1083. And shall burn her up with fire, signifies rejection of the whole of that religious persuasion which has profaned the holy things of the church by the love of having dominion over them and over heaven. This is evident from the signification of "burning with fire," as being to destroy the things of the church that have been profaned by the love of having dominion. The punishment for profaning the holy things of the church was burning with fire, for the reason that that "fire" represented the fire of hell, and "to be burned" signified to perish thereby, and the fire of hell is the love of having dominion. "To be burned up with fire" is here the punishment for profaning the holy things of the church, since the harlot is here referred to, and "Babylon" as a "harlot" signifies profanation of the holy things of the church by the diabolical love of having dominion over them. "To be burned up with fire" has a like signification as "Tophet" in the valley of Hinnom, where they burned sons and daughters, and which signified in the spiritual sense the profanation of the truths and goods of the church, "sons" its truths, and "daughters" its goods. The valley of Achor, where Achan, who took of the devoted thing, was burned with fire after he had been stoned, has nearly the same signification. From all this it can be seen that "burning the harlot with fire" signifies the rejection of the whole religious persuasion that has profaned the holy things of the church by the love of having dominion over them and over heaven. This means rejection by the Reformed, as above.
(Continuation respecting the Word)
[2] As there is a trine, one within another, in every least particular of the Word, and this trine is like that of effect, cause, and end, it follows that there are three senses in the Word, one within another, namely, the natural, the spiritual, and the celestial; the natural for the world, the spiritual for the heavens of the Lord's spiritual kingdom, and the celestial for the heavens of His celestial kingdom. (That all the heavens are divided into two kingdoms, the spiritual and the celestial, may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell n. 20-28.) Now as there is one sense within another, the first which is the sense of the letter for the natural world, the second which is the internal sense for the spiritual kingdom, and the third which is the inmost for the celestial kingdom, it follows that the natural man draws from it his sense, the spiritual angel his sense, and the celestial angel his sense, thus everyone what is analogous to and in agreement with his own essence and nature. This takes place whenever a man who is led by the Lord is reading the Word. [3] But let this be illustrated by examples. When this commandment of the Decalogue is read: "Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother," a man in the world understands by "father and mother" a father and mother on the earth, and also all who are or may be in the place of father or mother; and by "honoring" he understands to hold such in honor. But an angel of the spiritual kingdom understands by "father" the Divine good, and by "mother" the Divine truth, and by "honoring" loving; while an angel of the celestial kingdom understands by "father" the Lord, and by "mother" heaven and the church, and by "honoring" doing. [4] When the fifth commandment of the Decalogue, "Thou shalt not steal," is read, by "stealing" a man understands stealing, defrauding, and taking away under any pretense his neighbor's goods. But an angel of the spiritual kingdom by "stealing" understands depriving another of his truths and goods by means of falsities and evils, while an angel of the celestial kingdom by "not to steal" understands not to attribute to himself the things that are the Lord's, as the good of love and the truth of faith; for thereby good becomes not good, and truth not truth, because they are from men. [5] When the sixth commandment, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," is read, a man by "committing adultery" understands committing adultery and whoredom, also thinking filthy thoughts, speaking lasciviously, and doing obscene things. But an angel of the spiritual kingdom by "committing adultery" understands falsifying the truths of the Word and adulterating its goods, while an angel of the celestial kingdom by "committing adultery" understands blaspheming against the Lord, heaven, and the church. [6] When the seventh commandment "Thou shalt not kill," is read, by "killing" a man understands hating and desiring revenge, even to murder. But an angel of the spiritual kingdom by "killing" understands the killing of a man's soul by stumbling blocks to the life and by reasonings, whereby a man is led into spiritual death, while an angel of the celestial kingdom by "killing" understands seducing a man into believing that there is no God and no heaven and no hell, for thus man perishes as to eternal life. [7] When the eighth commandment, "Thou shalt not bear false witness," is read, a man by "false witness" understands lying and defamation. But an angel of the spiritual kingdom by "false witness" understands asserting, confirming, and persuading that falsity is truth and evil is good, or on the other hand that truth is falsity and good is evil, while an angel of the celestial kingdom by "false witness" understands every falsity against the Lord, and against heaven in favor of hell. [8] All this makes clear how a man draws and calls forth from the Word in the letter the natural sense, a spiritual angel the spiritual sense, and a celestial angel the celestial sense, much as the wood of a tree draws its sap, the leaf its sap, and the fruit its sap, from the same soil. And what is wonderful, this is done instantly, without the angel's knowing what the man thinks, or the man what the angel thinks, and yet their thoughts are one by correspondences, as end, cause, and effect are one. Moreover, ends are actually in the celestial kingdom, causes in the spiritual kingdom, and effects in the natural world.
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