240. All the points listed in nn. 236-239 have been put forward in order that it may be seen that each and all things which take place in the world are of divine providence; consequently divine providence is in the least of man's thoughts and actions and thereby is universal. But this cannot be seen unless the points are taken up one by one; therefore they will be explained briefly in the order in which they were listed, beginning with n. 236. 241. _The wisest of human beings, Adam and his wife, allowed themselves to be led astray by the serpent, and God in His divine providence did not avert this._ This is because by Adam and his wife the first human beings created in the world are not meant, but the people of the Most Ancient Church, whose new creation or regeneration is described thus: their creation anew or regeneration in Genesis 1 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 of the tree of knowledge. For the Word in its bosom is spiritual, containing arcana of divine wisdom, and in order to contain them has been composed throughout in correspondences and representations. It is plain then that the men of that church, who at first were the wisest of men but finally became the worst through pride in their own intelligence, were led astray not by a serpent but by self-love, meant in Genesis by "the serpent's head," which the Seed of the woman, namely, the Lord, was to trample. [2] Who cannot see from reason that other things are meant than those recorded literally like history? For who can understand that the world could be created as there described? The learned therefore labor over the explanation of the things in the first chapter, finally confessing that they do not understand them. So of the two trees placed in the garden or paradise, one of life and the other of knowledge, the latter as a stumbling-block. Again, that just by eating of this tree they transgressed so greatly that not only they but their posterity--the whole human race--became subject to damnation; further, how any serpent could lead them astray; besides other things, as that the woman was created out of a rib of her husband; that they recognized their nakedness after the fall and covered it with fig leaves; that coats of skin were given them to cover the body; and that cherubim with a flaming sword were stationed to guard the way to the tree of life. [3] All this is representative, describing the establishment, state, alteration and finally destruction of the Most Ancient Church. The arcana involved, contained in the spiritual sense which fills the details, may be seen explained in _Arcana Caelestia,_ on Genesis and Exodus, published at London. There it may also be seen that by the tree of life the Lord is meant as to His divine providence, and by the tree of knowledge man is meant as to his own prudence.