9146. Or the standing crop, or a field. That this signifies the truth and the good of faith in their conception, is evident from the signification of "standing crop," as being the truth of faith (of which below); and from the signification of "field," as being the church in respect to good, thus the good of the church (see n. 9139). That "standing crop" denotes the truth of faith, is because the different kinds of crop, as wheat and barley, and the bread from these, signify the goods of the church (n. 3941, 7602). The goods of the church are those of charity toward the neighbor and of love to the Lord. These goods are the being and the soul of faith, for by virtue of them faith is faith, and lives. That "standing crop" denotes the truth of faith in its conception, is because it has not yet been gathered into stacks, nor brought into barns; and therefore while it is standing, or is as yet growing, it denotes the truth of faith in its conception. [2] The like is signified by "standing crop" in Hosea:
They [Israel] have made a king, and not by Me; they have made princes, and I knew it not; their silver and their gold they have made into idols. Because they sow the wind, they shall reap the whirlwind; he hath no standing crop; the blade shall yield no meal; if so be it yield, strangers all swallow it up (Hos. 8:4, 7);
the truths and goods of the faith of the church are here treated of, which are dispersed by things empty and false. That these things are treated of, is evident from the series; but what is said of them is evident from the internal sense; for in this sense by "a king" is meant the truth of the faith of the church in the complex (n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 6148); by "princes" are signified primary truths (n. 1482, 2089, 5044); and from this it is evident what is meant by "they [Israel] have made a king, and not by Me; they have made princes, and I knew it not;" for "Israel" denotes the church (n. 4286, 6426, 6637). By "silver" is here signified the truth of good, and in the opposite sense the falsity of evil (n. 1551, 2954, 5658, 6112, 6914, 6917, 8932); by "gold" is signified good, and in the opposite sense evil (n. 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917, 8932); by "idols" is signified worship from falsities and evils (n. 8941); and from this it is evident what is signified by "their silver and their gold they have made into idols." By "the wind which they sow" are signified worthless things; by "the whirlwind which they shall reap" is signified the resulting disturbance in the church; by "the standing crop which they have not" is signified the truth of faith in its conception; by "the blade which shall yield no meal" is signified barrenness; by "the strangers who shall swallow it up" are signified the falsities which shall consume.
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