573. That by Jehovah's saying My spirit shall not forever reprove man is signified that man would not be so led any longer, is evident from what has gone before and from what follows; from what has gone before in that men had become such, through the immersion of the doctrinal things or truths of faith in cupidities, that they could no longer be reproved, that is, know what evil is; all capacity to perceive truth and good having been extinguished through their persuasions, so that they believed that only to be true that was in conformity with their persuasions; and in regard to what follows, that after the flood the man of the church became different, in that with him conscience succeeded in place of perception, through which he could be reproved. "Reproof by the spirit of Jehovah" therefore signifies an inward dictate, a perception, or a conscience; and the "spirit of Jehovah" signifies the influx of what is true and good; as also in Isaiah:
I will not contend to eternity, neither will I be forever wroth, for the spirit would overwhelm before me, and the souls I have made (Isa. 57:16).