NEUOFFENBARUNG← True Christian Religion · Contents
271. As it was foretold that again at the end of this church darkness would arise from not recognizing the Lord as the God of heaven and earth, and from the separation of faith from charity, lest in consequence of this the genuine understanding of the Word and with it the church should perish, it has pleased the Lord to reveal at this time the spiritual sense of the Word, and to make manifest that the Word contains in that sense, and from that sense in the natural sense, things innumerable, by means of which the almost extinguished light of truth from the Word may be restored. That the light of truth would be almost extinguished at the end of this church, is foretold in many places in the Apocalypse. This is the meaning also of these words of the Lord:
Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken; and then they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with glory and power (Matt. 24:29, 30). By “the sun” here the Lord in respect to love is meant; by “the moon” the Lord in respect to faith; by “the stars” the Lord in respect to knowledges of truth and good; by “the Son of man” the Lord in respect to the Word; by “a cloud” the sense of the letter of the Word; by “glory” the spiritual sense of the Word, and its shining through the sense of the letter, and by “power” its potency.
272. I have been permitted to learn through much experience, that man has communication with heaven through the Word. While reading the Word from the first chapter of Isaiah to the last of Malachi, and also the Psalms of David, and keeping my thought fixed upon the spiritual sense, a clear perception was given me that each verse communicated with some society of heaven, and thus the whole Word with the entire heaven; which showed clearly, that as the Lord is the Word, heaven is also the Word, since heaven is heaven from the Lord, and the Lord through the Word is the all in all thing of heaven.
273. XIV. IF THERE WERE NO WORD THERE WOULD BE NO KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, OF HEAVEN AND HELL, OR OF A LIFE AFTER DEATH, STILL LESS OF THE LORD.
As there are some who hold, and who have thoroughly convinced themselves, that man may know without the Word of the existence of God, and of heaven and hell, and of other things taught by the Word; such cannot properly be appealed to from the Word, but only from the light of natural reason, since they do not believe in the Word, but only in themselves. Inquire then, from the light of reason, and you will find that there are in man two faculties of life, which are called understanding and will, and that the understanding is subject to the will, but not the will to the understanding; for the understanding merely teaches and points out what ought to be done from the will; and for this reason many who are of an acute genius, and who understand better than others the moral principles of life, still do not live according to them; but if their will favored them it would be otherwise. Inquire further, and you will find that man’s will is his selfhood [proprium] and that this is evil from birth, and that from this comes the falsity in the understanding. When you have found out these things, you will see that man of himself has no wish to understand anything except what is from the selfhood of his will, and if this were his only source of knowledge, he would have no wish from his will’s selfhood to understand anything but what pertains to self and the world; and everything above this would be in thick darkness. For instance, in looking at the sun, moon, and stars, if he should think about their origin, he could not think otherwise than that they exist from themselves. Could he raise his thoughts higher than many of the learned in the world, who while knowing from the Word that all things were created by God, yet acknowledge nature? If these had known nothing from the Word what would they have thought? Do you suppose that the ancient wise men, such as Aristotle, Cicero, Seneca, and others, who wrote about God and the immortality of the soul, obtained this knowledge primarily from their own understanding? No; they obtained it from others by its having been handed down from those who first knew of it from the ancient Word, of which above. Neither do the writers on Natural Theology derive any such knowledge from themselves; they merely confirm by rational deductions what they knew from the church where the Word is, and possibly some among them confirm and yet do not believe.
274. It has been granted me to see people who were born on islands, and who were rational in civil matters, but knew nothing whatever about God. In the spiritual world these look like sphinxes; but as they were born men, and thus have a capacity to receive spiritual life, they are instructed by angels, and are made alive by knowledge about the Lord as a Man. What man is of himself is made clear from those who are in hell. Among these there are some leaders and learned men who are not willing even to hear about God, and therefore cannot even utter the word God. These I have seen, and I have talked with them. I have also talked with some who burned with anger and fury when they heard anyone speaking about the Lord. Consider then, what kind of man one would be who had never heard anything about God, when such is the character of some who have talked about God, written about God, and preached about God. Such they are from their will, which is evil, and which, as before said, leads the understanding, and takes away any truth there is in it from the Word. If man of himself had been able to know that there is a God and a life after death, why has he not known that man is a man after death? Why does he believe that his soul or spirit is like mere wind or ether, having no eyes to see, no ears to hear, no mouth to speak, until it is joined with and made one with its corpse and skeleton? Given therefore, a doctrine hatched solely from the light of reason, would it not teach that self should be worshiped? This has been done for ages, and is still done now by those who know from the Word that God alone ought to be worshiped. From the selfhood of man no other worship can spring, not even the worship of the sun and moon.
275. It was not from themselves nor from their own intelligence, but from the ancient Word (see above, n. 264-266), and afterwards from the Israelitish Word, that from the most ancient times religion has existed, and the inhabitants of the earth everywhere have had a knowledge of God, and some knowledge of a life after death. From these two Words religious systems spread into the Indies and their islands; through Egypt and Ethiopia into the kingdoms of Africa; from the maritime parts of Asia into Greece, and from Greece into Italy. But as the Word could be written only by representations, which are such things in the world as correspond to and thus signify heavenly things, the religions of these nations were turned into idolatries, and in Greece into fables; and the Divine attributes and properties were turned into as many gods, over whom one was made supreme, whom they called Jove, possibly from Jehovah. It is known that they had a knowledge of Paradise, of the flood, of the sacred fire, and of the four ages, from the first or golden age, to the last or iron age (as described in Daniel 2:31-35).
276. Those who believe that a knowledge of God, of heaven and hell, and of the spiritual things pertaining to the church, can be gained from their own intelligence, do not know that a natural man, viewed in himself, is opposed to the spiritual, and therefore desires to extirpate the spiritual things that enter, or to involve them in fallacies, which are like the worms that consume the roots of herbs and grain. Such may be likened to men who dream that they are seated upon eagles and are borne up on high, or are mounted on Pegasus and are flying over Mount Parnassus to Helicon; while actually they are like the Lucifers in hell, who still call themselves there “sons of the morning” (Isa. 14:12). They are also like the men in the valley of the land of Shinar, who attempted to build a tower, the head of which should reach to heaven (Gen. 11:2-4); and like Goliath they trust to themselves, not foreseeing that like him they might be prostrated by a sling-stone buried in the forehead. I will tell what lot awaits such after death. At first they become as if drunk, then like fools, and at last they become stupid and dwell in darkness. Therefore let men beware of such madness.
277. To this I will add the following Memorable Relation First:
One day I was wandering in the spirit through various places in the spiritual world, for the purpose of observing the representations of heavenly things that are there exhibited in many places; and in a certain house where there were angels, I saw large purses containing a great quantity of silver; and as the purses were open, it seemed as if anyone might draw forth the silver there stored, and even purloin it; but near the purses sat two youths who were guards. The place where the purses were stored looked like the manger in a stable. In the next room modest virgins with a chaste wife were seen; and near that room stood two little children, and it was said that they were not to be played with in a childish way, but treated wisely. Afterwards a harlot appeared, and then a horse lying dead.
Having seen these things, I was taught that they represented the natural sense of the Word, within which is the spiritual sense. The large purses filled with silver signified knowledges of truth in great abundance; their being open and yet guarded by youths, signified that anyone may obtain knowledges of truth therefrom, and yet care must be taken that the spiritual sense, which contains pure truths, be not violated. The manger like that in a stable signified spiritual nourishment for the understanding, a manger having this significance, because a horse, which eats from it, signifies the understanding. The modest virgins who were seen in the next room signified affections for truth, and the chaste wife, the conjunction of good and truth. The little children signified the innocence of wisdom, for the angels of the highest heaven, who are the wisest of angels, appear at a distance like little children because of their innocence. The harlot with the dead horse, signified the falsification of truth by many at the present day, whereby all understanding of truth perishes; a harlot signifying falsification, and a dead horse no understanding of truth.
278. Second Memorable Relation:
There was once sent down to me from heaven a little paper with Hebrew letters inscribed on it, but written as with the ancients, with whom those letters which at the present are formed in part of straight lines were curved, with little horns turned upward; and the angels who were with me said that they recognized complete meanings in the very letters, perceiving them especially from the curves of the lines and apexes of the letters. They also explained what the letters signified both separately and conjointly, saying that the letter H, which was added to the names of Abram and Sarai, signified the infinite and eternal. They also explained to me the meaning of the Word in Ps. 32:2, from the letters or syllables alone, saying that their meaning in brief is that the Lord is merciful even to those who do evil. They told me that the writings in the third heaven consist of letters bent and variously curved, each one of which contains a certain meaning; and that the vowels there stand for the tone of the voice, which corresponds to affection; also that they are unable in that heaven to pronounce the vowels i and e, but use in their place y and eu; and that the vowels a, o, and u were in use among them, because they have a full sound. They also said that they pronounce none of the consonants roughly, but only softly, and that this is why some Hebrew letters have points within them as a sign that they are to be pronounced softly; adding that the rough sounds of letters are in use in the spiritual heaven, because there the angels are in truths; and truth admits roughness, but the good in which the angels of the Lord’s celestial kingdom or of the third heaven are, does not. They said, moreover, that they have a Word among themselves written with curved letters with little horns and apexes that are significative. This makes clear what these words of the Lord signify:
One jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished (Matt. 5:18)
also of these:
It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fall (Luke 16:17).
279. Third Memorable Relation:
Seven years ago, when I was collecting what Moses wrote in the twenty-first chapter of Numbers from the two books called The Wars of Jehovah and Enunciations, some angels were present who told me that those books were the ancient Word, the historical parts of which were called the Wars of Jehovah, and the prophetic Enunciations; and they said that this Word is still preserved in heaven, and in use among the ancient people there who had this Word when they were in the world. These ancient people, among whom that Word is still in use in heaven, were in part from the land of Canaan and the neighboring countries, as Syria, Mesopotamia, Arabia, Chaldea, Assyria, Egypt, Sidon, Tyre, and Nineveh; the inhabitants of all of which kingdoms had representative worship and consequently a knowledge of correspondences. The wisdom of that time was from that knowledge, and by it men had interior perception, and communication with the heavens. Those who knew the correspondences of that Word were called wise and intelligent, and afterward diviners and Magi.
[2] But because that Word was full of such correspondences as remotely signified things celestial and spiritual, and consequently began to be falsified by many, in course of time by the Lord’s Divine Providence it disappeared, and another Word was given, written by correspondences not so remote, and this through the prophets among the sons of Israel. In this Word many names of the places, both in the land of Canaan and round about in Asia, are retained, all of which signified things and states of the church; but the significations were from the ancient Word. For this reason Abram was commanded to go into that land, and his posterity through Jacob were led into it.
[3] Of that ancient Word which existed in Asia before the Israelitish Word, I am permitted to state this new thing, namely, that it is still preserved there among the people who dwell in Great Tartary. In the spiritual world I have talked with spirits and angels from that country, who said that they have a Word, and have had it from ancient times; and that they conduct their Divine worship according to this Word, and that it consists solely of correspondences. They said, that in it also is the Book of Jasher, which is mentioned in Joshua (10:12, 13), and in 2 Samuel (1:17, 18); and that they have also among them the books called the Wars of Jehovah and Enunciations, which are mentioned by Moses (Num. 21:14, 15, and 27-30); and when I read to them the words that Moses had quoted therefrom, they searched to see if they were there, and found them; from which it was evident to me that the ancient Word is still among that people. While talking with them they said that they worshiped Jehovah, some as an invisible God, and some as visible.
[4] They also told me that they do not permit foreigners to come among them, except the Chinese, with whom they cultivate peaceful relations, because the Chinese Emperor is from their country; also that the population is so great that they do not believe that any region in the whole world is more populous, which is indeed credible from the wall so many miles in length which the Chinese formerly built as a protection against invasion from these people. I have further heard from the angels, that the first chapters of Genesis which treat of creation, of Adam and Eve, the garden of Eden, their sons and their posterity down to the flood, and of Noah and his sons, are also contained in that Word, and thus were transcribed from it by Moses. The angels and spirits from Great Tartary are seen in the southern quarter on its eastern side, and are separated from others by dwelling in a higher expanse, and by their not permitting anyone to come to them from the Christian world, or, if any ascend, by guarding them to prevent their return. Their possessing a different Word is the cause of this separation.
280. Fourth Memorable Relation:
I once saw at a distance walks between rows of trees, and groups of youths assembled there, forming as many companies discussing matters of wisdom. This was in the spiritual world. I went towards them, and as I drew near I saw one whom the rest venerated as their primate, because he excelled them in wisdom.
When he saw me he said, “I wondered when I saw you approaching, that at one time you came in sight and at another you dropped out of sight, or I could see you and then suddenly I could not. You are certainly not in the same state of life as we are.”
Smiling at this I said, “I am not a stage-player, nor a Vertumnus, but I am alternately in your light and in your shade; thus here I am both a foreigner and a native.”
At this the wise man gazed at me and said, “Your words are strange and marvelous; tell me who you are.”
And I said, “I am in the world in which you once were and from which you came, which is called the natural world; and I am also in the world in which you now are, which is called the spiritual world; consequently, I am at the same time in a natural state and in a spiritual state, in a natural state with men on earth, and in a spiritual state with you; and when I am in a natural state I am not seen by you, but when in a spiritual state, I am seen. That I am such is granted me by the Lord. To you who are enlightened it is known that a man of the natural world does not see a man of the spiritual world, nor the reverse; therefore when I had let my spirit down into my body I was not visible to you, but when I raised it out of the body I was visible. This comes from the distinction between the spiritual and the natural.”
[2] When he heard the words, “the distinction between the spiritual and the natural,” he said, “What is the distinction? Is it not like that between the purer and the less pure, that is, that the spiritual is simply a purer natural?”
I answered, “Such is not the distinction. By no sort of refinement can the natural so approximate the spiritual as to become the spiritual; for the distinction is like that between the prior and the posterior, between which there is no finite ratio. For the prior is in the posterior as a cause in its effect; and the posterior is from the prior as an effect is from its cause. Therefore the one is not visible to the other.”
At this the wise man said, “I have meditated on this distinction, but thus far in vain; I wish I could perceive it.” I replied, “You shall both perceive and see the distinction between the spiritual and the natural.” And I then said, “You are in a spiritual state when you are with your associates, but in a natural state when with me; for with your associates you speak in a spiritual language, which is common to every spirit and angel; but with me you speak in my native tongue, for every spirit and angel when speaking to a man uses the man’s own language; thus, French to a Frenchman, Greek to a Greek, Arabic to an Arabian, and so on. [3] If therefore you would know the difference between the spiritual and the natural in regard to language, do this: go to your companions and there say something; retain the words, return with them in your memory, and utter them to me.”
This he did, and returned to me with the words in his mouth, and uttered them; and they were words wholly strange and foreign, such as are not found in any language in the natural world. By this experiment several times repeated, it became clearly manifest that all in the spiritual world have a spiritual language that has nothing in common with any natural language, and that every man comes of himself into that language after death. I also found on one occasion that the very sound of spiritual language differs so much from the sound of natural language, that even a loud spiritual sound could not be heard at all by a natural man, nor a natural sound by a spiritual man.
[4] After this I asked the spirit and those standing about to go among their companions, and write some sentence upon paper, and then come out to me with the paper and read it. This they did, and returned with the paper in their hands; but when they came to read it, they could not, because the writing consisted solely of some alphabetical letters, with curves over them, each one of which meant something pertaining to the subject. Inasmuch as each letter of the alphabet there stands for some meaning, it is plain why the Lord is called “the Alpha and the Omega.” When they had gone in again and again and had written and returned, they found that the writing involved and comprehended innumerable things which no natural writing could possibly express; and they were told that this is so because the spiritual man’s thoughts are incomprehensible and ineffable to the natural man, and that they can be put into no other writing or language.
[5] Then as the bystanders had no wish to understand that spiritual thought so far exceeds natural thought as to be comparatively ineffable, I said to them, “Make an experiment; enter your spiritual society and think of some subject, retain it, and return and express it in my presence.”
They entered, thought of a subject, retained it, and came out; and when they tried to give expression to it they could not; for they could find no idea of natural thought adequate to any idea of purely spiritual thought, and thus no words to express it; for the ideas of thought become words in speech. Afterwards they entered again, and returned; and became convinced that spiritual ideas are supernatural, inexpressible, ineffable and incomprehensible to a natural man; and they said that being so supereminent, spiritual ideas or thoughts in comparison with natural are ideas of ideas and thoughts of thoughts, and therefore by them the qualities of qualities and the affections of affections are expressed; consequently that spiritual thoughts are the beginnings and origins of natural thoughts; and from this it is evident that spiritual wisdom is the wisdom of wisdom, and is therefore inexpressible to any wise man in the natural world. [6] Then it was said from the higher heaven that there is a still more interior or higher wisdom which is called celestial, the relation of which to spiritual wisdom is like the relation of this to natural wisdom, and that these inflow in order according to the heavens from the Lord’s Divine wisdom, which is infinite.
Thereupon, the man speaking with me said, “This I see, because I perceive it, that one natural idea is the containant of many spiritual ideas; also that one spiritual idea is the containant of many celestial ideas. From this it follows as a consequence, that what is divided does not become more and more simple, but more and more manifold, because it approaches nearer and nearer to the infinite, which contains all things infinitely.”
[7] After all this had taken place, I said to the bystanders, “From these three experimental proofs you see what kind of distinction there is between the spiritual and the natural, and also the reason why a natural man is not visible to a spiritual man, or a spiritual man to a natural man, although both are in a complete human form, and from that form it seems to each as though he might see the other. But the interiors which belong to the mind are what constitute that form; and the minds of spirits and angels are formed out of spiritual things, while the minds of men so long as they live in the world, are formed out of natural things.”
After this a voice was heard from the higher heaven, saying to one who stood by, “Come up hither.” He went up, and returned and said that the angels had not before known the differences between the spiritual and the natural, because the means of comparison had not previously been furnished in a man who was in both worlds at once, and without comparison and relation those differences are unknowable.
[8] Before we separated we talked again about this matter, and I said, “These distinctions come solely from this, that you in the spiritual world are substantial but not material, and substantial things are the beginnings of material things. What is matter but an aggregation of substances? You therefore are in principles and thus in the least particles, while we are in derivatives and compounds; you are in particulars, while we are in generals; and as generals cannot enter into particulars, so neither can natural things, which are material, enter into spiritual things, which are substantial; just as a ship’s cable cannot enter or be drawn through the eye of a sewing needle, or a nerve cannot be drawn into one of the fibers of which it is composed. This then is why the natural man cannot think the thoughts of the spiritual man, and therefore cannot utter them. So what Paul heard from the third heaven he called ineffable. [9] Add to this, that to think spiritually is to think apart from time and space, while to think naturally is to think in accord with time and space; for to every idea of natural thought there adheres something from time and space; but it is not so with any spiritual idea, and for the reason that the spiritual world is not in space and time, as the natural world is, but is in the appearance of these two. In the same way do the thoughts and perceptions of the two worlds differ. For this reason you are able to think of the essence and omnipotence of God from eternity, that is, to think of God before the creation of the world, because you think of the essence of God apart from time and of His omnipotence apart from space; and thus you can comprehend such things as transcend man’s natural ideas.”
[10] I then told them that I had once thought about the essence and omnipresence of God from eternity, that is, about God before the creation of the world; and because I was not then able to separate spaces and times from the ideas of my thought I became anxious, since the idea of nature in place of God pressed in. But it was said to me, “Separate the ideas of space and time and you will see;” and I was permitted to separate them, and I saw; and since then I have been able to think of God from eternity, but by no means of nature from eternity, because God is in all time apart from time, and in all space apart from space; but nature in all time is in time, and in all space is in space; and nature with its time and space must needs have beginning; but not God who is apart from time and space. Therefore nature is not God from eternity, but is from God in time, in connection with its own time and space.
281. Fifth Memorable Relation:
As it has been granted me by the Lord to be in the spiritual world and in the natural world at the same time, and thus to talk with angels the same as with men, and thereby to become acquainted with the states of those who after death pass into that hitherto unknown world (for I have spoken with all of my relatives and friends, and with kings and nobles and with learned men who have met their fate, and this now continually for twenty-seven years), I am able from living experience to describe the states of men after death, what the states are of those who have lived well and of those who have lived wickedly. But here I will only mention some things respecting the state of those who have confirmed themselves in falsities of doctrine from the Word, and especially those who have done this in support of justification by faith alone. The successive states of such are as follows:
(i.) After death and when they are reviving in spirit, which usually takes place on the third day after the heart has ceased to beat, they seem to themselves to be in a body so like that which they had in the world that they do not know but that they are still living in the former world, yet not in a material body, but in a body that is substantial and that appears to their senses to be material; but it is not.
[2] (ii.) After some days, they see that they are in a world where various societies are formed, which world is called the world of spirits, and is intermediate between heaven and hell. All the societies there, and they are innumerable, are wonderfully arranged in accordance with good and evil natural affections; the societies arranged in accordance with good natural affections communicating with heaven, and those arranged in accordance with evil affections communicating with hell.
[3] (iii.) The novitiate spirit or spiritual man is conducted and transferred into various societies, both good and evil, and is examined as to whether he is affected by what is good and true, and how, or by what is evil and false, and how.
[4] (iv.) If be is affected by what is good and true, he is led away from evil societies, and is led into good societies, and into different ones until he comes into a society that is in correspondence with his natural affection, and there he enjoys the good that corresponds to that affection, and this until he has put off his natural affection and put on a spiritual affection, and then he is raised into heaven. This takes place with those who in the world had lived a life of charity, and thus a life of faith also, which is believing in the Lord and shunning evils as sins.
[5] (v.) But those who have confirmed themselves in falsities by means of reasonings, especially by means of the Word, and so have lived a merely natural and thus an evil life (for evils accompany falsities and adhere to falsities), inasmuch as they are not affected by what is good and true, but by what is evil and false, are led away from good societies and into evil societies and into different ones, until they come into some society corresponding to the lusts of their love.
[6] (vi.) But because these in the world had feigned good affections in externals, although in their internals there were only evil affections or lusts, they are kept by turns in their [good] externals. Those who in the world had presided over communities, are appointed over societies here and there in the world of spirits, either over a whole society or a part according to the extent of the offices they had filled in their former life. But as they have no love for what is true or what is just, and cannot be so far enlightened as to know what is true and just, after a few days they are deposed. I have seen such transferred from one society to another, and official authority everywhere given them, but always taken away after a short time.
[7] (vii.) After frequent dismissals, some from weariness do not wish, and some from fear of losing their reputation do not dare, to seek office any more; and therefore they withdraw and sit in sadness and afterwards are led away into a desert, where there are huts into which they enter, and there some work is given them to do, and as they do it they receive food. If they do not do it, when they become hungry they receive no food and are thus compelled by necessity. The food there is similar to the food in our world, but is from a spiritual origin, and is given from heaven by the Lord to all according to the uses they perform. To the idle none is given because they are useless.
[8] (viii.) After a while they become disgusted with work and leave their huts. If they had been priests they wish to build; and immediately heaps of cut stone, bricks, beams, and boards appear, also piles of reeds and rushes, of clay, lime, and bitumen. When they see these a strong desire to build is kindled in them, and they begin to construct a house, taking now a stone, and then a stick, then a reed and then some mud, and placing one upon the other without order, but to their sight in regular order. But what they build during the day falls down at night; and the next day they gather up the material from the rubbish and build again; and this goes on until they grow tired of building. This takes place from correspondence. The correspondence is that they have heaped up texts from the Word to prove what is false in faith, and their falsities do not otherwise build the church.
[9] (ix.) Afterward from weariness they go away and sit solitary and idle; and as no food is given from heaven to the idle, as before said, they begin to grow hungry, and to think of nothing but how to get food and satisfy their hunger. While they are in this state persons come to them from whom they ask alms; but these say, “Why do you sit here idle? Come home with us, and we will give you work to do and will feed you.” Then they rise up gladly and go home with them, and each one is there given his own task, and for doing it he receives food. But since none of those who have confirmed themselves in the falsities of faith are able to do works that have a good use, but are able to do only such works as have an evil use, and are unable to do these faithfully, but only fraudulently and also unwillingly, they abandon their work, caring only to visit, talk, walk about, and sleep. And as they can no longer be induced by their masters to work they are dismissed as useless.
[10] (x.) When they have been dismissed their eyes are opened and they see a road leading to a certain cavern. When they come to it a door is opened and they enter and ask if there is food there; and when told that there is they beg permission to remain there, and they are told that they may, and are introduced and the door is closed behind them. The overseer of the cavern then comes and says to them, “You can go out no more; you see your companions; they all labor, and according to their labor food is given them from heaven; I tell you this, that you may know.” Their companions also say to them, “Our overseer knows for what work each one is fitted, and assigns such work to each one daily. The days you do this work, food is given you, and if you do not do it, neither food nor clothing is given. If anyone does harm to another, he is thrown into a corner of the cavern upon a bed made of accursed dust, where he is sorely tortured, and this until the overseer sees in him some sign of repentance, and then he is released and is ordered to do his work.”
[11] He is also told that everyone, after his task is done, is permitted to walk about, to talk, and afterward to sleep. And he is conducted further into the cavern where there are harlots, and each one is allowed to select one of these, and to call her his woman; but promiscuous harlotry is forbidden with penalties. Of such caverns, which are nothing but eternal workhouses, hell consists. I was permitted to enter into and see some of them, in order that I might make the facts known. All who were there seemed degraded; not one of them knew who he had been or what his employment had been in the world. But the angel who was with me said to me, “This man was in the world a servant, this a soldier, this a general; this was a priest; this a man of rank, and this a man of wealth, and yet not one of them knows but that they had been, then as now, slaves and boon companions. This is because they had been inwardly alike, although outwardly unlike, and all in the spiritual world are affiliated according to their interiors.”
[12] In regard to the hells in general, they consist solely of such caverns and work-houses; but those where satans are differ from those where devils are. Those are called satans who had been in falsities and consequently in evils; and they are called devils who had been in evils and consequently in falsities. Satans in the light of heaven appear livid like corpses, and some black like mummies; but devils in the light of heaven appear dusky and fiery, and some black like soot; while in features and bodily form they are all monstrous. But in their own light, which is like the light of burning charcoal, they do not look like monsters but like men. This is granted to render them capable of association.
282. CHAPTER 5
THE CATECHISM OR DECALOGUE EXPLAINED IN ITS EXTERNAL AND ITS INTERNAL SENSE.
There is not a nation in the whole world which does not know that it is wicked to murder, to commit adultery, to steal, and to bear false witness, and that kingdoms, republics, and every form of organized society, unless these evils were guarded against by laws, would be at an end. Who then can suppose that the Israelitish nation was so stupid beyond all others as not to know that these are evils? Anyone therefore may wonder that laws so universally known in the world should have been promulgated from Mount Sinai by Jehovah Himself in so miraculous a way. But listen: they were promulgated in so miraculous a way to make known that these laws are not only civil and moral laws, but also Divine laws; and that acting contrary to them is not only doing evil to the neighbor, that is, to a fellow citizen and society, but is also sinning against God. Wherefore these laws, by their promulgation by Jehovah from Mount Sinai, were made also laws of religion. Evidently whatever Jehovah commands, He commands in order that it may be a matter of religion, and thus some thing to be done for the sake of salvation. But before these commandments are explained, something must be premised respecting their holiness to make it evident that religion is in them.
283. IN THE ISRAELITISH CHURCH THE DECALOGUE WAS HOLINESS ITSELF.
The commandments of the Decalogue were the first fruits of the Word and therefore the firstfruits of the church about to be established with the Israelitish nation, and as they were in a brief summary the complex of all things of religion, whereby there is a conjunction of God with man and of man with God, they were so holy that nothing could be holier. That they were most holy is clearly manifest from the following facts: That Jehovah Himself, the Lord, descended upon Mount Sinai in fire, accompanied by angels, and promulgated these laws therefrom by a living voice [and that the people were three days preparing themselves to see and hear], and that bounds were set round about the mountain, lest anyone should approach and die; and that neither the priests nor the elders drew near, but Moses only. That these commandments were written by the finger of God on two tables of stone. That when Moses brought those tables down the second time his face shone. That the tables were afterward deposited in the ark, and the ark was placed in the inmost of the tabernacle, and over it was placed the mercy-seat, and over this the golden cherubs; and that this inmost in the tabernacle, where the ark was, was called the holy of holies. That outside the veil, within which was the ark, various things were arranged representing the holy things of heaven and the church, namely, the table overlaid with gold on which was the bread of faces, the golden altar for incense, the golden lampstand with seven lamps, also the curtains round about, made of fine linen, purple and scarlet. The holiness of the whole tabernacle was from no other source than the law which was in the ark. On account of the holiness of the tabernacle from the law in the ark, the whole Israelitish people by command encamped around it in order according to their tribes, and marched in order after it; and there was then a cloud over it by day and a fire by night. On account of the holiness of that law, and the presence of Jehovah therein, Jehovah talked with Moses above the mercy-seat between the cherubs; and the ark was called “Jehovah there.” That Aaron was not permitted to enter within the veil except with sacrifices and incense, lest he die. Also on account of the presence of Jehovah in and about the law, miracles were wrought by means of the ark which contained the law; as that the waters of Jordan were divided, and so long as the ark rested in the midst of the river the people passed over on dry ground; the walls of Jericho fell by the carrying of the ark around them; Dagon the god of the Philistines first fell on his face before it, and afterward lay upon the threshold of the temple with his head and the palms of his hands cut off. Because of the ark the Bethshemites were smitten to the number of several thousands; and Uzzah died because he touched it. The ark was brought by David into Zion with sacrifice and jubilation, and afterwards by Solomon into the temple at Jerusalem, of which it constituted the sanctuary; besides many other things. From all this it is clear that in the Israelitish church the Decalogue was holiness itself.
284. What has been above presented respecting the promulgation, holiness, and the power of that law, is found in the following passages in the Word:
Jehovah descended upon Mount Sinai in fire, and the mount then smoked and trembled, and there were thunderings, lightnings, a thick cloud, and the voice of a trumpet (Ex. 19:16-18; Deut. 4:11; 5:22-26).
Before the descent of Jehovah the people prepared and sanctified themselves for three days (Ex. 19:10, 11, 15).
Bounds were set round about the mount, that no one might approach or come near its base, lest he die; not even a priest, but Moses only (Ex. 20:12, 13, 20-23 24:1, 2).
The law was promulgated from Mount Sinai (Ex. 20:2-17 Deut. 5:6-21).
The law was inscribed on two tables of stone, and was written by the finger of God (Ex. 31:18; 32:15, 16; Deut. 9:10).
When Moses brought the tables down from the mount a second time, his face shone so that he covered it with a veil while he talked with the people (Ex. 34:29-35).
The tables were placed in the ark (Ex. 25:18; 40:20; Deut. 10:5; 1 Kings 8:9).
The mercy-seat was put upon the ark, and over it the golden cherubs were placed (Ex. 25:17-21).
The ark with its mercy-at and the cherubs was placed in the tabernacle, and was made the first and inmost part of it; the table overlaid with gold, on which the bread of faces was placed, the golden altar for incense, and the lampstand with its golden lamps, made the outer part of the tabernacle, and the ten curtains of fine linen, purple, and scarlet, its outermost (Ex. 25; 26; 40:17-28).
The place where the ark was, was called the holy of holies (Ex. 26:33).
The whole Israelitish people encamped around the tabernacle in order according to the tribes, and marched in order after it (Num. 2).
There was then a cloud over the tabernacle by day and a fire by night (Ex. 40:38; Num. 9:15-23; 14:14; Deut. 1:33).
Jehovah spoke with Moses above the ark between the cherubim (Ex. 25:22 Num. 7:89).
Because of the law within it it was said of the ark that Jehovah was there; for when the ark moved forward Moses said, Rise up, O Jehovah; and when it rested, Return, O Jehovah (Num. 10:35, 36; 2 Sam. 6:2; Ps 132:7, 8; 2 Chron. 6:41).
Because of the holiness, of that law, Aaron was not permitted to enter within the veil, except with sacrifices and incense (Lev. 16:2-14, seq. ).
Because of the presence of the Lord’s power in the law which was within the ark, the waters of Jordan were divided; and while the ark rested in the midst of the river, the people passed on dry land (Josh. 3:1-17; 4:5-20).
When the ark was carried around them, the walls of Jericho fell (Josh. 6:1-20).
Dagon, the god of the Philistines, fell to the ground before the ark, and afterward lay upon the threshold of the temple with his head broken off and the palms of his hands cut off (1 Sam. 5).
The Bethshemites on account of the ark were smitten to the number of several thousands (I Sam. 5, 6).
Uzzah died because he touched the ark (2 Sam. 6:7).
The ark was brought into Zion by David, with sacrifices and jubilation (2 Sam. 6:1-19).
It was introduced by Solomon into the temple at Jerusalem, where it constituted the sanctuary (1 Kings 6:19, seq.; 8:3-9).
285. Because by that law there is a conjunction of the Lord with man and of man with the Lord, it is called “The Covenant” and “The Testimony;” the covenant because it effects conjunction, and the testimony because it confirms the articles of the covenant; for “covenant” signifies in the Word conjunction, and “testimony” the confirmation and witnessing of its articles. For this reason there were two tables, one for God and the other for man. Conjunction is effected by the Lord, but only when man does what is written in his table; for the Lord is continually present and wishes to enter in, but man, by the freedom which he has from the Lord, must open to Him, for the Lord says:
Behold I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me (Rev. 3:20).
That the tables of stone on which the law was written, were called the tables of the covenant, and because of them the ark was called the ark of the covenant, and the law itself was called the covenant, may be seen in Num. 10:33; Deut. 4:13, 23; 5:2, 3; 9:9; Josh. 3:11; 1 Kings 8:21; Rev. 11:19, and elsewhere. Since “covenant” signifies conjunction, it is said of the Lord,
That He shall be a covenant for the people (Isa. 42:6; 49:8, 9). He is called also the messenger of the covenant (Mal. 3:1).
And His blood is called the blood of the covenant (Matt. 26:28; Zech. 9:11; Exod. 24:4-10);
and therefore the Word is called the Old and the New Covenant [Testament]; for covenants are made for the sake of love, friendship, affiliation, and conjunction.
286. Such great holiness and power were in that law, because it was the complex of all things of religion. It was written on two tables, one of which contained in the complex all things that look to God, and the other in the complex all things that look to man. Therefore the commandments of that law are called the “Ten Words” (Ex. 34:28; Deut. 4:13; 10:4). They were so called because “ten” signifies all, and “words” signify truths; for they were more than ten words. That “ten” signifies all things, and that tithes (tenths) were instituted on account of that signification, may be seen in the Apocalypse Revealed (n. 101); and that that law is the complex of all things of religion, will be seen in what follows.
287. IN THE SENSE OF THE LETTER THE DECALOGUE CONTAINS THE GENERAL PRECEPTS OF DOCTRINE AND LIFE, BUT IN THE SPIRITUAL AND CELESTIAL SENSES IT CONTAINS ALL PRECEPTS UNIVERSALLY.
It is known that in the Word the Decalogue is called by way of eminence the Law, because it contains all things of Doctrine and life; for it contains both all things that look to God, and all things that look to man. For this reason the law was written on two tables, one of which treats of God, the other of man. It is also known that all things belonging to doctrine and life have reference to love to God and love towards the neighbor; and all things pertaining to these loves are contained in the Decalogue. That in the whole Word nothing else is taught can be seen from these words of the Lord:
Jesus said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God from all thy heart, and in all thy soul, and in all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang the law and the prophets (Matt. 22:37, 39-40).
“The law and the prophets” signify the whole Word. And again:
A certain lawyer, tempting Jesus, said, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. And Jesus said, This do, and thou shalt live (Luke 10:25-28).
Since then, love to God and love towards the neighbor are the whole of the Word, and the first table of the Decalogue contains in a summary all things pertaining to love to God, and the second table all things pertaining to love to the neighbor, it follows that the Decalogue contains all things of doctrine and life. From these two tables so regarded it is plain that they are connected in such a manner that God from His table looks to man, and man from his table in turn looks to God, thus the looking is reciprocal, that is, it is such that God on His part never ceases to look to man and to make operative such things as relate to man’s salvation; and when man receives and does what is written on his table, a reciprocal conjunction is effected; and then comes to pass what the Lord said to the lawyer, “This do, and thou shalt live.”
288. In the Word “the law” is frequently mentioned; and what is meant by the law in a strict sense, in a broader sense, and in the broadest sense, shall now be told. In a strict sense the law means the Decalogue; in a broader sense it means the statutes given by Moses to the children of Israel, and in the broadest sense it means the whole Word.
That the law in a strict sense means the Decalogue, is well known. That the law in a wider sense means the statutes given by Moses to the children of Israel, is evident from the particular statutes, each of which in Exodus is called a “law;” as also [in Leviticus]:
This is the law of the guilt offering (Lev. 7:1).
This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offering (Lev. 7:7, 11).
This is the law of the meat offering (Lev. 6:14 seq.).
This is the law for the burnt offering, for the meat offering, and for the sin offering, and for the guilt offering, and for the consecrations (Lev. 7:37).
This is the law of the beast and of the fowl (Lev. 11:46 seq.)
This is the law for her that beareth, a son or a daughter (Lev. 12:7).
This is the law of leprosy (Lev. 13:59; 14:2, 32, 54, 57).
This is the law of him that hath an issue (Lev. 15:32).
This is the law of jealousy (Num. 5:29, 30).
This is the law of the Nazarite (Num. 6:13, 21).
This is the law of cleansing (Num. 19:14).
The law respecting the red heifer (Num. 19:2).
The law for the king (Deut. 17:15-19).
Indeed the whole book of Moses is called the law (Deut. 31:9, 11, 12, 26; likewise in the New Testament, as in Luke 2:22; 24:44; John 1:45; 7:22, 23; 8:5; and elsewhere).
That Paul, by the works of the law, means these statutes, where he says,
That a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law (Rom. 3:28),
is clearly manifest from what there follows, as also from his words to Peter, whom he accuses of Judaizing, when he says three times in one verse,
That no man is justified by the works of the law (Gal. 2:14, 16).
That the law in the broadest sense means the whole Word, is plain from the following passages:
Jesus said, Is it not written in your law, Ye are Gods? (John 10:34).
This is written, Ps. 82:6.
The multitude answered, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever (John 12:34).
This is written Ps. 89:29; 110:4; Dan. 7:14.
That the Word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause (John 15:25).
This is written, Ps. 35:19.
The Pharisees said, Hath any of the rulers believed on Him but the crowd which knoweth not the law? (John 7:48-49).
It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fall (Luke 16:17).
The law here means the whole Sacred Scripture; also in a thousand places in David.
289. In the spiritual and celestial senses the Decalogue contains universally all the precepts of doctrine and life, thus all things of faith and charity, because the Word in each and all things of the sense of the letter, or in general and in every part of it, conceals two interior senses, one called the spiritual sense and the other the celestial; also Divine truth in its light and the Divine good in its heat are in these two senses. And because the Word in general and in every part of it is so constituted, the ten commandments of the Decalogue must needs be explained according to these three senses, called the natural, the spiritual, and the celestial. That the Word is such can be seen from what has been shown above (n. 193-208), in the chapter on the Sacred Scripture or the Word.
290. Unless one knows the nature of the Word, he can have no idea that there is an infinity in every least particular of it, that is, that it contains things innumerable, which not even angels can exhaust. Each thing in it may be likened to a seed that is capable of growing up from the ground to a great tree and producing an abundance of seeds, from which again similar trees may be produced, these together forming a garden, and from the seeds of this other gardens, and so on to infinity. Such is the Word of the Lord in its least particulars, and such especially is the Decalogue; for this, because it teaches love to God and love towards the neighbor, is a brief summary of the whole Word. That such is the nature of the Word, the Lord also teaches by a similitude, thus:
The kingdom of God is like unto a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; which indeed is less than all seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and lodge in the branches thereof (Matt. 13:31, 32; Mark 4:31, 32; Luke 13:18, 19; compare also Ezek. 17:2-8);
That such is the infinity of spiritual seed or of truths in the Word, can be seen from angelic wisdom, which is all from the Word. This increases in the angels to eternity, and the wiser they become, the more clearly do they see that wisdom is without end, and perceive that they are merely in its outer court, and cannot in the smallest particular attain to the Lord’s Divine wisdom, which they call a great deep. Since, then, the Word is from this great deep, because it is from the Lord, it is plain that there is a kind of infinity in every part of it.
291. THE FIRST COMMANDMENT.
THERE SHALL BE [WITH THEE] NO OTHER GOD IN MY PRESENCE
These are the words of the first commandment (Exod. 20:3; Deut. 5:7). In the natural sense, which is the sense of the letter, the meaning nearest the letter is that idols must not be worshiped; for there follows,
Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any likeness that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters under the earth; thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them nor worship them; for I Jehovah thy God am a jealous God (Exod. 20:4-5).
In the sense nearest the letter this commandment means that idols must not be worshiped, for the reason that before this time and after it down to the Lord’s coming, idolatrous worship prevailed in a great part of Asia. The cause of this worship was that all churches before the Lord’s coming were representative and typical; and these types and representations were such, that Divine things were set forth under various figures and sculptured forms; and when the meanings of these were lost the common people began to worship them as gods. That the Israelitish nation was also in this worship when in Egypt, is evident from the golden calf which they worshiped in the desert instead of Jehovah; and that afterwards they were not wholly alienated from that worship is evident from many passages both in the historical and in the prophetic Word.
292. This commandment, “There shall be no other God in My presence” means also in the natural sense, that no man dead or living should be worshiped as a god. This, too, was done in Asia and in various surrounding countries. Many of the gods of the heathen were simply men, as Baal, Ashtaroth, Chemosh, Milcom, Beelzebub; and at Athens and Rome, Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto, Apollo, Pallas, and so forth. Some of these were worshiped first as saints, then as divinities and finally as gods. That they also worshiped living men as gods, appears from the edict of Darius the Mede,
That for thirty days no man should ask anything from God, but from the king only; otherwise, he should be cast into a den of lions (Dan. 6:8-28).
293. In the natural sense, which is the sense of the letter, this commandment means also that no one except God, and nothing but what proceeds from God, is to be loved above all things, which also accords with the Lord’s words (Matt. 22:35-37; Luke 10:25-28). For any person or thing that is loved above all things is God and is Divine to the one who so loves. For example, to one who loves himself or the world above all things, himself or the world is his God; and this is why such persons do not in heart acknowledge any God, and in consequence are conjoined with their like in hell, where all who love themselves and the world above all things are gathered.
294. The spiritual sense of this commandment is, that no other God than the Lord Jesus Christ is to be worshiped, because He is Jehovah, who came into the world and wrought the redemption without which neither any man nor any angel could have been saved. That there is no God beside Him, is evident from the following passages in the Word:
It shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him that He may deliver us; this is Jehovah; we have waited for Him, we will rejoice and be glad in His salvation (Isa. 25:9).
The voice of one that crieth in the desert, Prepare ye the way of Jehovah; make level in the wilderness a highway for our God. For the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. Behold, the Lord Jehovih cometh in strength; He shall feed His flock like a shepherd (Isa. 40:3, 6, 10, 11).
Surely God is in thee there is no God besides. Verily Thou art a God that hidest Thyself, O God of Israel the Savior (Isa. 45:14, 15).
Am not I Jehovah? and there is no God else besides Me; a just God and a Savior; there is none besides Me (Isa. 45:21, 22).
I am Jehovah; and besides me there is no Savior (Isa. 43:11; Hos. 13:4).
That all flesh may know that I Jehovah am thy Savior and thy Redeemer (Isa. 44:26; 45:16).
As for our Redeemer, Jehovah of Hosts is His name (Isa. 47:4, Jer 50:34).
O Jehovah, my Rock and my Redeemer (Ps. 19:14).
Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am Jehovah thy God (Isa. 48:17; 43:14; 49:7; 54:8).
Thus said Jehovah, thy Redeemer, I am Jehovah that maketh all things alone by Myself (Isa. 44:24).
Thus said Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer Jehovah of Hosts; I am the First, and I am the Last, and beside Me there is no God (Isa. 44:6).
Jehovah Of Hosts is His name, and the Holy One of Israel is thy Redeemer; the God of the whole earth shall He be called (Isa. 54:6, 8).
Though Abraham knoweth us not; and Israel doth not acknowledge us; Thou Jehovah art our Father, our Redeemer; from everlasting is Thy name (Isa. 63:18).
Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God, Mighty, Father of eternity, Prince of peace (Isa. 9:6).
Behold the days come, that I will raise up unto David a righteous Branch, who shall reign a King and this is His name, Jehovah our Righteousness (Jer. 23:5-6; 33:15-16).
Philip said to Jesus, Lord, show us the Father. Jesus said unto him, he that seeth Me seeth the Father. Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? (John 14:8-10).
In Jesus Christ dwelleth all the fullness of Divinity bodily (Col. 2:9).
We are in the True, in Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols (1 John 5:20, 21).
From these passages it is very evident that the Lord our Savior is Jehovah Himself, who is at once Creator, Redeemer, and Regenerator. This is the spiritual sense of this commandment.
295. The celestial sense of this commandment is, that Jehovah the Lord is infinite, illimitable, and eternal; that He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent; that He is the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, who was, is, and is to be; that He is love itself and wisdom itself, or good itself, and truth itself, consequently life itself; and thus the one only Being from whom all things are.
296. All who acknowledge and worship any other God than the Lord the Savior, Jesus Christ, who is Jehovah God Himself in human form, sin against this first commandment. Those also sin against it who persuade themselves of the actual existence of three Divine persons from eternity. For as they confirm themselves in that error, they become more and more natural and corporeal, and at length are unable to comprehend interiorly any Divine truth; and if they listen to it and accept it, they still defile it and cover it up with fallacies. They may therefore be compared to those who dwell in the lowest story or the cellar of a house, and in consequence hear nothing of the conversation of those who are in the second and third stories, because the floor above their heads keeps the sound from penetrating to them.
[2] The human mind is like a house of three stories, in the lowest of which are those who have confirmed themselves in favor of three Gods from eternity, while in the second and third stories are those who acknowledge and believe in one God under a visible human form, and that the Lord God the Savior is He. As the sensual and corporeal man is merely natural, and viewed in himself is wholly animal, and differs from a brute animal only in being able to talk and reason, so he is like one living in a menagerie, where there are all kinds of wild beasts, and there he now acts the lion, now the bear, now the tiger, the leopard, or the wolf; and he may even act the lamb, but then in heart he laughs.
[3] The merely natural man thinks of Divine truths only from the things of the world, and thus from the fallacies of the senses, for he is unable to raise his mind above these. Therefore the doctrine that he believes may be compared to a pottage made of chaff, which he eats as a dainty. Or it is like the bread and cakes that Ezekiel the prophet was commanded to make by mixing wheat, barley, beans, lentils, and fitches, with cow’s or human excrement, thus representing the church as it was with the Israelitish nation (Ezek. 4:9 seq.). So is it with the doctrine of a church that is founded and reared upon a belief in three Divine persons from eternity, each one of whom singly is God.
[4] Who would not see the monstrosity of that faith if it were presented as it is in itself in a picture before his eyes? For example, if the three were to stand in order beside each other, the first distinguished by a scepter and crown; the second holding a book, which is the Word, in his right hand, and in his left a golden cross spattered with blood; the third, encircled with wings, standing upon one foot, ready to fly forth and do his work, and above the three the inscription-these three persons, being so many Gods, are one God. What wise man seeing the picture would not say to himself, “Alas, what hallucination!” But he would say otherwise if he were to see a picture of one Divine Person with rays of heavenly light about His Head and with the inscription over it, This is our God, at once Creator, Redeemer, and Regenerator, and therefore the Savior. Would not that wise man kiss this picture, carry it home in his bosom, and by the sight of it gladden his own mind, and the minds of his wife and his children and servants?
297. THE SECOND COMMANDMENT.
THOU SHALT NOT TAKE THE NAME OF JEHOVAH THY GOD IN VAIN; FOR JEHOVAH WILL NOT HOLD HIM GUILTLESS THAT HATH TAKEN HIS NAME IN VAIN.
In the natural sense, which is the sense of the letter, to take the name of Jehovah God in vain means the name itself, and its abuse in various kinds of conversation, especially in false speaking or lying, and in useless oaths or oaths to exculpate one’s self in evil intentions (that is, oaths with imprecations), also when employed in juggleries and incantations. But to swear by God and His holiness, by the Word or the Gospel, at coronations, inaugurations into the priesthood, and inductions into offices of trust, is not to take the name of God in vain, unless he who takes the oath afterwards discards his promises as vain. But the name of God, because it is holiness itself, must be used continually in the holy things pertaining to the church, as in prayers, psalms, and all worship, also in preaching, and in writing on ecclesiastical subjects. This is so because God is in all things of religion, and when He is solemnly invoked He is present through His name and hears. In such ways is the name of God hallowed. That the name of Jehovah God is in itself holy is evident from that name, in that the Jews since their earliest age have not dared and do not dare to utter the name Jehovah; and for their sake the writers of the Gospels and the apostles were unwilling to use it, and used the name Lord instead, as is evident from various passages transferred from the Old Testament into the New, where the name Lord is used instead of Jehovah (as in Matt. 22:37; Luke 10:27, compared with Deut. 6:5, and other passages). That the name of Jesus is in like manner holy is known from the saying of the Apostle that at this name every knee is bowed or should be bowed in heaven and on earth; and furthermore from this, that no devil in hell can utter that name. There are many names of God that must not be taken in vain, as Jehovah, Jehovah God, and Jehovah of Hosts; the Holy One of Israel, Jesus and Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
298. In the spiritual sense, the name of God means everything which the church teaches from the Word, and by which the Lord is invoked and worshiped. All such things in the complex are the name of God. “To take the name of God in vain,” means, therefore, to introduce any of these things into frivolous conversation, into false speaking, lying, imprecations, juggleries or incantations; for this too is reviling and blaspheming God, thus His name. That the Word and whatever the church has from it, and thus all worship, is the name of God, can be seen from the following passages:
From the rising of the sun My name shall be invoked (Isa. 41:25; 26:8, 13).
From the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same, My name is great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense is offered unto My name. But ye profane My name in that ye say, ‘The table of Jehovah is polluted; and ye snuff at My name, in that ye bring that which is torn, and the lame, and the sick (Mal. 1:11-13).’
All peoples walk each in the name of its God; but we, let us walk in the name of Jehovah our God (Micah 4:5).
They were to worship Jehovah in one place where He would place His name (Deut. 12:6, 11, 13, 14, 18; 16:2, 6, 11, 16, 18);
that is, where He would establish His worship.
Jesus said, Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them (Matt. 18:20).
As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become sons of God, even to them that believe in His name (John 1:12).
He that believeth not hath been judged already, because be hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:18).
Those who believe shall have life in His name (John 20:31).
Jesus said, I have manifested Thy name to men and I have made known unto them Thy name (John 17:6, 26).
The Lord said, Thou hast a few names in Sardis (Apoc. 3:4);
besides many other passages in which, as in the foregoing, the “name of God” means the Divine that goes forth from God, and by which He is worshiped. But the name Jesus Christ means everything of redemption, and everything of His doctrine, and thus everything of salvation, “Jesus” meaning every thing of salvation through redemption, and “Christ” everything of salvation through His doctrine.
299. In the celestial sense, “to take the name of Gods vain means what the Lord said to the Pharisees:
Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men, but blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven (Matt. 12:31, 32),
“blasphemy of the Spirit” meaning blasphemy against the Divinity of the Lord’s Human, and against the holiness of the Word. That the Divine Human of the Lord is meant by the name of Jehovah God in the celestial or highest sense, is evident from the following passages:
Jesus said, Father, glorify Thy name. And there came a voice out of heaven, saying, I have glorified it, and will glorify it again (John 12:28).
Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; if ye shall ask anything in My name, that I will do (John 14:13, 14).
In the Lord’s Prayer,
Hallowed be Thy name (Matt. 6:9)
has the same meaning in the celestial sense. The same is true of “name” (Exod. 23:21; Isa. 63:16). As blasphemy of the Spirit is not forgiven unto men (according to the words in Matt. 12:31, 32), and as this is what is meant by this commandment in the celestial sense, it is added, “for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless who taketh His name in vain.”
300. That the name of anyone means not his name alone but his every quality, is evident from the use of names in the spiritual world.
No man there retains the name he received in baptism, or that of his father or ancestry in the world; but everyone is there named according to his character, and angels are named according to their moral and spiritual life. Such are meant in these words of the Lord:
Jesus said, I am the Good Shepherd. The sheep hear His voice, and He calleth His own sheep by name and leadeth them out (John 10:11, 3).
Also in these words:
Thou hast a few names even in Sardis, that have not defiled their garments. He that overcometh, I will write upon him the name of the city New Jerusalem, and My new name (Apoc. 3:4, 12).
Gabriel and Michael are not the names of two persons in heaven, but by those names all in heaven who are in wisdom respecting the Lord, and who worship Him are meant. The names of persons and of places in the Word do not mean persons and places, but the things of the church. Nor in the natural world does a name mean the person’s name only, but his character also, because this adheres to his name; for in common conversation it is customary to say, “This he does for the sake of his name,” or “for the fame of his name,” or “this man has a great name,” meaning that he is celebrated, for such things as are in him, as for talents, erudition, merits, and so on. Who does not know that he who disparages and calumniates anyone in name, also disparages and calumniates the actions of his life? In idea the two are joined together, and the fame of his name is thus destroyed. In like manner one who utters the name of a king, a noble, or any great man, with great disrespect, also casts opprobrium upon his majesty and dignity. So again he who mentions the name of another in a tone of contempt, at the same time belittles the acts of his life. This is true of everyone. According to the laws of all kingdoms it is not lawful to sully and wound with slander anyone’s name, that is, his character and consequent reputation.
301. THE THIRD COMMANDMENT.
REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY TO KEEP IT HOLY SIX DAYS SHALT THOU LABOR AND DO ALL THY WORK; BUT THE SEVENTH DAY IS THE SABBATH OF JEHOVAH THY GOD.
This is the third commandment, as may be seen from Exod. 20:8-10, and Deut. 5:12-14. In the natural sense, which is the sense of the letter, it means that six days are for man and his labors, and the seventh for the Lord and rest for man from the Lord. In the original tongue Sabbath signifies rest. With the children of Israel the Sabbath, because it represented the Lord, was the sanctity of sanctities, the six days representing His labors and conflicts with the hells, and the seventh His victory over them, and consequent rest; and as that day was a representative of the close of the whole of the Lord’s work of redemption, it was holiness itself. But when the Lord came into the world, and in consequence representations of Him ceased, that day became a day of instruction in Divine things, and thus also a day of rest from labors and of meditation on such things as relate to salvation and eternal life, as also a day of love towards the neighbor. That it became a day of instruction in Divine things is evident from this,
That on that day the Lord taught in the temple and in synagogues (Mark 6:2; Luke 4:16, 31, 32: 13:10)
And that He said to the man who was healed, Take up thy bed and walk and to the Pharisees that it was lawful for His disciples on the Sabbath day to pluck the ears of corn and eat (Matt. 12:1-9; Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-6; John 5:9-19), each of these particulars signifying in the spiritual sense instruction in doctrinals. That that day was made also a day of love towards the neighbor is evident from what the Lord did and taught on that day (Matt. 12:10-14; Mark 3:1-9; Luke 6:6-12; 13:10-18; 14:1-7; John 5:9-19; 7:22, 23; 9:14, 16).
From all this it is evident why the Lord said,
That He is Lord also of the Sabbath (Matt. 12:8; Mark 2:28; Luke 6:5);
and because He said this, it follows that that day was a representative of Him.
302. In the spiritual sense, this commandment signifies man’s reformation and regeneration by the Lord, “the six days of labor” signifying his warfare against the flesh and its lusts, and at the same time against the evils and falsities that are in him from hell, and “the seventh day” signifying his conjunction with the Lord, and regeneration thereby. That man’s spiritual labor continues as long as that warfare lasts, but when he is regenerated he has rest, will be shown in what is to be said hereafter in the chapter on Reformation and Regeneration, especially under the following sections there:
(1) Regeneration is effected in a manner analogous to that in which man is conceived, carried in a womb, born, and educated
(2) The first act in the new birth is called reformation, which belongs to the understanding; and the second is called regeneration, which belongs to the will and therefrom to the understanding.
(3) The internal man is to be reformed first, and through that the external.
(4) Then a conflict arises between the internal and the external man, and the one that conquers rules the other.
(5) The regenerate man has a new will, and a new understanding; and so forth.
The reformation and regeneration of man are signified by this commandment in the spiritual sense, because they coincide with the labors and combats of the Lord with the hells, and with His victory over them, and the rest that followed. For the Lord reforms and regenerates man and renders him spiritual in the same manner in which He glorified His Human and made it Divine; and this is the meaning of the command to “follow Him.” That the Lord had combats, which are called “labors,” is evident from Isa. 53 and 58; and that like things are called “labors” in reference to men, from Isa. 65:23; Apoc. 51:2, 3.
303. In the celestial sense, this commandment means conjunction with the Lord, followed by peace, because of protection from hell. For the Sabbath signifies rest, and in this highest sense, peace; therefore the Lord is called the Prince of Peace, and He also calls Himself “Peace,” as is evident from the following passages:
Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulders; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God, Mighty, Father of eternity, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end (Isa. 9:6, 7).
Jesus said, Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you (John 14:27).
Jesus said, These things have I spoken unto you that in Me ye may have peace (John 16:33).
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; saying, Thy King reigneth (Isa. 52:7).
Jehovah will deliver my soul in peace (Ps. 55:18).
Jehovah’s work is peace; and the labor of righteousness rest and security forever that My people may abide in a habitation of peace, and in tents of security, in quiet resting-places (Isa. 32:17. 18).
Jesus said to the seventy whom He sent forth, Into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house; and if a son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon him (Luke 10:6, 8; Matt. 10:12-14).
Jehovah will speak peace unto His people. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other (Ps. 85:8, 10).
When the Lord Himself appeared to His disciples, He said, Peace be unto you (John 20:19, 21, 28).
Moreover, the state of peace into which men are to come from the Lord is treated of in Isa. 65, 66 and elsewhere; and those will come into that state, who are received into the New Church which the Lord is establishing at this day. What peace is in its essence, which is the peace in which the angels of heaven and those who are in the Lord are, may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell (n. 284-290). From all this it is also evident why the Lord called Himself “Lord of the Sabbath,” that is, of rest and peace.
304. Heavenly peace, which, in respect to the hells, is that evils and falsities shall not rise up from them and break forth, may be compared in many respects with natural peace; as with peace after war, when everyone is secure from enemies and is safe in his own city and home and living in his own fields and garden. This is as the prophet said when he spoke naturally of heavenly peace:
They shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree, and none shall make them afraid (Micah 4:4; Isa. 65:21-23).
It may also be compared to recreations of mind and to rest after severe labor, and to the consolation felt by mothers after childbirth, when their parental love (called storge) manifests its delights. It may also be compared with serenity after tempests, black clouds, and thunders; also with spring, after a terrible winter has passed, and with the gladdening influences from the new growths in the fields and the blossoming in the gardens, meadows, and woods; and again with the state of mind experienced by those who, after storms and dangers on the sea, reach a port and set foot on the longed-for land.
305. THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT.
HONOR THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER, THAT THY DAYS MAY BE PROLONGED, AND THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH THEE UPON THE EARTH.
So reads this commandment in Exod. 20:12; Deut. 5:16. In the natural sense, which is that of the letter, “to honor thy father and thy mother” means to honor parents, to be obedient to them, to be devoted to them, and to return thanks to them for the benefits they confer, which are that they provide food and clothing for their children, and so introduce them into the world that they may act in it as civil and moral persons; and introduce them also into heaven by means of the precepts of religion, thus providing both for their temporal prosperity and their eternal happiness. All this parents do from a love which they have from the Lord, in whose stead they act. In a relative sense it means that if parents are dead, guardians should be honored by their wards. In a broader sense, to honor the king and magistrates, is meant by this commandment, since these provide for all in general the necessities which parents provide in particular. In the broadest sense this commandment means that men should love their country, since it supports and protects them, therefore it is called fatherland from father. But to country, king, and magistrates honor must be rendered by parents and by them be implanted in their children.
306. In the spiritual sense, “to honor father and mother” means to reverence and love God and the church. In this sense, God who is the father of all, is meant by “father” and the church by “mother.” In the heavens little children and the angels know no other father and no other mother, since they are there born anew of the Lord through the church. Therefore the Lord says:
Call no man your father on the earth; for one is your Father, who is in the heavens (Matt. 23:9).
This was said with reference to children and angels in heaven, and not of children and men on earth. The Lord teaches the same thing in the common prayer of the Christian churches, “Our Father who art in the heavens, hallowed be Thy name.” In the spiritual sense, “mother” means the church, because as a mother on earth nourishes her children with natural food; so does the church nourish her children with spiritual food, and this is why the church is frequently called “mother” in the Word, as in Hosea:
Plead with your mother; she is not my wife, and I am not her husband (2:2, 6).
In Isaiah:
Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, whom I have put away? (50:1; Ezek. 16:46; 19:10).
And in the Gospels:
Jesus stretched forth His hand towards His disciples, and said, My mother and My brethren are these who hear the Word of God and do it (Matt. 12:48-50; Mark 3:33-36; Luke 8:21; John 19:25-27).
307. In the celestial sense, “father” means our Lord Jesus Christ, and “mother” the communion of saints, which means the Lord’s church spread throughout the whole world. That the Lord is the Father, is evident from the following passages:
Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given. His name is God, Mighty, Father of eternity, Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6).
Thou art our Father; Abraham knoweth us not and Israel doth not acknowledge us; Thou art our Father, our Redeemer from everlasting is Thy name (Isa. 63:16).
Philip said, show us the Father; Jesus saith unto him, He that seeth Me seeth the Father; how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me (John 14:8-11; also 12:45).
That “mother” in this sense means the Lord’s church, is evident from the following passages:
I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband (Apoc. 21:2).
The angel said to John, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb; and he showed me the city, the holy Jerusalem (Apoc. 21:9, 10).
The time of the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready: Blessed are they that have been called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb (Apoc. 19:7, 9). (See also Matt. 9:15; Mark 2:19, 20; Luke 5:34, 36; John 3:29; 19:25-27.)
That “the New Jerusalem” means the New Church which the Lord is at this day establishing, may be seen in the Apocalypse Revealed (n. 880, 881); this church, and not the preceding, is the wife and the mother in this sense. The spiritual offspring which are born from this marriage are the goods of charity and the truths of faith; and those who are in these from the Lord, are called “sons of the marriage,” “sons of God,” and “born of God.”
308. It must he kept in mind that a Divine-heavenly sphere of love continually goes forth from the Lord toward all who embrace the doctrine of His church, who are obedient to Him, as children are to their father and mother in the world, who devote themselves to Him, and who wish to be fed, that is, instructed by Him. From this heavenly sphere a natural sphere arises, which is one of love towards infants and children. This is a most universal sphere, affecting not only men, but also birds and beasts and even serpents; nor animate things only, but also things inanimate. But that the Lord might operate upon these even as upon spiritual things, He created a sun to be in the natural world like a father, the earth being like a mother. For the sun is like a common father and the earth like a common mother from the marriage of which all the vegetation that adorns the surface of the earth is produced. From the influx of that heavenly sphere into the natural world, come the marvelous developments of vegetation from seed to fruit, and again to new seed. It is from this also that many kinds of plants turn, as it were, their faces to the sun during the day, and turn them away when the sun sets. It is from this also that there are flowers that open at the rising of the sun and close at his setting. It is from this also that the song-birds sing sweetly at the early dawn, and likewise after they have been fed by their mother earth. Thus do all these honor their father and mother. They all bear testimony that in the natural world the Lord provides through the sun and the earth all necessities both for animate and inanimate things. Therefore it is said in David:
Praise ye Jehovah from the heavens; praise ye Him, sun and moon; praise Him from the earth, ye dragons and all deeps; praise Him, fruitful trees and all cedars; beasts and all cattle; creeping things and flying fowl; kings of the earth and all peoples; young men and maidens (Ps. 148:1-12);
and in Job:
Ask, I pray, the beasts and they shall teach thee; or the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee; or the shrub of the earth, and it shall teach thee; and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who doth not know from all these things that the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this? (Job 12:7-9).
“Ask and they will teach,” signifies to observe, study, and judge from these things that the Lord Jehovah created them.
309. THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT.
THOU SHALT NOT KILL.
In the natural sense, this commandment “Thou shalt not kill” means not to kill a man, and not to inflict upon him any wound from which he may die, also not to maim his body. It means also not to inflict any deadly harm upon his name and fame, since with many fame and life go hand in hand. In a broader natural sense, murder means enmity, hatred, and revenge, which breathe slaughter; for in them murder lies concealed as fire in wood under ashes. Infernal fire is nothing else; hence the expressions, to be inflamed with hatred, to burn with revenge. These passions are murder in intention, not in act; but if fear of the law or of retaliation and revenge were removed from them, they would break forth into act, especially if there is treachery or ferocity in the intention. That hatred is murder, is evident from these words of the Lord:
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother rashly shall be in danger of the judgment. But whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council, and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of the hell of fire (Matt. 5:21, 22).
This is because whatever pertains to the intention pertains also to the will, and so essentially to the deed.
310. In the spiritual sense, murder means all modes of killing and destroying the souls of men, which modes are various and manifold, as for example, turning men away from God, religion, and Divine worship by insinuating scandalous thoughts against these, or by inducing such persuasions as cause aversion and even abhorrence. Such murderers are all the devils and satans in hell, with whom those in this world who violate and prostitute the sanctities of the church are in conjunction. Those who destroy souls by falsities are meant by the king of the abyss, who is called “Abaddon” or “Apollyon,” that is, the Destroyer (Apoc. 9:11); and in the prophetic Word [those whom they destroy] are meant by “the slain,” as in the following passages:
Thus said Jehovah God, Feed the flock of slaughter which their possessors have slain (Zech. 11:4-5, 7).
We are killed all the day long; we are counted as a flock for the slaughter (Ps. 44:22, 23).
Jacob shall cause them that come to take root. Is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him? (Isa. 27:6, 7).
The thief cometh not but to steal and to kill the sheep; I am come that they may have life and abundance (John 10:10).
(Besides elsewhere, as in Isa. 14:21; 26:21; Ezek. 37:9; Jer. 4:31; 12:3; Rev. 9:4, 5; 11:7.)
And therefore the devil is called:
A murderer from the beginning (John 8:44).
311. In the celestial sense, to kill means to be rashly angry with the Lord, to hate Him, and to wish to blot out His name. It is said of such that they crucify the Lord, and this they would do, as the Jews did, if He were to come again into the world as before. This is meant by:
A Lamb standing as though it had been slain (Rev. 5:6; 13:8).
Also by the Lord’s being crucified (Rev. 11:8; Heb. 6:6; Gal. 3:1).
312. The nature of man’s internal, unless it is reformed by the Lord, has been made evident to me from seeing the devils and satans in hell; for they have it constantly in mind to kill the Lord; and as they cannot do this they are in the endeavor to kill those who are devoted to the Lord; but not being able, as men are in the world, to do this, they make every effort to destroy their souls, that is, to destroy faith and charity in them. With such, essential hatred and revenge appear like lurid and glowing fires-hatred like a lurid fire, and revenge like a glowing fire-yet these are not fires, but appearances. The cruelties of their hearts sometimes appear above them in the air like contests with angels and their slaughter and overthrow. Such direful mockeries arise from their wrath and hatred against heaven. Moreover, at a distance, these same spirits appear like wild beasts of every kind, as tigers, leopards, wolves, foxes, dogs, crocodiles, and all kinds of serpents; and when they see gentle animals in representative forms, they rush upon them in fantasy and strive to tear them in pieces. They came to my sight like dragons standing near women with whom there were little children, whom they were endeavoring, as it were, to devour (according to what is recorded in the twelfth chapter of Revelation); but these were nothing else than representations of hatred against the Lord and His New Church. That men in the world who wish to destroy the Lord’s church are like these spirits is not evident to their companions; and for the reason that their bodies, through which they practice the moralities, absorb and conceal these things. But to the angels, who behold their spirits and not their bodies, they appear in forms like those of the devils above described. Who could have known such things had not the Lord opened the sight of some one, and given him the ability to look into the spiritual world? Otherwise, would not these, together with other most important matters, have lain concealed from man for ever?
313. THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT.
THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY.
In the natural sense, this commandment means not only not to commit adultery, but it refers also to willing and doing obscene things and thinking and speaking about lascivious things. That merely to lust is to commit adultery, is evident from the Lord’s words:
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say to you, that everyone that looketh on another man’s wife to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart (Matt. 5:27, 28).
The reason of this is that when lust enters the will it becomes, as it were, deed; for allurement enters into the understanding only, but into the will, intention; and the intention of a lust is a deed. But more on this subject may be seen in the work on Marriage Love and Scortatory Love (Amsterdam, 1768), which treats, On the Opposition of Marriage to Scortatory Love (n. 423-443); On Fornication (n. 444-460); On Adulteries and the Different Kinds and Degrees of Adultery (n. 478-499); On the Lust of Defloration (n. 501-505); On the Lust for Variety (n. 506-510); On the Lust of Violation (n. 511, 512); On the Lust of Seducing Innocences (n. 513, 514); On the Imputation of Scortatory Love and of Marriage Love (n. 523-531). All of these things are meant by this commandment in the natural sense.
314. In the spiritual sense, “to commit adultery” means to adulterate the goods of the Word and to falsify its truths. That “to commit adultery” means this also, has been hitherto unknown, because the spiritual sense of the Word has been hitherto concealed. That such is the meaning in the Word of “to commit adultery,” “to adulterate,” and “to commit whoredom” is evident from the following passages:
Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and seek if ye can find a man that executeth judgment, and seeketh the truth. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery (Jer. 5:1, 7).
In the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible stubbornness in adulterating and walking in a lie (Jer. 23:14).
They have wrought folly in Israel, and have committed whoredom, and have spoken My Word falsely (Jer. 29:23).
They committed whoredom, because they have left Jehovah (Hos. 4:10).
I will cut off the soul that turneth unto them that have familiar spirits and unto the wizards, to go a whoring after them (Lev. 20:6).
A covenant shall not be made with the inhabitants of the land, lest they go a whoring after their gods (Ex. 34:16).
Because Babylon adulterates and falsifies the Word more than others, she is called the great harlot, and it is said of her in the Apocalypse:
Babylon hath given all nations to drink of the wine of the anger of her fornication (Apoc. 14:8).
The angel said, I will show unto thee the judgment of the great harlot; with whom the kings of the earth committed whoredom (Apoc. 17:1, 2).
For He hath judged the great harlot that corrupted the earth with her whoredom (Apoc. 19:2).
Because the Jewish nation had falsified the Word, it was called by the Lord:
An adulterous generation (Matt. 12:39; 16:4; Mark 8:38); And the seed of the adulterer (Isa. 57:3).
There are many other passages where “adulteries” and “whoredoms” mean adulterations and falsifications of the Word (as in Jer. 3:6, 8; 13:27; Ezek. 16:15, 16, 26, 28, 29, 32, 33; 23:2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 14, 16, 17; Hos. 5:3; 6:10; Nahum 3:4).
315. In the celestial sense, “to commit adultery” means to deny the holiness of the Word, and to profane it. This meaning follows from the preceding spiritual meaning, which is to adulterate its goods and to falsify its truths. The holiness of the Word is denied and profaned by those who in heart ridicule all things of the church and of religion, for in the Christian world all things of the church and of religion are from the Word.
Emanuel Swedenborg · English translation by John C. Ager · Source edition · German edition.