18 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.
15 The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,
16 And saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
20 Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
21 And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.
22 And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. -Revelation 18 Bible, King James Version (KJV)
Apocalypse Explained, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1757-9], tr. by John Whitehead [1911], at sacred-texts.com
1090. EXPLANATION Verse 1. And after these things I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having great authority, and the earth was lightened by his glory. 1. "After these things" signifies what was done after the Last Judgment upon those meant by the "harlot" (n. 1091); "I saw an angel coming down from heaven" signifies the Divine proceeding from the Lord in heaven and in the world (n. 1092); "having great authority" signifies which now has omnipotence, as in the heavens so upon the earth (n. 1093); "and the earth was lightened by his glory" signifies the church now in light from the influx and reception of Divine truth (n. 1094).
1091. Verse 1. After these things signifies what was done after the Last Judgment upon those meant by the "harlot."... After the Last Judgment upon these, is related in this chapter, namely, that their religious persuasion would be wholly condemned, nor would it ever rise again to eternity. But this must be thus understood, that this religious persuasion will continue in the world, because the love of ruling is so implanted in everyone that it cannot be rooted out, and so long as that love is present it is impossible for that religious persuasion to come to an end in the world; and yet in the spiritual world, into which everyone comes after death, it will come to an end, for then all who are of that religion [the Roman Catholic Church] and have exercised dominion from the delight of the love of ruling, do not as they previously did, make for themselves seeming heavens in the world of spirits, which is in the midst between heaven and hell, and dwell there for a time, but as soon as they arrive there they are sent away and cast into their hells. This is what is meant by the destruction of Babylon, as predicted both here in Revelation, and in many passages in the prophets. Since the Babylonians [the Roman Catholic Church] have transferred the Lord's authority over heaven and the church to their chief pontiff [the Pope,] whom they call the successor of Peter, and thus the vicar of the Lord, declaring that the authority over heaven and hell was transferred by the Lord to Peter, and that it was not the Lord's Divine authority but His human authority given Him from God the Father, I will show at the end of the articles of this chapter that the Lord even as to His Human was God, that is, that His Human was Divine; and from this it follows that the Babylonians did transfer His Divine authority to him whom they call the Lord's vicar [the Pope,] and thus they have made him God upon earth, and that he has made his ministers deities...
1092. I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, signifies the Divine proceeding from the Lord in heaven and in the world... [3] ...All the thoughts of man pour themselves forth into the spiritual world in every direction, much the same as rays of light from a flame. As the spiritual world consists of heaven and hell, and as heaven as well as hell consists of innumerable societies, the thoughts of man must needs pour themselves forth into societies; spiritual thoughts, which relate to the Lord, to love and faith in Him, and to the truths and goods of heaven and the church, into heavenly societies; but merely natural thoughts, which relate to self and the world and the love of these, and not at the same time to God, into infernal societies. [4] That there is such an extension and determination of all man's thoughts has not been known heretofore, because it has not been known what heaven is and what hell is, thus that they consist of societies, consequently that there is an extension of man's thoughts into another world than this natural world, into which the sight of his eyes extends. Thus it is the spiritual world into which thought extends, and the natural world into which sight extends, because the thought of the mind is spiritual while the sight of the eye is natural. That all thoughts of man extend into the societies of the spiritual world, and that without such extension no thought is possible, has been made so evident to me by the experience of many years that I can with all faith affirm it to be true. [5] In a word, man is in the spiritual world with his... mind, which consists of understanding, thought, will, and love... And as a man is in the spiritual world... as to his mind, so he is either in heaven or in hell; and where the mind is there the whole man... is when he becomes a spirit. Moreover, man is wholly such as his conjunction is with the societies of the spiritual world, such an angel as his conjunction is with the societies of heaven, and such a devil as his conjunction is with the societies of hell.
1093. Having great authority, signifies which has omnipotence, as in the heavens so upon the earth... This is evident from the signification of "great authority," as being, in reference to the Lord, omnipotence. "Great authority" here signifies omnipotence because according to the idea that man has of angels, great authority can be predicated of an angel, but not omnipotence; but when the Lord as to His Divine proceeding is meant by an angel, then "great authority" means omnipotence. Moreover, omnipotence belongs to the Lord because He is the God of heaven and the God of the earth, and by the Divine that proceeds from Him as a sun heaven and earth were created, and by it heaven with the earth is held together and subsists. The Divine proceeding is what is called in John, "the Word that was with God and that was God, by which all things were made that have been made, and by which also the world was made" (John 1:1, 2, 10). The Lord's omnipotence as in the heavens so upon the earth, is what is meant by "the great authority of the angel," because it is added, that "the earth was lightened by his glory;" for when the Last Judgment upon those who are meant by "the harlot or Babylon" was accomplished, the darkness that was interposed between heaven and earth was removed. But more upon this below... [2] ...It is a man's love that determines his thoughts into societies, good love determining them into heavenly societies, and evil love into infernal societies; for the entire heaven is arranged into societies, generally, particularly, and most particularly, according to all the varieties of affections belonging to the love; while on the other hand, hell is arranged into societies according to the... love of evil, which are opposite to the affections of the love of good. [3] Man's love is comparatively like fire, and his thoughts are like rays of light therefrom. If the love is good, the thoughts, which are like rays, are truths. If the love is evil, the thoughts, which are like rays, are falsities. Thoughts from a good love, which are truths, tend towards heaven; while thoughts from an evil love, which are falsities, tend towards hell and conjoin themselves... with societies of like love, and adapt themselves to them, and ingraft themselves into them, and so intimately that the man is wholly one with them. [4] Through love to the Lord man is an image of the Lord. The Lord is the Divine love; and in heaven before the angels He appears as a sun. From that sun light and heat proceed; the light is the Divine truth and the heat is the Divine good. From these two is the whole heaven, and from them are all the societies of heaven. The Lord's love in a man who is an image of Him is like the fire from that sun, from which fire also light and heat proceed; the light is the truth of faith and the heat is the good of love; both of these are from the Lord, and both are implanted in the societies with which the man's love acts as one. That man from creation is an image and likeness of God is evident from Genesis (1:26); and he is an image and likeness of the Lord by means of love, because by means of love he is in the Lord and the Lord is in him (John 14:20, 21). In a word, not the least thought can exist unless it finds reception in some society, not in the individuals or angels of the society, but in the affection of love from which and in which that society is; and for this reason the angels are not aware of the influx at all, and such influx in no way disturbs the society. [5] From all this the truth is clear that while man is living in the world he is in conjunction with heaven and also in consociation with angels, although both men and angels are unconscious of it. They are unconscious of it because man's thought is natural and an angel's thought is spiritual, and these make one only by correspondence. Because man is inaugurated into societies either of heaven or hell by means of the thoughts of his love, so when he comes into the spiritual world, as he does immediately after death, his character is known merely by the extensions of his thoughts into societies; and thus everyone is explored; and he is reformed by the admissions of his thoughts into the societies of heaven, and is condemned by the immersions of his thoughts in the societies of hell.
1094. And the earth was lightened by his glory, signifies the church now in light from the influx and reception of Divine truth... That "the earth was lightened by his glory," because the Last Judgment was effected on those who are meant by "the harlot or Babylon," for this is the meaning of the words of the angel: Fallen, fallen is Babylon, and is become a habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird (Rev. 18:2). And when judgment had been effected upon these, the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord came into its power and into its light; for so long as the Babylonians were tolerated under heaven they were like the dense and dusky clouds between heaven and earth by which the rays of light from the sun are intercepted and the day is darkened; and this for the reason that the Divine truth, which is the Word, was not only falsified but also rejected; and moreover, by transferring the Lord's Divine authority to themselves they annihilated it. These and many other things, so long as they were permitted to make dwelling places for themselves under the heavens, were like dusky clouds between heaven and earth, through which the Divine truth could not pass to enlighten any man of the church. But as soon as they had been driven away and cast into hell, there was an accession of power and light to the Divine truth that proceeded from the Lord as a sun, to the extent that the Lord could lead more powerfully and enlighten more clearly not only the spirits who are under the heavens, but also the men in the church. This is why the spiritual sense of the Word was not revealed and the state of heaven and hell manifested until the Last Judgment had been accomplished...
1095. Verse 2. And he cried out mightily with a great voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and is become a habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird. 2. "And he cried out mightily with a great voice," signifies manifestation before heaven and in the church from joy of heart (n. 1096); "saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great," signifies that the Last Judgment has been effected upon those who had profaned the holy things of heaven and the church by the dominion they had assumed over them (n. 1097); "and is become a habitation of demons" signifies where there are direful falsities from the profaned truths and goods of the church (n. 1098); "and a hold of every unclean spirit," signifies where there are nothing but evils from the adulterated goods of the Word (n. 1099); "and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird" signifies where there are nothing but falsities from the falsified truths of the Word (n. 1100).
1096. Verse 2. And he cried out mightily with a great voice, signifies manifestation before heaven and in the church from joy of heart... [2] The first and foremost thought that opens heaven to man is thought about God, and for the reason that God is the all of heaven, even to the extent that whether we say heaven or God it is the same thing. The things Divine that make the angels of whom heaven consists to be angels are, when taken together, God; and this is why thought about God is the first and foremost of all the thoughts that open heaven to man, for it is the head and sum of all truths and loves celestial and spiritual. But there is thought from light, and there is thought from love; thought from light alone is knowledge that there is a God... [3] By thought from light man has presence in heaven, but not conjunction with heaven, for the light of thought alone does not conjoin, but presents man as present to the Lord and the angels... [4] When a man is in mere intellectual thought about God and about things relating to God, he appears to angels at a distance like an image of ivory or marble that can walk and utter sounds, but in whose face and in whose voice there is as yet no life. Also to the angels he appears comparatively like a tree in winter time, with naked branches without leaves, and yet of which some hope is cherished that it will be covered with leaves and afterwards with fruit, when to the light heat is joined, as in the spring time. As thought about God is what primarily opens heaven, so thought against God is what primarily closes heaven.
1098. And is become a habitation of demons, signifies where there are direful falsities from the profaned truths and goods of the church. This is evident from the signification of "habitation," as being where those have been since the Last Judgment who are meant by "Babylon" as a harlot. Also from the signification of "demons," as being those who are in direful falsities from profaned truths and goods (see above, n. 586, 1001). Here the hell of such is described, namely, that it is "a habitation of demons, a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird." That their hell is such is evident from the exhalations therefrom, which are the profaned truths and goods of heaven and the church, for in speech, countenance, and gesture they are in holy externals, which they raise heavenward, and yet in soul and heart they do not look to any God, but only to themselves as deities of the earth. Thus they make one with those who are in hell... [2] The thought alone that there is a God and that the Lord is the God of heaven opens heaven and presents man as present there, and yet so slightly as to be almost unseen, appearing afar off as in the shade. But in proportion as his thought of God becomes more full, true, and just, he appears in the light. Thought becomes more full by the knowledges of truth from the Word that pertain to faith and of good that pertain to love; for all things from the Word are Divine, and Divine things taken together are God. A man who thinks merely that there is a God and who gives no thought to what God is, is like one who thinks that the Word exists and that it is holy, and yet knows nothing of its contents; or like one who thinks that the law exists, but knows nothing of what is in the law. But the thought of what God is, is so great that it fills heaven, and makes all the wisdom of the angels, which is ineffable, for in itself it is infinite, because God is infinite...
1099.And a hold of every unclean spirit, signifies where there is nothing but evils from the adulterated goods of the Word... [2] It has been said that man has thought from light and thought from love, and that thought from light makes man's presence in heaven, but thought from love makes man's conjunction with heaven, and for the reason that love is spiritual conjunction. Therefore, when man's thought from light becomes his thought from love he is introduced into heaven as to a marriage, and so far as love is the primary agent in thought from light or leads that thought, man enters heaven as a bride enters the bride-chamber, and is wedded. For the Lord is called in the Word a "bridegroom" and a "husband," and heaven and the church are called a "bride" and a "wife." "To be wedded" means to be conjoined to heaven in some society of it; and one is so far conjoined to heaven as he has acquired in the world intelligence and wisdom from the Lord through the Word, thus so far as he has learned by means of Divine truths to think that there is a God, and that the Lord is that God. And yet one who thinks from few truths, thus from little intelligence, although he is conjoined with heaven when he thinks from love, is conjoined in its lower parts only. [3] By love, love to the Lord is meant, and loving the Lord does not mean loving Him as a Person, for by such a love only man is not conjoined to heaven, but by the love of Divine good and Divine truth, which are the Lord in heaven and in the church; and these two are not loved by knowing them, thinking about them, understanding them, and speaking them, but by willing and doing them for the reason that they are commanded by the Lord, and thus because they are uses... You are greatly deceived if you think that you believe in God, when you are not doing the things pertaining to God; for the Lord teaches in John: He that hath My commandments and doeth them, he it is that loveth Me, and I will make My abode with him. But he that loveth Me not keepeth not My words (John 14:21, 23-24). In a word, loving and doing are one; therefore where loving is mentioned in the Word doing is meant, and where doing is mentioned loving also is meant; for what I love, that I do.
1100. And a hold of every unclean and hateful bird, signifies where there are nothing but falsities from the falsified truths of the Word... It is from correspondence that "birds" signify such things as pertain to man's thought, both spiritual and infernal, thus both truths and falsities, for these pertain to thought. That this is from correspondence is evident from the birds seen in the spiritual world, where all things that appear before the eyes and the other senses are correspondences. All sorts of animals of the earth, also flying things of heaven, both beautiful and unbeautiful, are seen there, and they appear from the affections and thoughts of angels or of spirits, the animals from affections, and the flying things from thoughts. It is known to everyone there that these are correspondences; and they know also to what affections and thoughts they correspond. That they are correspondences of affections and thoughts is made to appear most clearly; since they are instantly dissipated when the spirit or the angel goes away or stops thinking about the matter...
(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith) [23] About God and about Divine things, which are called in heaven celestial and spiritual, and in the world ecclesiastical and theological, there is thought from light; there is also thought not from light about them. Those have thought not from light who know about these things but do not understand them. Such are all those at the present day who wish the understanding to be kept under obedience to faith, holding even that a thing must be believed and not understood, and claiming that intellectual faith is not true faith. But these are such as are not interiorly in the genuine affection of truth, and consequently are in no enlightenment; and many of them are in the pride of self-intelligence, and in the love of ruling over the souls of men by means of the holy things of the church, not knowing that truth wishes to be in the light, since the light of heaven is the Divine truth, and that a truly human understanding is moved by that light and sees from it... If what is not understood must be believed a man might be taught like a parrot to speak and to remember, even that there is holiness in the bones of the dead and in sepulchers, that carcasses perform miracles, that man will be tormented in purgatory if he does not consecrate his wealth to idols or to monasteries, that men are gods because heaven and hell are in their power, with other like things which man must believe from a blind faith and from a closed understanding, and thus from the light of both extinguished. But be it known that all the truths of the Word, which are the truths of heaven and of the church, can be seen by the understanding, in heaven spiritually, in the world rationally;... it sees truths as it loves them, for as it loves them it is enlightened. The angels have wisdom in consequence of seeing truths; when, therefore, it is said to any angel that this or that must be believed although it is not understood, the angel answers, Do you think that I am insane, or that you are God whom I am to believe if I do not see? It may be falsity from hell.
1101. Verse 3. For all nations have drunk of the wine of her whoredom, and the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich from the abundance of her luxuries. 3. "For all nations have drunk of the wine of the anger of her whoredom," signifies the adulteration of all things of the good of heaven and of the church by direful falsities of evil (n. 1102); "and the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her," signifies the falsification of all things of the truth of heaven and the church (n. 1103); "and the merchants of the earth have become rich from the abundance of her luxuries," signifies instruction in those things of heaven and the church, which draw their delightfulness and desirableness from the love of having dominion by the holy things of the church as means, and also from the love of possessing the world by the same means (n. 1104).
1105. Verse 4. And I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come forth out of her my people, that ye become not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 4. "And I heard another voice from heaven saying," signifies exhortation to those who are in truths and in the good of life to beware of such (n. 1106); "Come forth out of her, my people," signifies that they should leave them [the Roman Catholic Church,] and not communicate with them (n. 1107); "that ye become not partakers of her sins," signifies lest they come into their evils, which are from the love of self and the love of the world (n. 1108); "and that ye receive not of her plagues," signifies and thus come into falsities of evil, and consequently into destruction (n. 1109).
1106. (Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith) [3] It has been shown that the doctrine of faith that has its name from Athanasius, leaves a clear idea, when it is read, that there are three Persons, and thus that there are three... Gods, and an obscure idea that God is one... [4] There is a Trinity in God and there is also a unity. That there is a Trinity is evident from the passages in the Word where the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are mentioned; and that there is a unity, from the passages in the Word where it is said that God is one. The unity in which there is the Trinity, or the one God in whom there is a trine, does not exist in the Divine that is called the Father, nor in the Divine that is called the Holy Spirit, but in the Lord alone. In the Lord alone there is a trine, namely, the Divine which is called Father, the Divine Human which is called the Son, and the Divine proceeding which is the Holy Spirit; and this trine is one because it is of one Person...
1107. Come forth out of her, my people, signifies that they should leave them and not communicate with them. This is evident from the signification of "coming forth out of Babylon," as being to leave those who are meant by "Babylon," also not to communicate with them. Also from the signification of "my people," as being those who are in truths, and through truths in the good of life... They were exhorted to leave such, and not to communicate with them, because interaction with such is dangerous, especially in the spiritual world, where they send out emissaries, as they do in the natural world, and these persuade others in various ways and entice them by promises that they may accede to their religion; for as a man acts in the world so he acts after his departure out of the world, for the ruling love with everyone remains, and the love of such is to bring all the world over to their religious persuasion, and this for no other end than that they may extend the boundaries of their empire for the sake of the infernal delight of the love of self and the infernal delight of the love of the world... As everyone's love continues the same after death, so is it with the Babylonish nation when it has come into the spiritual world; then those who have exercised dominion from the delight of those loves, acquire arts unknown in the natural world, and by these they fascinate men's spirits and draw them over to their side against their will. And now since the Last Judgment has been accomplished upon these, they are strictly forbidden to send emissaries into societies in which the Reformed are, or to the Gentiles; and when any are sent they are sought out and punished. As the state of such after the Last Judgment, especially their state in the spiritual world, is here treated of, what is said here and in the following parts of this chapter about Babylon must be understood as said chiefly on their account. For as regards Babylon in the natural world or on our earth, those meant by Babylon there are not in the same state as those who are in the spiritual world, and yet the exhortation is also for them, that they may take heed to themselves.
1110. Verse 5. For her sins have reached even unto heaven, and God hath remembered her injustices. 5. "For her sins have reached even unto heaven," signifies for their evils have closed up heaven (n. 1111); "and God hath remembered her injustices" signifies that falsities from evils have separated them from the Lord (n. 1112).
1111. Verse 5. For her sins have reached even unto heaven, signifies for their evils have closed up heaven. This is evident from the signification of "sins," as being the evils springing forth from the loves of self and of the world (as above, n. 1108); also from the signification of "reaching even unto heaven," as being to close up heaven, for evils close up heaven, and especially the evils from such a love of self as reigns with them; for their love of self is the love of ruling over the world, over the Word and the church, over heaven, and over the Lord Himself. "To reach even unto heaven" signifies to close up heaven, because evils when they reach to heaven close it up, for the angels because of the evils that are with those who are beneath heaven, come into a state either of sadness, or grief, or horror, or irritation;... for in the heavens all are in goods from love to the Lord and in charity towards the neighbor, and evils from the love of self and the love of the world are direct opposites of these goods, and when one opposite acts against another, as here, that is, diabolical evil against celestial good, those who are in celestial good are either made sad, or are grieved, or horrified, or provoked, and when this takes place they turn themselves away, and thus heaven becomes closed. Nevertheless, the Lord provides that those who are in evils, especially those who are in the evils that are the worst of all, be removed afar off from heaven, that the angels may not be infested by them.
(Continuation respecting the Athanasian faith and respecting the Lord) [2] That there is in the Lord a trine, the Divine itself that is called the Father, the Divine Human that is called the Son, and the Divine proceeding that is called the Holy Spirit, can be seen from the Word, from the Divine essence, and from heaven... [3]... And this trine is one in essence and one in Person, and is God. This may be illustrated by a comparison. An angel of heaven is trinal and thus one; the being of an angel is what is called his soul, his manifesting is what is called his body, and the proceeding from both is what is called the sphere of his life, without which an angel has neither existence nor being. By this trine an angel is an image of God, and is called a "son of God," and also an "heir," and even a "god;" nevertheless, an angel is not life from himself, but is a recipient of life; God alone is life from Himself. [4] From Heaven: The Divine trine, which is one in essence and in Person, is such in heaven. The Divine called the Father, and the Divine Human called the Son, appear in heaven before the angels as a sun, and the Divine that proceeds therefrom appears as light united to heat; the light is Divine truth, and the heat is Divine good. Thus the Divine called the Father is the Divine being, the Divine Human called the Son is the Divine manifesting from that being, and the Divine called the Holy Spirit is the Divine proceeding from the Divine manifesting and from the Divine being. This trine is the Lord in heaven; His Divine love is what appears there as a sun.
1112. And God hath remembered her injustices, signifies that falsities from evils have separated them from the Lord... [2]...It must be understood, however, that the Lord does not separate Himself from such, but that they separate themselves from the Lord; for the Lord regards everyone from the face and not from the back of the head; and for this reason the angels of heaven have the Lord continually before their face, and this whichever way they turn, but evil spirits turn the face away from the Lord and turn to Him the back part of the head, and thus they separate themselves from Him. The falsities from evils that are with them are what do this. (That the angels of heaven thus turn to the Lord, and that the spirits of hell thus turn away from Him, may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell, n. 17, 123, 142-145, 151, 251, 272, 548, 552, 561.)
1113. Verse 6. Render unto her even as she hath rendered unto you, and double unto her double according to her works; in the cup that she hath mingled mingle to her double. 6. "Render unto her even as she hath rendered unto you," signifies infernal punishment corresponding to their evil deeds (n. 1114); "and double unto her double according to her works," signifies as much retribution as they have profaned good (n. 1115); "in the cup that she hath mingled mingle to her double," signifies as much retribution as they have profaned truth (n. 1116).
1115. ...(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith and respecting the Lord) [4] But I will relate what cannot but seem wonderful. In the thought of his spirit every man sees God as Man... That every man in the idea of his spirit sees God as Man has been made evident to me by men after death, who are then in the ideas of the spirit; for after death a man becomes a spirit, and then it is impossible for him to think of God otherwise than as Man. An experiment was made whether they could think otherwise, and for this purpose they were let down into the state in which they had been in the world, and then they thought about God. The thought of some was that of the universe, others that of nature in her inmost, others that of a cloud in midair, others that of a beam of light, and others thought in other ways; but the moment they came out of that state into a state of the spirit they thought of God as Man. At this they were surprised, and declared that it was something implanted in every spirit. But evil spirits who have denied God in the world deny Him also after death, and yet in place of God they worship some spirit, who gains power over the rest by diabolical arts. [5] It has been said that to think of God as Man has been implanted in every spirit. That this comes through an influx of the Lord into the interiors of their thoughts is evident from the fact that the angels of all the heavens acknowledge the Lord alone. They acknowledge His Divine which is called the Father, they see His Divine Human, and they are in the Divine proceeding, for the whole angelic heaven is the Lord's Divine proceeding. An angel is not an angel from what is his own, but from the Divine that he receives from the Lord. From this they are in the Lord; consequently when they think of God they can think of no other than the Lord in whom they are and from whom they think. Add to this that the whole angelic heaven in its complex before the Lord is as one Man, which maybe called the Greatest Man; consequently the angels in heaven are in the Man that is the Lord's Divine proceeding, as has been said; and since their thoughts have direction there according to the form of heaven, they are unable when they think of God to think of any other than the Lord. In a word, all the angels of the three heavens think of God as Man, and are unable to think otherwise. If they wished to think otherwise thought would cease, and they would fall from heaven. This, then, is why to every spirit and to every man, when he is in the idea of his spirit, it is instinctive to think of God as Man.
1116. ...(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith and respecting the Lord) [2] In consequence of this intuition the most ancient people worshiped God visible under the Human form more than their posterity did. Moreover, the Word bears witness that they saw God as Man;... That it was the Lord who was seen by these He Himself teaches where He says: That Abraham exulted to see his day, and that he saw and rejoiced (John 8:56); Also that He was before Abraham was (John 8:58), And that He was before the world was (John 17:5, 24). [3] It was not the Father but the Son that was seen, because the Divine being, which is the Father, cannot be seen except by means of the Divine manifesting, which is the Divine Human. That the Divine being, which is called the Father, was not seen, the Lord teaches in John: The Father who hath sent Me, He hath borne witness of Me. Ye have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form (John 5:37). Not that anyone hath seen the Father save He that is with the Father, He hath seen the Father (John 6:46). No one hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath manifested Him (John 1:18). From this it is clear that the Divine being, which is the Father, was not seen by the ancients, nor could it be seen; nevertheless it was seen by means of the Divine manifesting, which is the Son. [4] Since a being is in its manifesting as a soul is in its body, so he who sees the Divine manifesting or the Son sees also the Divine being or the Father, as the Lord confirms in these words: Philip said, Lord, show us the Father. Jesus said unto him, Have I been so long time with you and hast thou not known Me, Philip? He who hath seen Me hath seen the Father; how sayest thou, Show us the Father (John 14:8, 9)? These words show that the Lord is the Divine manifesting in which is the Divine being, thus the God-man who was seen by the ancients. From what has been cited it follows also that the Word is to be understood according to the sense of the letter in saying that God has a face, that He has eyes and ears, and that He has hands and feet.
1117. Verse 7. How much she hath glorified herself and lived luxuriously, so much torment and mourning give her; for in her heart she saith, I sit a queen, and a widow I am not, and mourning I shall not see. 7. "How much she hath glorified herself and lived luxuriously," signifies how much of glory and consequent pleasure they have acquired for themselves from their dominion over heaven and over the world (n. 1118); "so much torment and mourning give her," signifies so much of infernal punishment and desolation (n. 1119); "for in her heart she saith, I sit a queen," signifies pride and boasting that heaven and the church are under their dominion (n. 1120)...
1118. Verse 7. How much she hath glorified herself and lived luxuriously, signifies how much of glory and consequent pleasure they have acquired for themselves from their dominion over heaven and over the world...
(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith and respecting the Lord) [2] It is because the idea of God as Man is implanted in everyone that many peoples and nations have worshiped gods who either were men or appeared to them as men... [3] Again, it is from intuition that in Christian Gentilism at this day there are those who worship saints as gods, bending the knee before their idols, kissing them, baring the head before them in the ways where they are set up, and worshiping at their graves; and even doing the same to the Pope, whose shoes and even his footsteps they press with their lips, and would salute him as a god if religion allowed it. These and other practices are from an intuition, that is, a desire to worship a visible god, and not an airy something which is nothing but smoke to them. But the idea of God as Man that flows in from heaven is so perverted with many that either a man of the world or an idol is worshiped in place of God, comparatively as the bright light of the sun is turned into colors not beautiful, and its summer heat into foul stenches, according to the objects upon which they fall. But it is for reasons stated above that the idea of God becomes an idea of a little cloud, or of a mist, or of the inmost of nature, ideas that exist among Christians, but rarely among other nations who enjoy any light of reason...
1119. So much torment and mourning give her, signifies so much of infernal punishment and desolation... It is said that "as much torment and mourning should be given as she glorified herself and lived luxuriously," because all torment or infernal punishment corresponds exactly to the evils in which such persons are. Those, therefore, who have glorified themselves much and have taken delight in the love of having dominion over heaven and over the church, and for the sake of that glory and consequent delight have perverted the goods of heaven and the church which belong to the Word, have their lot in a hell more grievous in respect to torment; while those who have glorified and delighted themselves less in such things have their lot in a milder hell; and those who have not glorified themselves at all, and thus have not perverted the goods and truths of heaven and the church, which are from the Word, but have simply rendered obedience to them either ignorantly or from persuasion, do not have their lot in hell; and such people as have no part in dominion, especially those who look to the Lord and have some affection of truth, have their lot in the heavens, where they are taught by the angels. From all this it can be seen that here, where Babylon is treated of, only those are meant who exercise dominion from the delight of the love of it for the sake of self.
(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith and respecting the Lord) [2] That God is Man and that the Lord is that Man is made evident by all things that are in the heavens and that are beneath the heavens. In the heavens all things that proceed from the Lord in greatest and in least things are either in the human form or have reference to the human form; the whole heaven is in the human form; every society of heaven is in the human form; every angel is in the human form; and also every spirit beneath the heavens; and it has been revealed to me that all things both least and greatest that proceed immediately from the Lord are in that form, for that which proceeds from God is an image of Him. This is why it is said of the man Adam and Eve: That they were created into the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:26-27). [3] And for the same reason the angels in the heavens, because they are recipients of the Divine that proceeds from the Lord, are men of wonderful beauty, while the spirits in the hells, because they do not receive the Divine that proceeds from the Lord, are devils, and in the light of heaven they do not appear as men but as monsters. And on this account it is known in the spiritual world from one's human form how much he derives from the Lord. From all this it can be seen that the Lord is the only Man, and that everyone is a man according to his reception of Divine good and Divine truth from the Lord. In a word, he who sees God as Man sees God because he sees the Lord. And the Lord says: He that seeth the Son and believeth in Him hath eternal life (John 6:40)...
1120. For in her heart she saith, I sit a queen, signifies pride and boasting that heaven and the church are under their dominion... It is said heaven, but the church in heaven is meant, that is, the church with the angels of heaven, which makes one with the church that is with men on earth; for there are governments in the heavens as on the earth, and consequently there are economical, civil, and ecclesiastical affairs as on the earth, though in a more perfect degree; therefore the church in the heavens is meant by "bride and wife," and when the Lord is referred to as King, then the church, which is the King's wife, is meant by "queen."
1122. And mourning I shall not see, signifies that they will never be in desolation and will not perish... Moreover, such things the Babylonians say in their hearts, because they have fortified themselves by every art. This they have done by having ingratiated and by continually ingratiating themselves by means of the delights of earthly and worldly loves, especially with the chief men of the earth, and thereby catching souls and interiorly conjoining themselves to them; they have fortified themselves also by exciting terror by means of the horrors of purgatory if they do not manifest a blind faith; also by the judgment of the inquisition whenever anyone speaks against their dominion; moreover by confessions, which they extort, and by which they search out secret things; and further by the multiplication of monasteries, which have increased into armies, from which they send out emissaries in every direction... These... pertain, however, to those who are on earth, and not to those who are in the spiritual world; where no one has any longer the refuge they had before the Last Judgment. For When they come thither after death they are immediately separated, and those who have exercised dominion from the love of self are cast into hell, and the others are sent away into societies. Thus Babylon at this day has been desolated and has perished.
(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith and respecting the Lord) [2] The appearance to man is that he lives from himself, but this is a fallacy... The appearance is that life is in man, because it flows in from the Lord into his inmosts, which are far removed from the sight of his thought, and thus from perception...
1123. Verse 8. For this reason in one day shall her plagues come, death and mourning and famine, and she shall be burned up in fire, for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. 8. "For this reason in one day shall her plagues come," signifies that being such they have reached their last state, and then comes destruction (n. 1124); "death and mourning and famine," signifies when there is no longer any good or any truth, but only evil and falsity (n. 1125); "and she shall be burned up in fire," signifies that since these things are from a diabolical love they must perish (n. 1126); "for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her," signifies through the Last Judgment (n. 1127).
1124. Verse 8. For this reason in one day shall her plagues come, signifies that being such it is their last state, and then comes destruction... The last state, here signified by the "day" in which their plagues shall come, signifies the state when there is no longer any good and truth left with them; and as their spiritual life is then wholly destroyed, destruction, that is, the Last Judgment, then comes upon them. It comes then and not before, because then there can be no longer any connection or conjunction of heaven with them, and when there is no connection or conjunction a separation takes place, and separation is the Last Judgment. When this takes place the evil are cast into hell, and the good are drawn away from them and raised up into heaven; for as soon as the connection of anyone with heaven is broken he at once falls into hell. It is only the connection with heaven, thus with the Lord, that withholds from hell.
(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith and respecting the Lord) [2] ...The Divine love, which in the Divine wisdom is the life itself which is God, is not in its essence thinkable, for it is infinite and thus transcends comprehension, but in its appearance it is thinkable. Before the eyes of angels the Lord appears as a sun, and from that sun proceed heat and light. The sun is the Divine love, the heat is the Divine love proceeding, which is called the Divine good, and the light is the Divine wisdom proceeding, which is called the Divine truth. And yet the life that is God must not be thought of as a fire or heat or light, unless there goes with it the thought at the same time of love and of wisdom, that is, that the Divine love is like fire, and the Divine wisdom is like light, and the Divine love and the Divine wisdom together are like a sunbeam. For God is a perfect Man, in face like Man and in body like Man, with no difference as to form but only as to essence; His essence is that He is love itself and wisdom itself, thus life itself.
1125. Death and mourning and famine, signifies when there is no longer any good nor any truth, but only evil and falsity...
(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith and respecting the Lord) [2] An idea of the life that is God cannot be had unless an idea of the degrees by which life descends from its inmosts to its [outermosts] is gained. There is an inmost degree of life and there is an [outermost]degree of life and there are intermediate degrees of life... Such degrees of life are in every man from creation; and they are opened according to the reception of life from the Lord. In some the degree next to the [outermost] is being opened, in some the middle, and in some the inmost. Men in whom the inmost degree is being opened become after death angels of the inmost or third heaven, those in whom the middle degree is being opened become after death angels of the middle or second heaven, while those in whom the degree next to the [outermost] is being opened become after death angels of the lowest heaven. These degrees are called degrees of man's life, but they are degrees of his wisdom and love, because they are opened according to the reception of wisdom and love, thus of life from the Lord... [3] There are such degrees in man because there are such degrees in the life that proceeds from the Lord, but in the Lord these are life, while in man they are recipients of life. But it is to be known that in the Lord there are still higher degrees, and that all, both the highest and the lowest, are life... (But on these degrees, and on continuous degrees, see the work on Heaven and Hell, n. 33, 34, 38, 39, 208, 209, 211, 435, where they are more fully described...)
1126. And she shall be burned up in the fire, signifies that since this is from diabolical love such must perish. This is evident from the signification of "fire," as being love in both senses, celestial love and diabolical love (see n. 68, 496, 504, 916), but here diabolical love, because it is the love of having dominion both over heaven and over the world. This is called diabolical love because it is from the deepest hells, where the devils are who desire to have dominion over all things of heaven, and who believe in their hearts that they are gods, and that there is no God besides them...
(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith and respecting the Lord) [2] Because God is life, it follows that He is uncreated. He is uncreated because life can create but cannot be created, for to be created is to have existence from another...
1127. For strong is the Lord God who judgeth them, signifies through the Last Judgment... That they did perish by the Last Judgment can he seen in the small work on The Last Judgment and on Babylon Destroyed.
(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith and respecting the Lord) [2] That all things are from the life itself which is God and is Man, can be illustrated by man who was created, in that he is man as to his [outer,] as to his intermediates, and as to his inmosts; for a man who in the world has been merely corporeal and consequently stupid as to his life, appears nevertheless after the rejection of the material body as a man in the spiritual world. A man who as to his life in the world has been merely sensual or natural, thus who has known little about heaven although much about the world, nevertheless after death appears as a man. A man who as to his life in the world has been rational, and has thought rightly from natural light, when after death he becomes a spirit appears as a man. A man who as to his life in the world has been spiritual, when after death he becomes an angel appears as a man, perfect in the measure of his reception of life from the Lord. A man in whom the third degree of life has been opened, thus who as to his life in the world has been a celestial man, when after death he becomes an angel appears as a man in all perfection. [3] The life itself that is in him is the man, whether it be sensual or natural, or rational, or spiritual, or celestial, for so the degrees of life are called... As it is in the least types so it is in the greatest. The whole angelic heaven in every complex is a man. Each heaven by itself, the first, the second, and the third, is a man. Each society in the heavens, greater or less, is a man...
1128. Verse 9. And the kings of the earth shall weep for her and wail over her, who have committed whoredom and lived luxuriously with her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning. 9. "The kings of the earth shall weep for her and wail over her," signifies the mourning and grief of heart of those who have exercised that authority (n. 1129); "who have committed whoredom and lived luxuriously with her," signifies who have been in falsities and in evils of falsities from delight regarding that authority (n. 1130); "when they shall see the smoke of her burning," signifies because of hell and of their damnation (n. 1131).
(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith and respecting the Lord) [3] ...All things are from... life itself which is God, and which is wisdom and love... It is from order that the angelic heavens, consisting of thousands and thousands of societies, act as one through love to the Lord and through love towards the neighbor, and... they are kept in order through Divine truths which are the laws of order. Also it is from order that the hells beneath the heavens, which are also divided into thousands and thousands of congregations, are kept in order by means of judgments and punishments, so that they are unable to do the least harm to the heavens, although they are hatreds and insanities. It is also from order that between the heavens and the hells... is man in the world, and in which he is led to heaven if led by the Lord, and to hell if led by himself; for it is the law of order that man must do whatever he does from freedom according to reason...
1130. Who hath committed whoredom and lived luxuriously with her, signifies who have been in falsities and in the evils of falsities from delight respecting that authority... It shall now be told whence it is that the Babylonish nation has falsified the Word and weakened its Divine holiness. It has been known in the whole Christian world that the Word is Divine, and consequently that all things contained in the Word are Divine truths. Now as the Babylonians have claimed for themselves and have actually assumed dominion over all things of the church and also over heaven, and as they thus let themselves into all evils that spring up from the love of self, it was necessary for them to confirm those evils by means of the Word, and this could be done only by falsifying it, for the Word can in no wise confirm evil; consequently when a man confirms evil by means of the Word he falsifies its truths. This was done by the Babylonians; but as they still saw truths in the Word that they could not falsify, as for instance, all that is said in it about Babylon, so by their craft they weakened the Divine holiness of the Word, and forbade the reading of it by the people; and their leaders and presbyters, who are called monks, also refrained from reading it, saying that the decrees of the Pope were just as holy as the contents of the Word, and that all things of the church must be adapted to its state, and consequently must be changed as its state requires, and that such adaptation and changes must be made from the inspiration of the Pope. All this makes clear how it is that the truths of the Word have been falsified and rejected by them, and in place of these such things as pander to their love of ruling and wholly favor it, and which are in themselves falsities, have been accepted, and have been endorsed by their Pope. From all this the particular signification of "the whoredoms of its kings" with Babylon the harlot can be seen.
[Martin Luther taught: "I believe the pope is the masked and incarnate devil because he is the Antichrist... (Luther’s Works, vol.54, Table Talks, No.4487, p.346)]
(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith and respecting the Lord) [3] As God is uncreate He is also eternal; for the life itself which is God is life..., nor from nothing; thus it is without origin; and what is without origin is from eternity and is eternal. But an idea of anything without origin is impossible to the natural man; so, too, is the idea of God from eternity; but it is possible to the spiritual man. The thought of the natural man cannot be separated and abstracted from the idea of time; this idea clings to him from nature, in which he is. Nor can his thought be separated and abstracted from the idea of origin, since origin means to him a beginning in time. The appearance in the sun's progression has impressed this idea on the natural man. But the thought of the spiritual man is abstracted from the idea of time, because it is raised above nature, and in place of that idea there is the idea of state of life, and in place of duration of time is an idea of the state of thought from affection, which constitutes life. For in the angelic heaven the sun does not rise or set or make years and days, as the sun in the world does; and for this reason the angels of heaven, because they are in spiritual ideas, think apart from time; consequently their idea of God from eternity does not take anything from origin, that is, from a beginning, but from state that it is eternal, and that everything therefore that is God and that proceeds from God is eternal, in other words, is Divine in itself...
1131. When they shall see the smoke of her burning, signifies because of hell and of their damnation. This is evident from the signification of "the smoke of burning," as being hell and damnation...; therefore, "when they shall see it" signifies because of these, for it is said, "they shall weep for her and wail over her when they shall see the smoke of burning," which signifies mourning and grief of heart because of these, that is, because of hell and of their damnation. "The smoke of burning" signifies hell and damnation, because "smoke" signifies infernal falsity, and "fire," that is, "burning," signifies infernal evil. From this correspondence of infernal falsity and infernal evil with the fire of burning, a smoke mingled with fire, like smoke from a furnace or from conflagrations, appears over the hells of such. (That "smoke" signifies infernal falsity, may be seen n. 494, 539, 889; and that "fire" signifies infernal evil, which is such as their love is, may be seen n. 68, 496, 504, 916.)...
1132. Verse 10. Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, that great city Babylon, that mighty city, for in one hour is thy judgment come. 10. "Standing afar off for the fear of her torment," signifies when they are in externals from a dread of infernal punishment (n. 1133); "saying, Woe, woe, that great city Babylon," signifies lamentation over that doctrine and over that religion (n. 1134); "that mighty city" signifies which had fortified itself by so many wicked devices (n. 1135); "for in one hour is thy judgment come" signifies their total destruction through the Last Judgment (n. 1136).
1133. ...(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith and respecting the Lord)... [6] Spirits are affections that are of love, and thus also thoughts. The spirits of heaven are affections of the love of good, and the spirits of hell affections of the love of evil. Good affections, which are angels, dwell on a globe that is called heaven, and evil affections, which are spirits of hell, dwell at a great depth beneath them. The globe is one, but is divided into expanses as it were, one below another. There are six expanses; in the highest the angels of the third heaven dwell, and beneath them the angels of the second heaven, and beneath these the angels of the first heaven, below these dwell the spirits of the first hell, beneath these the spirits of the second hell, and beneath these the spirits of the third hell. All things are arranged in such order that the evil affections, which are spirits of hell, are held in bonds by the good affections, which are angels of heaven; the spirits of the lowest hell by the angels of the highest heaven, the spirits of the middle hell by the angels of the middle heaven, and the spirits of the first hell by the angels of the first heaven... [7] Such heavens and hells are innumerable, divided into assemblies and societies according to the genera and species of all affections... This is true both of the heavens and of the hells. This order and this connection of affections are known to the Lord alone, and the arrangement of so many different affections, as many as there have been men from the first creation and will be hereafter, is a work of infinite wisdom, and at the same time of infinite power. That the Divine power is infinite, or that it is omnipotence, is there clearly evident from the fact that neither the angels of heaven nor the devils of hell have any power whatever from themselves...
1137. Verse 11. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her because no one buyeth their merchandise anymore. 11. "And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her," signifies the mourning and grief of those who acquire the things pertaining to that religious persuasion in order to gain honor and wealth (n. 1138); "because no one buyeth their merchandise anymore," signifies that their evils and falsities by which they make gain are no more received (n. 1139).
1139. Because no one buyeth their merchandise anymore signifies that the falsities and evils by which they make gain are no more received... This is evident... Also from the signification of "not to buy anymore," as being not to receive anymore. Not being received means that their evils and falsities are no longer received in the spiritual world, although they are received in the natural world; for all who come after death into the spiritual world from Babylon on the earth are explored, and according to their loves are sent into societies; the evil are sent into infernal societies, and the good are instructed and are then received into heaven according to their reception of truth and good from the Lord...
1140. Verse 12. Merchandise of gold and of silver, and of precious stone and of pearl, and of fine linen and of purple, and of silk and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and every vessel of ivory and every vessel of precious wood, and of brass and of iron, and of marble. 12. "Merchandise of gold and silver" signifies all goods and truths in general of the Word, of doctrine, and of the church, that have been profaned by them, thus all evils and falsities in general through which are their gains (n. 1141); "and of precious stone and of pearl" signifies the knowledges of truth and good from the Word that have been profaned (n. 1142); "and of fine linen and of purple" signifies truths and goods from a celestial origin, that have been profaned (n. 1143); "and of silk and of scarlet" signifies truths and goods from a spiritual origin that have been profaned (n. 1144); "and all thyine wood" signifies all good in the natural man therefrom (n. 1145); "and every vessel of ivory and every vessel of precious wood" signifies rational truths and goods that have been profaned (n. 1146); "and of brass and of iron" signifies all natural goods and truths that have been profaned (n. 1147); "and of marble" signifies sensual truth (n. 1148).
1142. Of precious stone and of pearl signifies the knowledges of truth and good from the Word that have been profaned...
(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith and respecting the Lord) [2] First it shall be told of whom hell consists. Hell consists of spirits who when they were men in the world denied God, acknowledged nature, lived contrary to Divine order, loved evils and falsities, although not before the world for appearance's sake; consequently they were either insane as to truths, or despised truths, or denied them in heart if not with the lips. Of all such from the creation of the world hell consists. All these are called either devils or satans; those in whom the love of self has predominated are called devils, and those in whom the love of the world has predominated are called satans. The hell where devils are is meant in the Word by the "Devil," and the hell where satans are is meant by "Satan." Moreover, the Lord has so joined the devils together that they are as one, and also the satans; and this is why the hells are called the Devil and Satan in the singular. Hell does not consist of spirits immediately created, neither does heaven consist of angels immediately created; but hell consists of men born in the world, who were made devils or satans by themselves, and in like manner heaven consists of men born in the world, who were there made angels by the Lord. All men as to the interiors which belong to their minds are spirits, clothed in the world with a material body which is under the direction of the thought of the spirit and under the control of its affection; for the mind which is spirit acts, and the body which is matter is acted upon; and every spirit after the material body has been cast off, is a man similar in form as a man in the world (see above, n. 1127). All this makes clear of whom hell consists.
1143. And of fine linen and of purple signifies truths and goods from a celestial origin that have been profaned. This is evident... also from the signification of "purple," as being goods from a celestial origin (of which above, n. 1042)... Truths and goods from a celestial origin are profaned by their transferring to themselves the Lord's Divine power of saving the human race, thus transferring their love to the Lord to the Pope as a vicar and to his ministers...
(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith) [4] The hell where those are who are called devils is the love of self; and the hell where those are who are called satans is the love of the world. The diabolical hell is the love of self because that love is the opposite of celestial love which is love to the Lord; and the satanic hell is the love of the world because that love is the opposite of spiritual love, which is love towards the neighbor. Now as the two loves of hell are opposites of the two loves of heaven, hell and the heavens are in opposition to each other; for all who are in the heavens look to the Lord and to the neighbor, but all who are in the hells look to self and the world. All who are in the heavens love the Lord and the neighbor, and all who are in the hells love self and the world, and consequently hate the Lord and the neighbor. All who are in the heavens think what is true and will what is good, because they think and will from the Lord; but all who are in the hells think what is false and will what is evil, because they think and will from self. From this it is that all who are in the hells appear turned backward, with the face turned away from the Lord; they also appear turned upside down, with the feet upwards and the head downwards. They so appear in accordance with their loves, which are opposite to the loves of heaven. [5] As hell is the love of self it is also fire, for all love corresponds to fire, and in the spiritual world is so presented as to appear like a fire at a distance, although it is not fire but love; and thus the hells appear within to be on fire, and without like outbursts of fire in smoke from furnaces or from conflagrations; and sometimes the devils themselves appear like fires of coals. Their heat from that fire is like a boiling up from impurities, which is lust, and their light from that fire is only an appearance of light from fantasies and from confirmations of evil by falsities, but still it is not light, for when the light of heaven flows in it becomes to them thick darkness, and when the heat of heaven flows in it becomes to them cold; nevertheless, they see from their light, and live from their heat; but they see like owls, birds of night, and bats, whose eyes are blinded in the light of heaven, and they live half dead. The living principle in them is from the ability to think, to will, to speak, to do, and in consequence to see, to hear, to taste, to smell, and to feel; and this living principle is merely the ability arising from action upon them from without of the life which is God, according to order, and continually impelling them towards order. It is from that power that they live to eternity... Their life viewed from their loves is not life but death; and this is why in the Word hell is called "death," and those who are there are called "the dead."
1145. ...(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith) [10] In the world there are angel-men and devil-men; heaven is constituted of angel-men, and hell of devil-men. With an angel-man all the degrees of his life are open to the Lord; but with a devil-man only the lowest degree is open, and the higher degrees are closed... An angel-man is continually led away from hell by the Lord, and is led into heaven more and more interiorly; a devil-man is also continually led away from hell, but from a more grievous to a milder hell, for he cannot be led into heaven. [11]... An angel-man and a devil-man in externals appear alike, but in internals they are wholly unlike; therefore when external things are laid aside by death they are manifestly unlike. The one is taken up into heaven, and the other is taken down into hell.
1147. ...(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith) [2] ...The angels of the higher heavens have a clear feeling and perception that their goods and truths are from the Lord, and that they have nothing at all of good and truth from themselves. And when they are let down into the state of their self as is now and then done, they have a clear feeling and perception that the evil and falsity belonging to their self they have from hell. Some angels of the lowest heaven, who did not comprehend that evil and falsity are from hell, because they had believed in the world that they were themselves in evils from birth and from actual life, were led through infernal societies from one to another, and in each one while they were in it they thought just as the devils there thought, and differently in the several societies, thinking in opposition to goods and truths. They were told to think from themselves, and thus otherwise, but they said that they were wholly unable to do so. In this way they were made to comprehend that evils and falsities flow in from hell. It is the same with many who believe and insist that they have life in themselves. Also it sometimes occurs that angels are separated from the societies with which they are connected, and when thus separated they are unable to think, will, speak, or act, but lie like newborn infants; but as soon as they are restored to their societies they revive. For everyone, man, spirit or angel, is connected as to his affections and thoughts therefrom with societies, and acts as one of them; and for this reason it is known what each one is from the society in which he is. All this makes clear that the quality of each one's life flows in from without. [3] With regard to myself I can testify that for fifteen years I have clearly perceived that I have thought nothing and willed nothing of myself; also that every evil and falsity has flowed in from infernal societies, and that every good and truth has flowed in from the Lord. Some spirits reflecting upon this declared that I had no life. It was permitted me to reply, I am more alive than you are, since
I feel the influx of good and truth from the Lord and see and perceive the enlightenment. I also perceive from the Lord that evils and falsities are from hell, and not only that this is so, but also from what spirits they come; and it has been granted me to speak with these, to rebuke them, and to reject them with their evils and falsities, and thus I was delivered from them. Furthermore, it was granted me to say that now I know that I live, and before I did not know it. From all this I have been fully convinced that every evil and falsity is from hell, and every good and truth, together with the perception of them, is from the Lord; and moreover, that I have freedom and thus perception as if from myself. [4] Again, that every evil and falsity is from hell it has been granted me to see with my own eyes. Over the hells there is an appearance of fires and smoke; evils are fires and falsities are smoke. These are continually exhaled and rise up, and the spirits that dwell in the midst between heaven and hell are affected by them according to their love. It shall be told briefly how evil and falsity have power to flow forth from hell, when there exists only one acting force, which is the life that is God; this also has been revealed. There was uttered with a loud voice out of heaven a truth from the Word, which flowed down to hell and through it to its lowest part; and it was heard that this truth in its flowing down was successively and by degrees turned into falsity, and at length into such falsity as is wholly opposite to the truth; then it was in the lowest hell. It was so changed because everything is received according to the state and form; so truth flowing into inverted forms, such as are in hell, became successively inverted and changed into the falsity opposite to the truth. From this it is clear what hell is from top to bottom, also that there is but one acting force, which is the life that is the Lord.
1148. And of marble signifies sensual truth that has been profaned. This is evident from the signification of "marble," as being the sensual, which is the [outermost] of the life of man's thought and will... That [outermost] truth, which is called sensual, has also been profaned is evident from the adoration of the sepulchers, bones, and carcasses of those who are called saints, although they are putrid and correspond to things infernal. The very senses of the body would turn away from such things if the holy things of the church had not been profaned to such an extent...
1149. Verse 13. And cinnamon and incense, and ointment and frankincense, and wine and oil, and fine flour and wheat, and beasts of burden and sheep, and horses and carriages, and slaves and souls of men. 13. "And cinnamon and incense" signifies profaned worship from celestial love (n. 1150); "and ointment and frankincense" signifies profaned worship from spiritual love (n. 1151); "and wine and oil" signifies profaned worship from truths and goods that are from a celestial origin (n. 1152); "and fine flour and wheat" signifies profaned worship from truths and goods that are from a spiritual origin (n. 1153); "and beasts of burden and sheep" signifies profaned worship from truths and goods that are from a spiritual-natural origin (n. 1154); "and horses and carriages" signifies profaned worship from truths and goods that are from a rational origin (n. 1155); "and slaves and souls of men" signifies profaned worship from truths and goods that are from a natural-sensual origin (n. 1156).
1157. Verse 14. And the fruits of the desire of thy soul have departed from thee, and all fat and splendid things have departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more. 14. "And the fruits of the desire of thy soul have departed from thee" signifies that the gladnesses and joys they expected from worship and life according to the traditions of the Babylonish religion are turned into weeping and mourning (n. 1158); "and all fat and splendid things have departed from thee" signifies that all things good and true, and thus satisfying and grand, which they were persuaded they would secure through that religious persuasion, are turned into the opposite (n. 1159); "and thou shalt find them no more" signifies that they have been destroyed forever (n. 1160).
1158. Verse 14. And the fruits of the desire of thy soul have departed from thee, signifies that the gladnesses and joys they expected from worship and life according to the traditions of the Babylonish nation are turned into weeping and mourning. This is evident from the signification of "the fruits of the desire of the soul," as being the gladnesses and joys they hoped for from worship and life according to the traditions of the Babylonish religion. This is the signification of these words, because the things enumerated in verses 12 and 13 signify all things of the doctrine and worship of that religious persuasion from which those who believe in a life after death expect gladnesses and joys; therefore these are "the fruits of the desire of their souls." Also from the signification of "have departed from thee," as being that these have been dissipated, and have been turned into weeping and mourning, because into the torments of hell. Those gladnesses and joys which they expect are merely external, thus corporeal and worldly, for such do not know what internal gladnesses and joys are, because they have no truths from the Word, thus no truths from the Lord, but only from him whom they call His vicar, from whom falsities can come forth but no truths, because they have dominion for their end. Therefore that the people may be kept under the yoke of that dominion, such things from self and the world as delight the body are offered them.
(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith) [2] (7) The seventh law of the Divine providence is, That man is let into the truths of faith and into the goods of love by the Lord only so far as he can be kept in them until the end of life; for it is better that he should continue to be evil than that he should be good and afterwards evil, for he thus becomes profane... Those who come into the affection of truth and thence into faith, and into the affection of good and thence into love, and do not continue in these affections to the end of life, but fall back into the loves from which they had abstained, profane holy things. [3] There are many kinds of profanation, but this kind is the most grievous of all. The lot of such after death is terrible. They are not in hell but beneath hell; and there they neither think nor will, but merely see and act. They see things that are not, and do not see the things that are. They act as if they were doing everything, and yet they do nothing. They are nothing but deliriums of fantasy. And as they neither think nor will, they are no longer men, for the human is thinking and willing. Consequently they are not called "he" nor "she," but in the neuter gender "it" or "that." When seen in any heavenly light they appear like skeletons covered over with a black skin. Such is the condition of those that have been reformed and do not remain so. Why their lot is so horrible shall be told. By their reformation a communication is established between them and heaven, whereby goods and truths flow in; and by these the interiors of their minds are opened, and evils are removed to the sides. If they remain in this state till death they are happy, but if they do not they become unhappy, for the evils that have been removed then flow back and mingle themselves with the truths and goods; thus hell is so mixed with heaven in them that the two cannot be separated; for if anything has once been impressed on the mind of man by love it can never be rooted out; since, therefore, after death the goods cannot be separated from the evils nor the truths from the falsities, the mind is wholly overthrown, and such spirits no longer have any thought or will, but what remains is like a shell when the kernel is removed, or like the skin with the skeleton when the flesh is gone, for this is all that is left of the man. Let it be known, therefore, that the danger is not in passing from evil to good, but the danger is in passing from good to evil.
1159. ...(Continuation) [5] But such is not the lot of those who are permanently evil. All who are permanently evil are in hell according to the loves of their life; and there they think and speak from thought, although they speak falsities, and they will and from will do, although they do evils. Moreover, to one another they appear like men, although in the light of heaven they have monstrous forms... It is for this reason that the Lord, who provides all things and foresees all things, hides the operations of His providence, even to the extent that man scarcely knows whether there be any providence whatever, and man is permitted to attribute what he does to prudence, and what happens to him to fortune, and even to ascribe many things to nature...
1161. Verses 15-16. The merchants of these things who became rich by her shall stand afar off for fear of her torment, weeping and mourning; and saying, "Woe, woe, that great city, arrayed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and inwrought with gold, precious stone, and pearls. [English version, verse 17.] For in one hour were devastated so great riches." 15. "The merchants of these things who were made rich by her" signifies all those who gained from that religious persuasion honors and riches, and thus the good things of opulence and eminence, which are satisfying and grand (n. 1162); "shall stand afar off for fear of her torment" signifies from dread of infernal punishments while they were in externals (n. 1163); "weeping and mourning" signifies grief of soul and heart (n. 1164). 16. "And saying, Woe, woe, that great city," signifies lamentation over their doctrine and religious persuasion (n. 1165) ; "arrayed in fine linen and purple and scarlet" signifies the appearance in externals of being from celestial and spiritual truth and good (n. 1166); "and inwrought with gold and precious stone and pearls" signifies the appearance in externals of being from spiritual and natural truth and good (n. 1167). "For in one hour were devastated so great riches" signifies the destruction of all things that they had gained, and of all things by which they had hoped to make gains (n. 1168).
1162. Verse 15. The merchants of these things who became rich by her signifies all those who gained from that religious persuasion honor and wealth, and thus the good things of opulence and eminence, which are satisfying and grand... for those who are of Babylon do not know what internal satisfactions are, because they do not read the Word and look to the Lord, but they know only what external satisfactions are, and with these only are they delighted. They are not receptive of internal satisfactions... All this makes clear that all the kinds of merchandise enumerated in this chapter mean external goods and satisfactions that are not at the same time internal, and thus that those who are in these are meant by "the merchants who became rich" by these means.
(Continuation) [2] (8) The eighth law of the Divine providence is that the Lord is continually withdrawing man from evils so far as man is willing from freedom to be withdrawn; that so far as man can be withdrawn from evils the Lord leads him to good and thus to heaven; but so far as man cannot be withdrawn from evils the Lord cannot lead him to good and thus to heaven... By the speech of his lips and the actions of his body man is in the natural world; but by the thoughts of his understanding and the affections of his will he is in the spiritual world. By the spiritual world heaven and hell are meant, both divided into innumerable societies, according to all the varieties of affections and consequent thoughts arranged in a most complete order. In the midst of these societies is man, so bound to them as not to have the least ability to think or will except in connection with them, and so connected that if he were to be torn away from them or they from him he would fall down dead, life remaining only in his inmost, whereby he is a man and not a beast, and whereby he lives to eternity. Man does not know that in regard to his life he is in such inseparable fellowship. This he does not know, because he has no discourse with spirits. For so long a time has man known nothing about that state; but lest this should remain hidden to eternity, it has been revealed...
1163. ...(Continuation) Man is from birth in the midst of infernal societies, and extends himself into them precisely as he extends the evil affections of his will. All evil affections of the will are from the loves of self and the world; and for the reason that those loves turn all things of the mind downwards and outwards, that is, towards hell, ...thus turning them away from the Lord, and away from heaven. Moreover, the interiors of all things of the human mind, and with them the interiors of all things of the spirit, are capable of being turned either downwards or upwards. They are turned downwards when man loves himself above all things; and they are turned upwards when he loves the Lord above all things. This is an actual turning. Man from himself turns them downwards, while the Lord from Himself turns them upwards. The ruling love is what turns... That all this is true man does not know; and yet he ought to know it in order that he may understand how he is led out of hell and led into heaven by the Lord.
1164. ...(Continuation) [2] That a man may be led out of hell and led into heaven by the Lord, he must himself resist hell, that is, evils, as if from himself. If he does not resist as if from himself, he remains in hell and hell in him, nor is he separated from it to eternity... Evils are removed from man either by punishments, or by temptations, and consequent turning away, or by the affections of truth and good. With those not reformed evils are removed by punishments; with those about to be reformed they are removed by temptations and consequent turning away; and with the regenerate by the affections of truth and good. The experience is this: When an unreformed or evil person endures punishments, as takes place in hell, he is kept in the punishments until it is perceived that of himself he does not will the evils; not until then is he set free. Thus is he compelled of himself to put away evils. If he is not punished even to that intention and will he continues in his evil. Yet even then the evil is not rooted out, because he has not compelled himself. The evil remains within, and returns when the fear ceases. With those about to be reformed evils are removed by temptations, which are not punishments... Such persons are not compelled to resist evils, but they compel themselves and pray to the Lord, and thus are delivered from the evils which they have resisted. Such afterwards refrain from evils, not from any fear of punishment but from an aversion to evil; and at length this aversion to evil is their resistance. But with the regenerate there are no temptations..., but the affections of truth and good that keep evils far away from them; for they are wholly separated from hell, which is the source of evils, and are conjoined to the Lord. [3] To be separated and removed from evils is the same thing as to be separated and removed from infernal societies. The Lord has the power to separate and remove from infernal societies, that is, from evils, and the power to transfer to heavenly societies, that is, to goods, anyone He may wish; but such a change can continue only for a few hours, after which the evils return. I have frequently seen this done; and seen that the evil continued evil as before. In the whole spiritual world there is not an instance of anyone's having been removed from evils in any other way than by combat or resistance as if from himself, or of anyone doing this except of the Lord alone.
1165. ...(Continuation) ...The quality of all who come from the earth into the spiritual world is known from their ability or inability to resist evils as if from themselves. Those who are able to do this are saved, while those who are not able are not saved. The reason is that man is not able to resist evils from himself, but only from the Lord; for it is the Lord who resists evils in man and gives man to feel and perceive as if he does it from himself. Therefore those in the world who have acknowledged the Lord, and have acknowledged that all good and truth are from Him, and that nothing is from man, and thus that power over evils is from the Lord, and not from themselves, such resist evils as if from themselves. But those who have not acknowledged this in the world are unable to resist evils as if from themselves, for such are in evils and in the delight of evils from love; and to resist the delight of love is the same as resisting themselves, their own nature, and their own life. An experiment was made whether such were able to resist evils when the punishments of hell were described to them, and even when those punishments were seen and were felt; but it was in vain; for they hardened their minds, saying, Let this be so, and let it come, but so long as I am here let me be in the pleasures and joys of my heart. The present I know; what is to come I give no thought to; no more evil will come to me than to very many others. Such when their time is fulfilled are cast into hell; and there they are compelled by punishments to refrain from doing evil; but punishments do not take away the will, intention, and consequent thought of evil; they merely take away the acts. All this makes clear that the power to resist evils is not from man, but is from the Lord with those who acknowledge Him, and that the Lord causes it to appear as if done by man.
1166. ...(Continuation.) [2] The Lord alone resists the evils with man by Himself and not through any angels of heaven, because to resist evils with man is a work of Divine omnipotence, Divine omniscience, and Divine providence. It is a work of Divine omnipotence, because to resist one evil is to resist many, and even to resist the hells. For every evil is joined with innumerable other evils, and they cling together like the hells with each other; for as evils make one so do the hells, and as the hells make one so do evils, and no one but the Lord is able to resist the hells so united. It is a work of Divine omniscience, because the Lord alone knows what man is and what his evils are, and what their connection is with other evils, thus in what order they must be removed that man may be inwardly or radically cured. It is a work of Divine providence, that nothing may be done contrary to the laws of order, and that what is done may promote man's eternal good; for Divine omnipotence, Divine omniscience, and Divine providence have respect in every least particular to what is eternal. [3] All this makes clear that no angel is able to resist the evils with man, but the Lord only. The Lord carries on this work in man both immediately from himself, and mediately through heaven, and yet in such a way that no angel knows anything about it. For heaven in the whole complex is the Lord, because it is His Divine proceeding; consequently when He is working through heaven He is working from Himself. It is said mediately because the Divine operation flows through the heavens, and yet it takes nothing from... any angel there... The appearance is the same as when a man does any act; to produce it he moves innumerable motor fibers scattered through his whole body, but of this action no single fiber knows anything. Such are angels in the Divine Body which is called heaven.
1169. Verse 17. And every pilot, and all that are employed on ships, and sailors, and as many as work at sea, stood afar off. 17. "And every pilot, and all that are employed on ships, and sailors, and as many as work at sea," signifies all that have believed themselves to be in wisdom, in intelligence, and in knowledge, and have confirmed the falsities of that doctrine and religious persuasion by reasonings from the natural man (n. 1170); "stood afar off" signifies not now in these things as before because of fear (n. 1171).
1172. Verses 18-19. And they cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What is like this great city? And they cast dust upon their heads, and cried out, weeping and mourning, saying, Woe, woe, that great city, wherein all that had ships in the sea were made rich by her costliness, for in one hour they were devastated. 18. "And they cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning" signifies grief of mind because of direful falsities, when they saw the punishment on account of those direful falsities that flowed from their lives (n. 1173); "saying, What is like this great city," signifies astonishment that that doctrine and religious persuasion were thus destroyed (n. 1174). 19. "And they cast dust upon their heads and cried out, weeping and mourning," signifies confession that by a life according to that religious persuasion and its doctrine they were condemned (n. 1175); "saying, Woe, woe, that great city, wherein all that had ships in the sea were made rich by her costliness," signifies lamentation over the doctrine and religious persuasion by which all who confirmed them by reasonings from the natural man had made gains (n. 1176); "for in one hour they were devastated" signifies over the loss and destruction of all things (n. 1177).
1174. ...(Continuation) [2] But how the Lord flows in and man is thus led can be known from no other source than the spiritual world, where man is as to his spirit, that is, as to his affections and the thoughts therefrom, for these constitute man's spirit; and the spirit from its affection, and not the body, is what thinks. The affections of man, from which are his thoughts, have extension into societies in the spiritual world on every side, into more or fewer of them according to the amount and quality of the affection. Man as to his spirit is within these societies, and to them he is attached as it were with extended cords, which determine the space where he can walk. As he passes from one affection into another, so he passes from one society into another, and the society he is in, and the place where he is in the society, is the center from which the affection and its thought extends to other societies as circumferences, and these are thus in unbroken connection with the affection at the center, and from that affection man then thinks and speaks. Man acquires this sphere, which is the sphere of his affections and thoughts therefrom, while he is in the world; from hell if he is evil, from heaven if he is good. Of this man is ignorant, because he does not know that such things exist. Through these societies man, that is, man's mind, although bound walks free; but he is led by the Lord, and he takes no step into which and from which the Lord does not lead; and yet the Lord grants continually that man shall have no other thought than that he goes of himself in full liberty; and he is permitted to persuade himself of this because it is according to a law of the Divine providence that man shall go whithersoever his affection wills. If his affection is evil he is conveyed through infernal societies; and if he does not look to the Lord he is carried into these societies more interiorly and deeply. And yet the Lord leads him as if by the hand, permitting and withholding as far as man is willing to follow in freedom. But if man looks to the Lord he is led forth from these societies gradually, according to the order and connection in which they stand, which order and connection no one knows but the Lord only, and thus he is brought by continual steps out of hell up towards heaven and into heaven. [3] This the Lord does without the man's knowing it, because if man knew it he would disturb the continuity of that process by leading himself. It is enough for man to learn truths from the Word, and by means of truths to know what good is, and from truths and goods what evils and falsities are, in order that he may be affected by truths and goods, and not be affected by falsities and evils... In this and in no other way can man be led from one affection into another in freedom and as if of himself. This is done by leading according to the affection of truth and good when man acknowledges the Lord's Divine providence in every particular... So, too, man becomes capable of receiving intelligence corresponding to affection; and this he receives so far as from truths he fights against evils as if of himself. This must be revealed, because it is not known that the Divine providence is continual, and enters into the most minute things of man's life...
1175. ...(Continuation) [3] All this having been premised it shall now be told what affection is, and afterwards why man is led by the Lord by means of affections and not by means of thoughts, and lastly that man can be saved in no other way. What affection is. The same is meant by affection as by love. But love is like a fountain and affections are like the streams therefrom, thus affections are continuations of love... which... flow by continuity into the understanding, and there by means of light from truths produce thoughts, just as the influences of heat in a garden produce germinations by means of rays of light. Moreover, love in its origin is the heat of heaven, and truths in their origin are the rays of light of heaven, and thoughts are germinations from their marriage. From such a marriage are all the societies of heaven, which are innumerable, which in their essence are affections; for they are from the heat that is love and from the wisdom that is light from the Lord as a sun. Therefore these societies, as heat in them is united to light, and light is united to heat, are affections of good and truth. From this are the thoughts of all in these societies. This makes clear that the societies of heaven are not thoughts but affections, consequently to be led by means of these societies is to be led by means of affections, that is, to be led by means of affections is to be led by means of societies; and for this reason in what now follows the term affections will be used in place of societies. [4] Why man is led by the Lord by means of affections and not by means of thoughts shall now be told. When man is led by the Lord by means of affections he can be led according to all the laws of His Divine providence, but not if he should be led by means of thoughts. Affections do not become evident to man, but thoughts do; also affections produce thoughts, but thoughts do not produce affections; there is an appearance that they do, but it is a fallacy. And when affections produce thoughts they produce all things of man, because these constitute his life... Again, when a man is led by the Lord by means of affections, it seems to him as if he thought freely as if of himself, and spoke freely and acted freely as if of himself. And this is why the Lord does not teach man immediately, but mediately by means of the Word, and by means of doctrines and preachings from the Word, and by means of conversations and interaction with others; for from these things man thinks freely as if of himself. [5] In no other way can man be saved. This follows both from what has been said about the laws of the Divine providence and also from this, that thoughts do not produce affections in man. For if man knew all things of the Word, and all things of doctrine, even to the arcana of wisdom that the angels possess, and thought and spoke about them, so long as his affections were lusts of evil he could not be brought out of hell by the Lord. Evidently, then, if man were to be taught from heaven by an influx into his thoughts it would be like casting seed upon the way, or into water, or into snow, or into fire.
1177. ...(Continuation) (1) ...Everyone may be taught according to the affections of his love and the consequent thoughts of his understanding, those who are not in good of life receiving very little, but those who are in good of life receiving much, for these are taught through enlightenment by the Lord. [2] The enlightenment is as follows: Light conjoined with heat flows in through heaven from the Lord. This heat, which is the Divine love, affects the will, from which man has the affection of good; and this light, which is the Divine wisdom, affects the understanding, from which man has the thought of truth. From these two fountains, which are the will and understanding, all things of man's love and all things of his knowledge are affected... In this way is enlightenment effected by the Lord by means of the Word, in which everything, from the spiritual that is in it, communicates with heaven, and the Lord flows in through heaven into that which is at the time under man's view; and the influx in everyone is continual and universal even to the minutest particulars. It is comparatively like the heat and light from the sun of the world, which operate upon each and every thing of the earth and give life according to the quality of the seed and the reception. What, then, must be the effect of the heat and light from the Divine sun, from which all things live? To be enlightened by the Lord through heaven is to be enlightened by the Holy Spirit, for the Holy Spirit is the Divine that proceeds from the Lord as a sun, from which is heaven. From this it is clear that the Lord teaches the man of the church mediately by means of the Word according to the love of his will that comes from his life, and according to the light of his understanding that he gains by means of knowledge; and that this cannot be otherwise, because this is the Divine order of influx. [3] And this is why the Christian religion has been divided into churches, and into heresies in general and in particular within the churches. Neither can those who are outside the Christian world, and who do not have the Word, be taught in any other way, for they are taught through the religious principle that they have instead of the Word, which is in part from the Word. The religious principle with the Mohammedans was in some respects taken from the Word of both Testaments. Others have a religious principle derived from the ancient Word that was afterwards lost. With some it was from the Ancient Church that extended over a great part of the continent of Asia, which, like our church at the present day, was divided into many, all of them having that ancient Word. From these the religious principles of many nations were derived, although in process of time these became in many cases more or less idolatrous. [4] Those whose worship is from that origin are taught by the Lord mediately by means of their religious principle the same as Christians are by the Word; and this is done, as has been said, by the Lord through heaven, and thus by a stirring up of their will and also of their understanding. But enlightenment by means of those religious principles is not like enlightenment by means of the Word. It is like enlightenment at evening when the moon is shining more or less brightly, while enlightenment by means of the Word is like enlightenment in the daytime from morning to noon, when the sun is shining more or less brightly. Thus it is that the Lord's church which, as to its light, which is Divine wisdom, extends through the entire globe, is like the day from noon to evening, and even to night; while as to its heat, which is Divine love, it is like the year from spring to autumn, and even to winter.
1178. Verse 20. Exult over her, O heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets, for God hath judged your judgment upon her. 20. "Exult over her, O heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets," signifies joy of heart in heaven and in the church with those who are in wisdom and intelligence from the Word (n. 1179); "for God hath judged your judgment upon her" signifies on account of the rejection of these (n. 1180).
1179. Verse 20. Exult over her, O heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets, signifies joy of heart in heaven and in the church with those who are in wisdom and intelligence from the Word... This now follows because before the Last Judgment, or before the Babylonians were cast into hell and the world of spirits was thus delivered from them, the light by which the angels have wisdom and intelligence was intercepted. That light was intercepted and the angels thereby somewhat obscured because of the conjunction of the Babylonians with the angels of the lowest heaven; but it was otherwise when they had been cast down. (On this see what is related from things seen and heard in the work on The Last Judgment.)
(Continuation) ...[4] ...And what is more, a man who from religion lives these truths, even if in the world he knows nothing about the Lord, nor anything else from the Word, yet he is in such a state as to his spirit that he wishes to become wise; consequently after death he is instructed by the angels and acknowledges the Lord and receives truths according to his affection and becomes an angel. Every such person is like a man who dies an infant, for he is led by the Lord and is educated by the angels. Those who from ignorance and from having been born in such a place have known nothing of worship, are after death instructed like little children...
1181. Verse 21. And one strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and cast into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall Babylon, that great city, be cast down, and shall be found no more. 21. "And one strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and cast into the sea," signifies all confirmations of their doctrine from the Word cast with them into hell (n. 1182); "saying, Thus with violence shall Babylon, that great city, be cast down, and shall be found no more," signifies the total destruction of that doctrine and religious persuasion, and that they shall not rise again (n. 1183).
1182. ...(Continuation) [4] Something shall now be said about the speech of spirits with man. Many believe that man can be taught by the Lord by means of spirits speaking with him; but those who believe this and are willing to believe it do not know that it is attended with danger to their souls. So long as man is living in the world, as to his spirit he is in the midst of spirits, although spirits do not know that they are with man, nor does man know that he is with spirits... But as soon as spirits begin to speak with man they come out of their spiritual state into man's natural state, and they then know that they are with man and they conjoin themselves with the thoughts of his affection and speak with him from those thoughts. They can enter into no other state of man, for all conjunction is by like affection and thought therefrom, while unlike separates. For this reason the speaking spirit must be in the same principles as the man is, whether they be true or false; and these he stirs up, and through his affection conjoined to man's affection he strongly confirms them. This makes clear that none but like spirits speak with man... [5] All spirits that speak with man were once men in the world, and were then of like character. This has been granted me to know by repeated experience. And what is absurd, when a man believes that the Holy Spirit is speaking with him or operating upon him the spirit also believes himself to be the Holy Spirit. This is common with enthusiastic spirits. All this shows the danger in which a man is who speaks with spirits... Man does not know what the quality of his affection is, whether it be good or evil, or with what others it is conjoined... Whenever a spirit from like affection favors man's thoughts or principles, one leads the other as the blind lead the blind until both fall into the pit... For this reason such interaction was forbidden to the sons of Israel under penalty of death.
1184. Verses 22-23. And the voice of harpers and musicians and pipers and trumpeters shall not be heard in thee any more; and no craftsman of whatsoever craft shall be found in thee any more; and the voice of a millstone shall not be heard in thee any more. And the light of a lamp shall not shine in thee any more; and the voice of bridegroom and of bride shall not be heard in thee any more; because thy merchants were the great men of the earth, because by thy sorcery have all nations been seduced. 22. "And the voice of harpers and musicians and pipers and trumpeters shall not be heard in thee any more," signifies no more any interior or exterior joys (n. 1185); "and no craftsman of whatsoever craft shall be found in thee any more," signifies no more any wisdom, intelligence, or knowledge (n. 1186); "and the voice of a millstone shall not be heard in thee any more," signifies no more any understanding of truth from the will of good (n. 1187). 23. "And the light of a lamp shall not shine in thee any more," signifies nothing of the truth of heaven and of the church (n. 1188); "and the voice of bridegroom and of bride shall not be heard in thee any more," signifies no joy from the conjunction of good and truth (n. 1189); "because thy merchants were the great men of the earth," signifies those who are in dominion and in its love and delight, and who have gained the chief honors of the world and the riches of the world (n. 1190); "because by thy sorcery have all nations been seduced," signifies that by their wicked arts and persuasions they compelled all the well disposed to believe and to do those things from which they have gained dominion and wealth (n. 1191).
1185. ...(Continuation) [2] ...There are two things that especially influence the minds of men, eminence and riches; eminence relates to the love of glory and of honors, riches to the love of money and possessions. These especially influence men's minds because they belong to the natural man; consequently those who are merely natural have no other idea than that eminence and riches are real blessings that are from God, when in fact they may be curses, as may be clearly inferred from this, that they are the portion both of good men and of evil men. I have seen the eminent and the rich in the heavens and I have seen them in the hells; therefore, as has been said, when eminence and riches do not lead astray they are from God, but when they do they are from hell. [3] In the world man does not distinguish between their being from God or from hell, because the natural man separated from the spiritual cannot perceive this distinction; but the distinction can be seen in the natural man that is from the spiritual, and yet with difficulty, because... he not only professes but also is able to persuade himself that he has done it for the sake of the church, the country, society, and his fellow citizens, and yet he may have done it for the sake of self and the world as ends. Man is in such blindness because he has not put away evils from himself by any combat; for so long as evils remain man can see nothing from the spiritual in his natural; he is like one in a dream who believes himself to be awake, or like a bird of night that sees the darkness as light. Such is the natural man when the gate of heavenly light is closed. Heavenly light is the spiritual that enlightens the natural man... It is of the greatest importance to know whether eminence and riches, or the love of glory and honor, and the love of money and of possessions, are ends or are means...
1187. ...(Continuation) ...[2] Take, for example, a priest whose chief end is love of money or possessions, his means are the ministerial office, the Word, doctrine, learning, preaching from these, and instruction of men of the church and their reformation and salvation by means of these. These means are valued by him according to the end and for the sake of the end, and yet they are not loved, although with some they appear to be loved; for wealth is what is loved, since this is... the final end... Such assert, indeed, that their desire is that men of their church be taught, reformed, and saved; but as wealth is the end from which this is said, it is not said from their love, but only as means of acquiring reputation and gain for the sake of the end. [3] The same is true of a priest whose chief end is a love of eminence over others, as will be seen if gain or honor is separated from the means. It is wholly different when instruction, reformation, and salvation of souls is the chief end, and wealth and eminence are the means; for a priest is then a wholly different man, for he is a spiritual man, while the former is a natural man. With a spiritual priest wealth and eminence are blessings, but with a natural priest wealth and eminence are curses. This has been made evident by much experience in the spiritual world. Many have been seen and heard there who asserted that they had taught, had written, and had reformed men; but when the end or love of their will was disclosed, it was clear that they had done all things for the sake of self and the world, and nothing for the sake of God and the neighbor, and that they even cursed God and did evil to the neighbor. Such are meant in Matt. 7:22-23; and in Luke 13:26-27.
1188. ...(Continuation) Take as another example a king, a prince, a magistrate, a governor, or an official, whose chief end is the love of rule, and whose means are all things belonging to their dominion, administration, and function. The uses they perform do not have the good of the kingdom, commonwealth, country, societies, and fellow- citizens, as their end, but delight in ruling, consequently self... I have seen such after death, and have been amazed. They were devils among the burning; for when the love of rule is the chief end it is the very fire of hell. [2] I have also seen others whose chief end was not love of rule, but love of God and the neighbor, which is the love of uses; these were angels to whom dominion in the heavens was granted. From all this again it is clear that eminence may be a blessing or may be a curse, and that eminence as a blessing is from the Lord, and eminence as a curse is from the devil. What the love of rule is when it is the chief end, anyone who is wise can see from the kingdom that is meant in the Word by "Babylon," that set its throne in the heavens above the Lord by claiming to itself all His authority; consequently it abrogated the Divine means of worship, which are from the Lord through the Word, and in their place instituted demoniacal means of worship, which are adorations of living and dead men, also of sepulchers, carcasses, and bones. That kingdom is described by "Lucifer" in Isaiah (14:4-24). But only those that have exercised that dominion from the love of it are Lucifers, not the rest.
1189. ...(Continuation) [3] As the love of rule and the love of riches prevail universally in the Christian world, and these loves at this day are so deeply rooted that it is not known that they in any wise lead astray, it is important that their quality should be set forth. They lead every man astray who does not shun evils because they are sins; for he who does not thus shun evils does not fear God, and therefore remains natural. And as the love of ruling and the love of riches are the natural man's own loves, he does not see with any interior acknowledgment what the quality of those loves are in him. This he does not see unless he is reformed, and he can be reformed only by combat against evils. It is believed that he can be reformed by faith; but there can be no faith of God in man until he fights against evils. When man has thus been reformed light flows in from the Lord through heaven and gives him the affection of seeing and the ability to see what those loves are, and whether they rule or serve in him... If they rule... they lead astray and become curses; but if they serve... they do not lead astray but become blessings. [4] I can assert that all in whom the love of rule is in the first place are inwardly devils... It is continually exhaled from hell, and the exhalation appears like the fire of a great furnace, kindling the hearts of men whom the Lord does not protect from it. The Lord protects all who are reformed. Nevertheless, the former although in hell, are led by the Lord but only by means of external bonds, which are fears on account of the penalties of the law and the loss of reputation, honor, gain, and consequently pleasures. He leads them also by means of worldly rewards. He cannot lead them out of hell because the love of rule does not admit of internal bonds, which are the fear of God and affections of good and truth, by means of which the Lord leads all who will follow Him to heaven and in heaven.
1184. Verses 22-23. And the voice of harpers and musicians and pipers and trumpeters shall not be heard in thee any more; and no craftsman of whatsoever craft shall be found in thee any more; and the voice of a millstone shall not be heard in thee any more. And the light of a lamp shall not shine in thee any more; and the voice of bridegroom and of bride shall not be heard in thee any more; because thy merchants were the great men of the earth, because by thy sorcery have all nations been seduced. 22. "And the voice of harpers and musicians and pipers and trumpeters shall not be heard in thee any more," signifies no more any interior or exterior joys (n. 1185); "and no craftsman of whatsoever craft shall be found in thee any more," signifies no more any wisdom, intelligence, or knowledge (n. 1186); "and the voice of a millstone shall not be heard in thee any more," signifies no more any understanding of truth from the will of good (n. 1187). 23. "And the light of a lamp shall not shine in thee any more," signifies nothing of the truth of heaven and of the church (n. 1188); "and the voice of bridegroom and of bride shall not be heard in thee any more," signifies no joy from the conjunction of good and truth (n. 1189); "because thy merchants were the great men of the earth," signifies those who are in dominion and in its love and delight, and who have gained the chief honors of the world and the riches of the world (n. 1190); "because by thy sorcery have all nations been seduced," signifies that by their wicked arts and persuasions they compelled all the well disposed to believe and to do those things from which they have gained dominion and wealth (n. 1191).
1185. ...(Continuation) [2] ...There are two things that especially influence the minds of men, eminence and riches; eminence relates to the love of glory and of honors, riches to the love of money and possessions. These especially influence men's minds because they belong to the natural man; consequently those who are merely natural have no other idea than that eminence and riches are real blessings that are from God, when in fact they may be curses, as may be clearly inferred from this, that they are the portion both of good men and of evil men. I have seen the eminent and the rich in the heavens and I have seen them in the hells; therefore, as has been said, when eminence and riches do not lead astray they are from God, but when they do they are from hell. [3] In the world man does not distinguish between their being from God or from hell, because the natural man separated from the spiritual cannot perceive this distinction; but the distinction can be seen in the natural man that is from the spiritual, and yet with difficulty, because... he not only professes but also is able to persuade himself that he has done it for the sake of the church, the country, society, and his fellow citizens, and yet he may have done it for the sake of self and the world as ends. Man is in such blindness because he has not put away evils from himself by any combat; for so long as evils remain man can see nothing from the spiritual in his natural; he is like one in a dream who believes himself to be awake, or like a bird of night that sees the darkness as light. Such is the natural man when the gate of heavenly light is closed. Heavenly light is the spiritual that enlightens the natural man... It is of the greatest importance to know whether eminence and riches, or the love of glory and honor, and the love of money and of possessions, are ends or are means...
1187. ...(Continuation) ...[2] Take, for example, a priest whose chief end is love of money or possessions, his means are the ministerial office, the Word, doctrine, learning, preaching from these, and instruction of men of the church and their reformation and salvation by means of these. These means are valued by him according to the end and for the sake of the end, and yet they are not loved, although with some they appear to be loved; for wealth is what is loved, since this is... the final end... Such assert, indeed, that their desire is that men of their church be taught, reformed, and saved; but as wealth is the end from which this is said, it is not said from their love, but only as means of acquiring reputation and gain for the sake of the end. [3] The same is true of a priest whose chief end is a love of eminence over others, as will be seen if gain or honor is separated from the means. It is wholly different when instruction, reformation, and salvation of souls is the chief end, and wealth and eminence are the means; for a priest is then a wholly different man, for he is a spiritual man, while the former is a natural man. With a spiritual priest wealth and eminence are blessings, but with a natural priest wealth and eminence are curses. This has been made evident by much experience in the spiritual world. Many have been seen and heard there who asserted that they had taught, had written, and had reformed men; but when the end or love of their will was disclosed, it was clear that they had done all things for the sake of self and the world, and nothing for the sake of God and the neighbor, and that they even cursed God and did evil to the neighbor. Such are meant in Matt. 7:22-23; and in Luke 13:26-27.
1188. ...(Continuation) Take as another example a king, a prince, a magistrate, a governor, or an official, whose chief end is the love of rule, and whose means are all things belonging to their dominion, administration, and function. The uses they perform do not have the good of the kingdom, commonwealth, country, societies, and fellow- citizens, as their end, but delight in ruling, consequently self... I have seen such after death, and have been amazed. They were devils among the burning; for when the love of rule is the chief end it is the very fire of hell. [2] I have also seen others whose chief end was not love of rule, but love of God and the neighbor, which is the love of uses; these were angels to whom dominion in the heavens was granted. From all this again it is clear that eminence may be a blessing or may be a curse, and that eminence as a blessing is from the Lord, and eminence as a curse is from the devil. What the love of rule is when it is the chief end, anyone who is wise can see from the kingdom that is meant in the Word by "Babylon," that set its throne in the heavens above the Lord by claiming to itself all His authority; consequently it abrogated the Divine means of worship, which are from the Lord through the Word, and in their place instituted demoniacal means of worship, which are adorations of living and dead men, also of sepulchers, carcasses, and bones. That kingdom is described by "Lucifer" in Isaiah (14:4-24). But only those that have exercised that dominion from the love of it are Lucifers, not the rest.
1189. ...(Continuation) [3] As the love of rule and the love of riches prevail universally in the Christian world, and these loves at this day are so deeply rooted that it is not known that they in any wise lead astray, it is important that their quality should be set forth. They lead every man astray who does not shun evils because they are sins; for he who does not thus shun evils does not fear God, and therefore remains natural. And as the love of ruling and the love of riches are the natural man's own loves, he does not see with any interior acknowledgment what the quality of those loves are in him. This he does not see unless he is reformed, and he can be reformed only by combat against evils. It is believed that he can be reformed by faith; but there can be no faith of God in man until he fights against evils. When man has thus been reformed light flows in from the Lord through heaven and gives him the affection of seeing and the ability to see what those loves are, and whether they rule or serve in him... If they rule... they lead astray and become curses; but if they serve... they do not lead astray but become blessings. [4] I can assert that all in whom the love of rule is in the first place are inwardly devils... It is continually exhaled from hell, and the exhalation appears like the fire of a great furnace, kindling the hearts of men whom the Lord does not protect from it. The Lord protects all who are reformed. Nevertheless, the former although in hell, are led by the Lord but only by means of external bonds, which are fears on account of the penalties of the law and the loss of reputation, honor, gain, and consequently pleasures. He leads them also by means of worldly rewards. He cannot lead them out of hell because the love of rule does not admit of internal bonds, which are the fear of God and affections of good and truth, by means of which the Lord leads all who will follow Him to heaven and in heaven.
1190. For thy merchants were the great men of the earth signifies those who are in dominion and in its love and delight, and who have gained the chief honors of the world and the riches of the world. This is evident... also from the signification of "the great men of the earth," as being those who transfer to themselves and exercise that dominion, which is dominion over the church and over heaven, and even over the Lord Himself. Such are meant in this chapter, but not those who are under their dominion. These indeed venerate and adore them, but they do this from a faith induced by authority, and thus from obedience, and this faith and obedience are from ignorance. These have no share in dominion, therefore the things said in this chapter of Babylon as the harlot are not said of these.
(Continuation) [2] Something shall now be said about man's being led by the Divine providence to such things as do not lead astray, but are serviceable to eternal life. These things also have reference to eminence and wealth. It is made clear that this is so by what I have seen in the heavens. The heavens are divided into societies, and those who are eminent and rich are to be found in every society. The eminent there are in such glory, and the rich in such abundance, that the glory and abundance of the world are almost nothing in comparison. But all the eminent there are wise, and all the rich abound in knowledge; thus eminence there is wisdom and wealth there is knowledge. Such eminence and wealth can be acquired in this world, both by those who are eminent and rich and by those who are not, for they are acquired here by all who love wisdom and knowledge... When uses are loved more than self and the world, and the cognitions of good and truth are loved for the sake of uses, uses have the first place and eminence and wealth the second place; and this is the case with all who are eminent and rich in the heavens. They look upon the eminence they have from wisdom, and the wealth they have from knowledge, just as a man looks upon his garments.
1191. Because by thy sorcery have all nations been seduced signifies that by their wicked arts and persuasions they have compelled all the well disposed of that church to believe and to do those things from which they have gained dominion and wealth... Certain spirits possess a power of persuasion that closes up as it were the understanding of another, and suffocates the ability to perceive; and as the well-disposed men in the Babylonish nation are compelled and persuaded to believe and to do whatever the monks say, it is here said that "they have been seduced by their sorcery."
(Continuation) [2] The eminence and wealth of the angels of heaven shall also be described. In the societies of heaven there are higher and lower governors, all arranged by the Lord and subordinated according to their wisdom and intelligence. Their chief, who excels the rest in wisdom, dwells in the midst in a palace so magnificent that nothing in the whole world can be compared with it. Its architecture is so wonderful that I can truthfully assert that not a hundredth part of it can be described by natural language... Within the palace are rooms and bed-chambers, in which all the furniture and decorations are resplendent with gold and various precious stones in such forms as no artist in the world can imitate either in painting or sculpture. And what is wonderful, the particulars, even to the minutest particulars, are for use; and everyone who enters sees their use, perceiving it... But no wise person who enters keeps his eyes fixed very long on the images, but his mind attends to the uses, since these delight his wisdom. Round about the palace are colonnades, pleasure gardens, and smaller palaces, each in the form of its own beauty a heavenly delight. Besides these magnificent objects there are attendant guards, all clad in shining garments, and many other things. The subordinate governors enjoy similar luxuries, which are magnificent and splendid according to the degrees of their wisdom, and their wisdom is according to the degrees of their love of uses. And not only do the rulers have such things, but also the inhabitants, all of whom love uses and perform them by various employments. [3] But few of these things can be described; those that cannot be described are innumerable, for as they are in their origin spiritual they do not fall into the ideas of the natural man, and consequently not into the expressions of His language... These things have been written to make known that all things in the heavens also have reference to eminence and wealth, but that eminence there pertains to wisdom and wealth to knowledge, and that such are the things to which man is led by the Lord through His Divine providence.
1192. Verse 24. And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that had been slain on the earth. 24. "And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints" signifies violence offered by them to every truth and thus to every good of the Word (n. 1193); "and of all that had been slain on the earth" signifies all the falsities and evils by which those who were of the church had perished (n. 1194).
1194. ...(Continuation) As man was created to perform uses, and this is to love the neighbor, so all who come into heaven, however many there are, must do uses. All the delight and blessedness of these is according to uses and to the love of uses. Heavenly joy is from no other source. He who believes that such joy is possible in idleness is much deceived. No idle person is tolerated even in hell. Those who are there are in workhouses and under a judge who imposes tasks on the prisoners that they must do daily. To those who do not do them neither food nor clothing is given, but they stand hungry and naked; thus are they compelled to work there. The difference is that in hell uses are done from fear, but in heaven from love; and fear does not give joy, but love does...
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