consequence a plague was sent upon them, by which so many thousands of men perished; and God, not before but after the deed, sent Gad the prophet to David, and denounced punishment upon him. Whoever confirms himself against the Divine providence may have various thoughts and reflections about this also, especially why David was not admonished in advance, and why the people were so severely punished for the king's transgression. His not having been admonished in advance is in accordance with the laws of Divine providence already set forth, especially the two explained from n. 129 to 153, and from n. 154 to 174. This severe punishment of the people on account of the king's transgression, and the smiting of seventy thousand with the plague, was not for the king's sake but for the people's sake. For it is said,
Again the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel; therefore He moved David against them, saying, Go, number Israel and Judah (2 Sam. xxiv. 1).
Solomon was permitted to establish idolatrous worship. This was done that he might represent the Lord's kingdom or the church, with all the varieties of religion in the whole world; for the church instituted with the nation of Israel and Judah was a representative church; therefore all the judgments and statutes of that church represented the spiritual things of the church, which are its internals; that people itself representing the church, the king representing the Lord, David representing the Lord who was to come into the world, and Solomon the Lord after His coming. And because the Lord after the glorification of His Human had power over heaven and earth (as He Himself says Matt. 28: 18), so Solomon His representative appeared in glory and magnificence, and possessed wisdom above all the kings of the earth, and also built the temple. Furthermore, Solomon permitted and set up the worship of many nations, by which the various religions in the world were represented. His wives, seven hundred in number, and his concubines, who numbered three hundred (1 Kings 11: 3), had a like signification, for a "wife" in the Word signifies the church, and a "concubine" a religion. This makes clear why it was granted to Solomon to build the temple, which signified both the Lord's Divine Human (John 2: 19, 21) and also the church; and why he was permitted to establish idolatrous worship, and to marry so many wives. That by "David," in many places in the Word, the Lord who was to come into the world is meant, can be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Lord (n. 43, 44).
Many kings after Solomon were permitted to profane the temple and the holy things of the church. This was because the people represented the church, and their king was their head; and as the nation of Israel and Judah was such that they could no longer represent the church, for they were idolaters at heart, they gradually fell away from representative worship by perverting all things of the church, till at last it was devastated. This was represented by the profanations of the temple by the kings, and by their idolatries; and the essential devastation of the church was represented by the destruction of the temple itself, and by the carrying away of the people of Israel, and by the captivity of the people of Judah in Babylonia. Such was the cause; and whatever is done from any cause is done from the Divine providence according to some law of it.
That nation was permitted to crucify the Lord. This was because the church with that nation had been wholly devastated, and had become such that not only they did not know and acknowledge the Lord, but they even hated Him; and yet all things that they did to Him were done in accordance with the laws of His Divine providence. That the passion of the cross was the last temptation or the last combat, by which the Lord fully conquered the hells and fully glorified His Human may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Lord (n. 12-14); and in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning Faith (n. 34, 35).
In these and many other things in the Word one who acknowledges nature and human prudence sees nothing but what is contrary to Divine providence; therefore he can use these things as arguments for rejecting it, if not in his outer thought which is nearest to speech, still in that inner thought which is remote from it.
(Divine Providence 241-247)